Injury Cases

There isn’t a much more exciting event than the delivery of your child.  There are so many unknowns and such an anticipation of joy. Usually things go very smoothly, but unfortunately that isn’t always the case.  We have helped thousands of people investigate possible medical malpractice lawsuits in Illinois for birth injuries. While not every injury is a lawsuit, every serious injury is worth investigating. These are the six most common ones that lead to lawsuits being filed against doctors, nurses and/or hospitals.

Cerebral Palsy

Cerebral palsy (CP) is a group of disorders that impairs movement and affects muscle tone or posture. CP is caused by damage that occurs to the developing brain, sometimes during birth. People with CP may experience stiff muscles and exaggerated reflexes (spasticity), variations in muscle tone, and/or lack of balance and muscle coordination, among other symptoms.  When the flow of oxygen to the baby’s brain is interrupted during childbirth, cells in the brain quickly begin to die. This is what eventually leads to cerebral palsy.  These damages can be catastrophic and turn an otherwise healthy child in to someone who needs a lifetime of care.

Shoulder Dystocia

In a full-term or post-term pregnancy when the baby is very big, they might be too big to go safely through the birth canal. The OBGYN should recognize this and perform a C-section. If they don’t, the baby’s shoulder might be wedged behind the mother’s pelvic bone. The doctor may use excessive pressure or force to dislodge the baby’s shoulder, leading to a shoulder dystocia injury.

Brachial Plexus Injuries (Erb’s Palsy)

The brachial plexus is the network of nerves that sends signals from your spinal cord to your shoulder, arm, and hand. A brachial plexus injury occurs when these nerves are stretched, compressed, or torn from the spinal cord. Newborns can suffer from brachial plexus injuries, often associated with high birth weight, breech position, or prolonged labor. If an infant’s shoulders get stuck within the birth canal, there is a higher risk of brachial plexus palsy.  While sometimes these injuries get better, quite often it can lead to years of physical therapy and a lifetime of complications.

Skull/Bone Fractures
When a baby becomes stuck during delivery, the OBGYN must deliver the baby quickly. Sometimes this results in the doctor pulling too harshly or being too aggressive while using birth-assistance tools, which may lead to a skull fracture or fractured clavicle. A doctor or nurse dropping a baby shortly after birth may also be a cause of a skull or other bone fracture, but that is less common.  What you should know is that fractures are not an expected outcome of most deliveries so if your child has one it should be investigated by a lawyer.

Facial Paralysis

During labor or birth, sometimes when forceps are used for delivery, pressure on a baby’s face may injure the facial nerve. This injury is evident when the baby cries. There is no movement on the side of the face with the injury, and the baby can’t close their eye. The paralysis may improve in a few weeks if the nerve was only bruised. However, if the nerve was torn, surgery may be necessary.  Whether or not a lawsuit is worth pursuing usually comes down to the recovery made by the child.

Hypoxic-Ischemic Encephalopathy (HIE)
Hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) is a type of brain damage caused by oxygen deprivation and limited blood flow during or near the time of birth. Other terms used for HIE include birth asphyxia, perinatal asphyxia, and neonatal encephalopathy. In some cases, therapeutic hypothermia given very quickly after the injury may prevent or minimize permanent brain damage. However, with or without that treatment, many infants with HIE develop permanent disorders including cerebral palsy, cognitive disabilities, epilepsy, and others. The largest birth injury lawsuit we’ve ever been involved in came from a HIE case where fetal monitoring strips failed.

Note that while in most cases you have eight years to sue whoever was negligent for a birth injury, it can be as little as two years from when it happened in some cases such as if your doctor was provided through a Federally funded clinic. It’s possible you won’t know that they are so we highly recommend talking to a lawyer as soon as you are aware of an injury. If you would like to speak to an experienced attorney for FREE, please call us any time at 312-346-5320.

It used to primarily be that if you had a job that was your only job.  You’d work 9 to 5 and go home to your life.  That’s certainly not how things are now. We are in the era of grinding and it’s not uncommon for people to have two or even three jobs.

If you are injured while working in Illinois and have more than one job, that could be a huge factor in your case.   Your payments for time off work and any settlement are based on what your wages are.  So if you have two jobs, you’ll want to make sure that your pay from both is included. That’s not automatic and there are other things you really need to know if you are in that situation. Here are some big ones:

1. Let’s say you primarily work at FedEx, but have a part time job tending bar. If you get hurt at FedEx and want your second job income to be included in your work comp claim, you have to show that FedEx was aware of that other job. If they weren’t, those wages won’t get included nor would they if they told you that you can’t have a second job and you did it any way.

