KEEP CALM . . .

Why Hire an Attorney Part III, Settlement

Excerpt from Mark Weissburg's book, How to Win a Workers Compensation Claim in Illinois

Every case eventually must be settled, and to get a fair settlement, you will almost always need an attorney. Workers' Compensation attorneys know what a case is worth, injured workers, as a rule, do not. If you want to do the research yourself, and look up cases where there was a similar injury, similar time off work, similar treatment, and similar permanent restrictions after treatment ended, by my guest. More importantly, after you have done all that work, it is still unlikely any adjuster will pay you the fair value of the claim. Why should they, you have no leverage. you can only say yes or no to their offer, but you cannot get them to increase the offer. If you say yes, you end up with a very low settlement. If you say no, you get nothing. Not a good set of choices.

An experienced Workers' Compensation lawyer not only has the experience needed to properly value your claim, but has the leverage to get a settlement that is consistent with that value. Even if you decide to manage the entire claim on your own, when it comes time to settle, please contact an attorney. If you have questions about he settlement of your Workers' Compensation case, please feel free to call me, Mark Weissburg, at 312-372-8822. I don't want anyone to settle for a penny less than his or her case is worth. You deserve to be compensated for your injury.

For more information about Workers' Compensation please go to our website.

Vintage Labor Photo

Photo By Nan E. Elliot, 1979.
When immigrant labor was cheap, some coal companies took the view that miners were easy to replace. Today, as this sign indicates, the health and safety of miners have become important concerns in the coalfields. Pike County, Kentucky. 

Records of Temporary Committees, Commissions, and Boards. 
(220-LC-Elliot-7-6)

FAQ Friday! Back to the Basics. What is Workers' Compensation?

Workers' Compensation is a system of benefits for people with job-related injuries or disease. Almost every worker in Illinois is covered by workers' compensation. Your employer is responsible for payment of workers' compensations benefits, either directly through a workers compensation insurance carrier or calims service company.

Failing to provide workers' comp benefits for employees can result in fines against the employer, and in the case of employee injury, the employer loses their workers' compensation protection and can be held liable in a third-party lawsuit.

If you have been injured at work and need representation, please call us 800-594-7433 or send us a confidential inquiry.

Why do Union Members Fight so Hard for What They Believe in?

Weissburg's Workers' Compensation Tip of the Month: Surveillance

Surveillance - The White Van

You’re getting your Temporary Total Disability. The doctors are getting paid . . . eventually. Everything is going swimmingly. The adjuster seems really friendly on the phone. Life is good. Birds are chirping. There’s a rainbow in the sky. There’s a white van following you. There’s a . . . what?

Surveillance is very common in Workers’ Compensation claims. The purpose is to catch you doing something outside your restrictions. Even if you aren’t doing anything outside your restrictions, they’ll still act like you are. See that, we got surveillance of you pumping gas into your car. GUILTY!!!

If you see the white van following you around, make sure that you are staying within your doctor’s restrictions. In fact, that’s good advice even if they aren’t following you around. Always follow your doctor’s orders. But super duper follow them if you see the man with the camera.

The adjuster is not going to warn you about surveillance. It’s one more little tool in their toolbox they’d rather you not know about it. Now that you know, be careful. 

The above tip is taken from Horwitz Horwitz & Associates Attorney Mark Weissburg's book, How to Win a Workers' Compensation Claim in Illinois. For a free copy please visit one of our locations or call toll free and ask for Jeanette if you would like to receive one in the mail.
(800) 594-7433

FAQ Friday!

Q: Can an employer be held liable for an employee who develops a disabling mental condition because of the demands of the job and a supervisor's or director’s constant harassment?

A: In order to recover benefits under the Illinois Workers' Compensation Act, an injured worker must prove that she sustained an accident arising out of and in the course of employment.  Our upper courts have held that the term "accident" is broad enough to encompass injuries sustained over time due to repetitive or cumulative work -- even those caused solely by mental or emotional trauma with no traumatic physical injury.  However, an injury arises out of the employment only if it was caused by a risk peculiar to or increased by some act or phase of the employment.  An injury does not arise out of the employment if it was caused by a risk no greater than that to which the general public is exposed.

It can be said that virtually all employees in the modern American workforce are regularly exposed to the kinds of day-to-day mental and emotional stresses that you have described.  Illinois courts have generally found that overwork, discipline, demotion, termination, undesirable work shifts, arguments with coworkers or supervisors and the like, are common to the general public and not increased within any particular job, trade or profession.  Thus, most workers' compensation practitioners would likely decline to handle a claim such as that which you have described, even if the claim is fully supported by competent medical opinion and a definite clinical diagnosis.

Theoretically, a case could be compensable under our workers' compensation laws.  From a practical standpoint, however, such cases are expensive to prosecute and extremely difficult to prove to the satisfaction of our upper courts.

Marc Perper welcomes your comments on this, or any other Workers’ Comp issue and can be reached at (800) 594-7433, or by visiting our website at www.horwitzlaw.com.

About Marc Perper: Marc is a partner with the firm of Horwitz, Horwitz & Associates, Ltd., with offices in Chicago and Joliet.  Since 1984, he has represented injured workers at the Illinois Industrial Commission, in Circuit Court, and before the Illinois Appellate Court and the Illinois Supreme Court.

Horwitz is having a photo contest!!!

Click photo to enlarge.