2. The same would be true if you were hurt on your part time job.

3. If they are aware of your other job then both wages should be calculated in paying your time off work (temporary total disability benefits or TTD).

4. If you are hurt on job #1, but can work job #2, your TTD payments would only be based on your inability to work job #1, but both wages would be used in calculating your settlement rate.

5. If you are hurt on job #1 but can still do that job, but not job #2, you should get partial TTD payments for your loss from that job.

6. If you are hurt on job #1 and can work only job #2, you need to be very sure that the job you can work won’t make your injury worse. If it does then it could screw up your work comp claim.  Let’s say your main job is in a factory and you can’t work that job because it requires lifting over 20 pounds.  If your second job is at a grocery store and they say you won’t have to lift more than 20 pounds, if your injury gets worse from the lifting you can do, it will screw things up. So in most cases I’d suggest you only work a really sedentary job if you have serious restrictions.

7. When it comes to settlement time, it’s important to consider how your injury will affect both jobs and your ability to work in the future. Failure to do this correctly could cost you tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars.

These are some of the main things to consider, but there are others as well. If you’d like to speak with an experienced attorney for free, please contact us any time at 312-346-5320. We cover all of Illinois.

There is a really bad Chicago personal injury law firm that I recently saw advertising looking for a lawyer with at least two years of experience to handle injury cases. First off, if you are in an accident, you don’t want a lawyer with only two years of experience on your case. The lawyer fee is the same no matter which attorney handles your case.  So you are better off with someone who has experience and not much to learn represent you.

Second, my very educated guess is that this job posting is in response to an order from the Chief Judge of Cook County.  It was ruled earlier this year that all personal injury cases estimated to be worth less than $50,000.00 are required to go to mandatory arbitration.  This is in part because of the huge back load of cases due to trials being delayed by Covid.

What this means is that there about to be a ton of hearings and a lot of these high volume, crappy Chicago law firms are not going to be able to handle them. So they may have a need to hire lawyers and throw them in to the fire on cases they aren’t familiar with. In other words, some people who have been dealing with one attorney for months or years are about to have their fate decided by a lawyer they’ve never spoken to.

Good car accident attorneys keep their case volume manageable and don’t take every case that walks through the door.  A lot of these law firms that heavily advertise and take almost any case that comes through the door are about to have a lot of unhappy clients.

Mandatory arbitration requires you to accept what the arbitrators decide or risk that if you go to trial and do worse you will have to pay the fees of the defendant’s lawyers. In other words, you are almost surely going to have to accept the arbitration result.

Arbitration is like a trial. You will testify. There is evidence. It’s really important that you have an attorney who knows your case and is not only prepared for the hearing, but also prepares you.   While bad execution at arbitration won’t cost you hundreds of thousands, it could be the difference between $50,000 and nothing.

My advice to you is that you need to insist on an experienced lawyer to handle your case and if the firm you hired won’t provide one, you probably need to find a new attorney before it’s too late.

If you have any questions or want to speak with a lawyer for free, contact us any time in confidence at 312-346-5320.

See also: Diminished Value In Illinois Car Accident Cases

We are experienced Chicago attorneys who help people find the best lawyer for their case, for free. We cover all of Illinois. If you would like our help, fill out our contact form or call us at 312-346-5320.

It’s no surprise that, when people call us looking for a referral to an attorney, they often ask for the best lawyer nearby. We especially hear this from people who are calling to sue after a car accident. “Who is the best car accident attorney near me?”

The driver, and possibly the passengers, have likely suffered some injuries. Often their vehicle has been towed away for repairs, or it is a total loss. So not only do they want a highly competent attorney who has an excellent track record on car accident cases, but they also want a lawyer close to their home, because they think that they will need to go to the lawyer’s office several times over the course of the case. And they now may not have access to their car, their main method of transportation.

But in reality, there is no one “best attorney” for every car accident case. In addition, whether or not the law firm’s office is within a 5-mile radius of you should not be the most important factor for who you hire. Here’s why.

The “Best” Car Accident Attorney

The best car accident attorney for one person may not be the best for another. A variety of factors influence who you should hire. The most important factor is who hit you. Was it a semi-truck? A pizza delivery vehicle? An individual driving a 2001 Scion? A case against a trucking company or a commercial vehicle is different from a case against an individual driver. How much insurance coverage the other party has is a related factor.  Some of the “best” law firms won’t touch a case where there is only $50,000 in insurance. And if it’s a major injury and the other driver was operating a commercial vehicle, most law firms out there don’t have the track record to get you the most compensation possible.

“Near Me”

Some people mistakenly think that they will have to shlep to and from an attorney’s office repeatedly over the course of a case. Even before COVID, law firms were signing up clients and communicating with them virtually. Technology allows for e-signatures and facetime or zoom calls. Very rarely is in-person communication necessary. In addition, the vast majority of lawyers who specialize in car accident cases have offices near the courthouses because they need to appear in court so frequently. So being a mile or two from the attorney’s office should definitely not be a key factor in who to hire. None of the lawyers we recommend ask you to come see them if it’s a problem. They will come to see you.

To put it another way, would you rather have a close by lawyer and have your case settle for $1 million or have a lawyer from a prestigious firm who’s a bit farther away and have the case settle for $3 million. The reality of Illinois car accident law is that some cases are worth more money in the hands of better firms.

What we do is evaluate your case and make sure we recommend the best one possible for you.  Sometimes that will be someone who is in your town. Other times it might make sense to get someone far away because of the type of case it is. Whatever your situation, we’ll treat you like a family member or fried and give you honest, straight forward advice.  If you want our help, please fill out our contact form or give us a call at 312-346-5320 to speak with an attorney for free.

See also: Chicago Car Accident Lawyers And Property Damage

There has been a phenomenon in the last ten years or so of attorneys spending millions on billboards and TV ads to try and get personal injury clients. It’s scummy to me, but not against the law.

Some of these big spenders are actual Chicago law firms. Others are actually based in places like Florida, Nevada and elsewhere and their main partners are not licensed in Illinois. They hire local attorneys and feed them the cases for a share of the profits. It’s not the best way to get a lawyer.

Car accident lawyers in Chicago and really all of Illinois only handle cases that involve injuries.  Some of these cases also, of course, involve damage to the car itself.  While we don’t know lawyers who do just property damage cases, every car accident lawyer we work with handles both the injury part and the property damage part. Those two things go hand in hand and it’s part of giving full service to clients.

What I’ve seen with these big advertisers is that many of them tell their clients that they will only handle the injury part.  Some of these firms are overwhelmed with cases and want to limit their work only to the part that makes them money. So they tell their clients that they are on their own even if they no longer have a car to drive or are getting screwed by the insurance company’s offer to make repairs.

This is ridiculous and just terrible customer service.

The good news though is that you will find out about this terrible service early on in the case. If they won’t help you out then they are not the right law firm for you. You can and should switch lawyers and given that it’s early on in the case there should be no cost to do so.

A sad fact is that insurance companies will try and take advantage of people whose main concern is the damage to their car. They know that lawyers won’t get involved over just that issue because there is no money to be made. They also are aware of these shady firms and know that they don’t always fight for their clients. The insurance companies have nothing to lose by not paying you fair value for your car or even paying you at all. In fact, a person whose car is totaled and has a major injury has a better chance of getting paid for their car than someone who was rear-ended at a stoplight but didn’t see a doctor.

The reason attorneys only handle cases that involve an injury is that there is no money to be made if they are only being compensated for the work they do to get your car repaired.  They’d have to charge you by the hour which wouldn’t make financial sense.

If you’d like to find and attorney that will handle both the injury part and property damage part of your car accident case, we can help you. Call us at 312-346-5320 any time to speak with a lawyer for free. We cover all of Illinois.

See also: Cook County Car Accident Arbitration Cases

We are experienced Illinois injury attorneys with a track record of success. There is no fee to talk to us or to hire a lawyer. If you would like to speak with an attorney for free, fill out our contact form or call us at 800-517-1614.  All calls are confidential. We are based out of Chicago but cover all of Illinois.

What is a C-section? 

A caesarean delivery or caesarean section (C-section for short), is a surgical procedure in which the baby is delivered through an incision in the mother’s belly and uterus.

What are the reasons to perform a C-section? 

Obstetricians perform C-sections when a vaginal delivery would put the mother or baby at risk. Reasons for a C-section include, but are not limited to:

1. Prolonged labor, failure to progress
2. Fetal distress
3. Breech birth
4. Placenta problems (e.g., placental abruption, when the placenta separates early from the uterus; and placenta previa, when the baby’s placenta partially or fully covers the mother’s cervix)
5. Umbilical cord issues
6. Failure of delivery by forceps or vacuum device
7. Large size of the baby
8. Hypertension or tachycardia in the mother
9. Shape of the mother’s pelvis
10. Mother’s history of previous C-section(s)

Planned vs. Emergency C-section 

In many situations, the obstetrician will recognize an issue before labor begins and schedule a C-section. There are other circumstances, however, in which a complication arises during the birthing process, and the obstetrician has to order an emergency C-section. If the fetus is experiencing distress, there is a very limited amount of time to deliver the baby before tragic injuries occur.

Detecting Fetal Distress C-section 

How is fetal distress detected? The mother may feel decreased movement of her baby. Meconium may be present in the amniotic fluid. But often, the key is in the fetal monitoring strips. They are small devices attached to the mother’s belly that use Doppler ultrasound to capture and track the baby’s heartbeat. The obstetrician and labor and delivery nurses observe the carditocography for: increased or decreased fetal heart rate, especially during and after a contraction; decreased variability in the fetal heart rate; and late decelerations. 

Delayed C-section 

If the doctors and nurses fail to detect the fetal distress (or placental abruption or other clear indicator), or it they detect the distress but fail to perform an emergency C-section in a timely manner, the baby may be deprived of oxygen and suffer life-altering injuries. Time if of the essence, so the health care workers need to be adept at quickly coming together and performing a C-section.

Birth Injuries 

A delayed C-section may result in the following injuries to the baby:

1. Cerebral Palsy
2. Erb’s Palsy
3. Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy (HIE)
4. Damage to vital organs

All of these birth injuries can be significant and life altering for both the child and their parents.  It’s not always clear right away if you have a lawsuit, but it’s important to have your case investigated ASAP as the time limits for suing can be as little as two years from the delivery date if the doctors are part of a federally funded clinic and no more than eight years from the delivery date.  It takes around six months to investigate a case properly so time is usually of the essence. If you believe that the health care providers and/or hospital were negligent, and delayed your C-section, resulting in serious birth injuries to your baby, please contact us to speak with a lawyer.

We are Chicago lawyers who help people find the right attorney for their situation. Since 2001 we have helped over 500,000 people and would be happy to talk with you for free about your legal situation.

As part of our service, we educate the public on various injuries that can lead to lawsuits. One common one is Hypoxic-Ischemic Encephalopathy.

What is Hypoxic-Ischemic Encephalopathy?

Hypoxic-Ischemic Encephalopathy, or HIE, is very serious type of infant brain damage that occurs during childbirth. The damage is caused when the baby is deprived of both oxygen and blood flow during childbirth or immediately after. Brain cells in the baby die within minutes when they are cut off from oxygen and blood.

Hypoxia = the supply of oxygen isn’t sufficient

Ischemic = the supply of blood isn’t sufficient

Encephalopathy = damage or disease that affects the brain

What causes HIE?

There are a number of causes of HIE. It can develop during pregnancy, during labor and delivery or in postnatal period, but here we will focus on causes of HIE during labor and delivery. They include:

• Problems with the umbilical cord
• Extremely low blood pressure in the mother
• Excessive bleeding from the placenta
• Abruption of the placenta or rupture of the uterus
• Baby in breech or other abnormal fetal position
• Prolonged late stages of labor

What are the symptoms of HIE? How is it diagnosed?

The symptoms of HIE vary based on how severe the injury is, as well as which area(s) of the brain were affected. A baby with HIE may have:

• Seizures or abnormal movements
• Feeding problems because muscles in their mouth and throat are weak
• A weak cry
• Organ disfunction of the heart, lungs, liver and kidneys
• Little to no reactions to sights and sounds; or conversely, stronger, more tense reactions to sights and sounds than a healthy newborn

To confirm an HIE diagnosis, a neurologist will examine your baby. An electroencephalogram will monitor your baby for seizures and signs of brain disfunction. Tests, such as an MRI, will check for signs of brain injury. You will meet with the medical team to review the results of the tests and plan for therapies, future care, etc.

What happens next?

If your baby was diagnosed with an HIE, and has passed away or suffered permanent brain damage, it may be a case of doctor negligence or medical malpractice during your labor and delivery. You may be entitled to compensation to pay for your baby’s medical bills and future medical care.  The first step is to find the right firm and have them review the medical records to see if they can prove negligence occurred. Often these cases are worth tens of millions of dollars because a lifetime of care will be needed. We have had success with these cases and would be happy to help you find the best law firm for your case. To discuss this confidentially with a licensed attorney, fill out our online contact form or call us at 800-517-1614.

We are lawyers in Illinois who will talk to you for free. If you would like to speak to an attorney please call us at 800-517-1614 or fill out our contact form and we will call you.

With the rise of the #metoo movement, victims of sexual harassment and assault have found the courage within and the support from others to speak up, and to discuss the injustices they suffered. Sexual harassment and assault are not new phenomena, of course. They existed long before the hashtag took hold in the fall of 2017.

In fact, in 2003, the Illinois General Assembly moved to protect victims of sexual harassment and assault by passing the Illinois Gender Violence Act.

Gender violence is a violent act that is committed because of a victim’s sex. It can also be a threat of a violent act. The Illinois Gender Violence Act (“IGVA”) protects victims of sexual harassment and violence, and has a relatively long statute of limitations.

This is very important, because all too often, victims who have suffered awful treatment are too traumatized to act right away. They may feel hesitant to report incidents that occurred at their workplace, that involve a coworker or boss. Before the IGVA, if a victim waited a year to come forward, the short statute of limitations would have been up, and there would be no opportunity to seek justice in court against his/her abuser. )

Another important aspect of the IGVA was its language centered around “persons” who could “personally” commit, encourage or assist in acts of gender-related violence. It was unclear if employers could be held liable for their employees’ sexual violence. If someone’s boss repeatedly groped her/him, would the company be responsible for the boss’s actions?

In 2019, a decision made by the Illinois Appellate Court (Gasic v. Marquette Mgt., Inc.) brought some clarity to this. Under certain circumstances, corporations can be held liable under the IGVA. Since that decision, a growing number of courts in Illinois have agreed that corporate employers can be liable for their employees’ gender-related violence.

In addition we have used this law to bring lawsuits for other acts of sexual abuse including against fraternities where rapes have occurred.

This is an important law for victims of sexual violence. It provides damages for emotional distress, punitive damages, and attorneys’ fees and costs. In other words, it costs nothing to bring a lawsuit under the Gender Violence Act and you can make a significant recovery.

This may be a bit confusing. If you have been a victim of sexual harassment or assault, feel free to contact us. All calls and emails are confidential, and we can advise you on what the next steps should be.

Illinois medical malpractice lawsuits are unique as compared to other injury cases like car accidents in many ways.  They are harder to win, they are much more complex and unlike a car accident lawsuit that can be filed in a day or two if you have a police report, a medical malpractice lawsuit usually takes at least six months to investigate and pull together.

As a result, if you call a lawyer looking to hire them for a medical malpractice case and only have a month before the statute of limitations expires, it will be very difficult to find a good firm to take your case.

The reason it takes so long to investigate a case is because there are usually tens of thousands of pages of medical records to go through when you sustain a serious injury and often they are from numerous medical providers.  We have to request records from those providers which can itself take 30-60 days.

For example, in a recent case we are investigating after a client had heart and kidney problems after a surgical error, there are 11 different medical providers we have asked to get records from.  He had a week long hospital stay which alone will likely result in thousands of pages to review.  A full internal review can’t be done until all of the records are received. After that, if the case seems to have merit, we then send the records to outside, independent medical experts for their analysis.

You can’t file a lawsuit without an affidavit that a medical provider believes malpractice has happened.  In some cases you want to have opinions from more than one expert.  In a birth injury case we are involved with we needed to have an expert discuss the actions of the nursing staff and another discuss what the doctor did.

So it’s possible that you could have had a great case, but if a lawyer doesn’t think there is enough time to investigate it, they will decline to get involved.

So you can certainly help yourself if you have medical records to give to a lawyer right away. That doesn’t guarantee they will look at it. The closer the time limits to sue are, the less likely they will. But I’ve seen cases where someone had the records and about two months left to sue and they were able to get a lawyer because they also had a big injury.

Bonus tip:  Don’t wait to call a lawyer until you have the records.  The sooner you call the better.  And many law firms can facilitate getting your files faster than you can.

If you have any questions or want to speak to a lawyer for free, call us at 312-346-5320 or fill out our contact form.

Most Illinois attorneys would love to get a good medical malpractice case.  If they are successful, they can be worth millions, and the lawyer will get paid very well for all of their hard work.

Just because a lawyer wants a case doesn’t mean they are the best choice for you.  Simply put, there are about 7-10 firms in Illinois that have a real track record of success. Medical malpractice cases are worth more in their hands than they are with others that are less experienced or don’t have the same track record of having handled hundreds of these cases successfully.

The medical malpractice law firms we know and recommend don’t win every case, but they give you the best chance of success.  When cases go to trial in Chicago for malpractice, doctors win about 80% of the time.  That means most law firms have a losing record.  But if you look at that elite list of 7-10 firms, their success rate at trial will be between 70-90%.  So not only are cases worth more in their hands, going with them can be the difference between winning and losing.

A recent caller to my office asked me my opinion about two firms that he had spoken to.  One of them was an elite firm and would be a great choice as they really have a track record and if you look at their website, you will see how many great results they have. The other one though on their “record of success” page only listed one medical malpractice result and that was for less than a million dollars.  Every other case they discuss is a car accident.

It’s not to say that the second lawyer couldn’t do a good job.  They might.  But when comparing the two, there is no comparison.  The first firm has over 50-million-dollar malpractice results.  They have doctors and nurses on their staff.  They won’t be learning on the job.

These are things that people don’t think about sometimes. Even with some firms that look like they have a great track record, there are things that you should know.  Some firms that look really good on their website might not be doing things in a way that’s best for you.  Here are some examples:

1. They list a bunch of great results, but the reality is that they came at their old law firm and they weren’t the main reason they happened.  Yes, they got good experience assisting their boss, but the reality is that their involvement didn’t really make a difference in the end result.
2. The law firm lists a bunch of attorneys and the firm name lists a bunch of people.  You think you are hiring some big group, but in reality, each lawyer works for themselves and they are motivated to not collaborate with their partners because if they do they have to split their fee with them. You want a lawyer who puts your best interests above all else.
3. The big-name attorney you talk to when you sign up isn’t going to be there every step of the way.  There are a couple of malpractice law firms in Chicago that have achieved some amazing results.  When you talk to them, the main partner will be on the call and will meet with you.  They will also be the one in court if the case goes to trial.  Sounds good, right?  The problem is that they won’t be the one working up the case.  They won’t do the investigation.  They won’t be taking depositions.  They won’t be the one you talk to as the years go on.  That to me is a problem. There is nothing wrong with having an associate or partner help you.  But if it’s my case, I want the best lawyer at the firm involved every step of the way.
4. The big-name partner handles everything, but they are older.  Does the firm have a succession plan in place if something happens to them? If that person dies will all the lawyers go their own way and start new firms or will the firm continue? You don’t want to have one lawyer handling your case and then have someone who knows nothing about it take over two years later.

Those are things that aren’t going to be on their website, but are questions you should be asking before you hire a firm.  If you want our guidance or have any questions, you can call us for free to speak with a lawyer any time at 312-346-5320.

Under Illinois workers’ compensation law, if you are injured on the job and unable to work per your doctor, you are entitled to be compensated for your time off. This is called temporary total disability benefits or TTD and should be 2/3 of your average weekly wage.

So if you tear your ACL on the job and make $900.00 a week, you should received $600.00 tax free per week until you are back at work or they have work for you within the restrictions your doctor gives you.  This sounds pretty straight forward, right?

It should be, but unfortunately some companies don’t follow the law.  We see a lot of cases where an injured worker gets hurt on the job and they will obviously be off for a couple of months.  While the company is taking their time to report the accident, they take the two weeks of vacation pay you are owed and tell you that the first two weeks will be paid that way.

The problem is that this is illegal. You don’t have to use PTO, vacation pay or whatever it’s called. The insurance company doesn’t get to take their sweet time before they start issuing you a check to compensate you for your time off work.  As a famous commercial says, that’s not how any of this works.

I’ve seen some cases where workers had banked more than two months of vacation time and were forced to use it.

The good news is that assuming you can prove you were hurt on the job, it’s not hard for us to get the vacation time reinstated.  Essentially we make it so the work comp insurance company reimburses your employer and your time off benefits are reinstated.

Some companies do this innocently, others do it kind of maliciously. The idea of someone getting hurt on their job and being paid while they get better somehow offends them. Unfortunately for them, that’s not what the law is and they can’t decide to take away rights you have earned.  And they can’t violate Illinois work comp law, at least not unless you let them.

You should be allowed to focus on nothing other than getting better so you can get back to work. These kinds of stressors can make an injury worse and delay your recovery. A good attorney can take those worries off your shoulder and help solve that problem. And in almost every case it costs you nothing to make that happen.

If you’d like to speak with a lawyer for free to see what options you have, contact us any time at 312-346-5320.

I recently had a call from a nice woman who broke her leg at her parents house.  She walked in to use the bathroom and slipped on a wet floor. It turns out there was a hole in the roof that had been there for a while and led to the leak.

If she was at a friend’s house when this happened it would be a slam dunk case. But her question was, can she sue her parents for negligence?

The answer to that question mostly depends on if you live in the house.  If you are living there, you would essentially be suing yourself as the residents of a dwelling can all be held responsible for errors in the property.  Beyond that, there is a concern that if you could sue your parents when you are living with them, many people would try to run scams to make a fraudulent recovery.

In this case, the woman doesn’t live with her parents, but was just visiting.  She had no way to know the roof was leaky and it was negligent of her parents not to warn her, fix the problem or otherwise protect her.  So in my opinion she has a great case against them.

The reality is that she’s not suing her parents, she’s making a claim against their insurance company. While theoretically she could also go after their individual assets, that almost never happens.  That’s true whether you are suing your parents or anyone else when there is adequate insurance.

These cases do get fought more than your average case because even when you don’t live with your parents, the insurance companies are suspicious as to why you got hurt and if you are trying to pull a fast one. That’s not a problem if you have good, honest facts and a lawyer in your corner who knows that they are doing.

The flip side of this is that parents can also sue their kids under the same scenarios. We helped a Dad who was injured in the house that he rented from his son.  We’ve helped grandparents who were injured while visiting their grand kids.

Bottom line is that when there is negligence and an injury, you should always talk to an attorney and see if there is a case no matter who the defendant might be. We are interested in truth and the unique facts of your case. After hearing that we offer an experienced, honest opinion as to if there is a case or not. If you would like to speak with a lawyer for free, call us at 312-346-5320 or fill out our contact form and we will call you.

We are experienced lawyers in Chicago who will talk to you for free. Since 2001 we have helped people who need a lawyer referral or just advice. Call us at 800-517-1614 any time to speak with an attorney in confidence or fill out our contact form and we will call you.

The best thing an attorney can do is take the emotion out of a situation and focus on facts.  That doesn’t mean your lawyer shouldn’t have empathy or care about you.  They should.  It’s just that when push comes to shove we can really help you by telling you like it is.

This is true when it comes to answering the question, “Do I have a lawsuit for failure to diagnose cancer?” People call us because they want to know if there might be a case, will then win and how much it might be worth.

We can never answer for sure without seeing your medical records, but there are questions successful lawyers ask to weed out good cases from bad.

The first question will likely be, how long is the delay?  Generally speaking, you need at least a six month delay from when you first reported symptoms until you were properly diagnosed.  Not that a three to four month delay is ideal, but in most cases that isn’t enough to show that a proper diagnosis would have changed your ultimate outcome.  The cases we’ve been most successful on have more than a one year delay, but six months is almost always the minimum for winning. Otherwise the case becomes defendable.

The other key question we want to know is what was your health before this?  Sadly, doctors can get away with negligence when a person is very sick already and likely did not have a long life expectancy. In those cases it can cost more to bring a lawsuit than you can recover.  On the other hand, if you are a relatively healthy person and go to your doctor with a lump in your breast and they say it’s nothing, if a year later it turns out you have stage four breast cancer, that’s definitely a case worth investigating.

The last question is what do your medical records show?  If your doctor suggested a course of action and you ignore it, that can end your case. If they don’t say what you say happened, it can end your case.  No medical malpractice lawyer can say if there is for sure a good case or not without seeing your records.

We’ve been involved in pursuing lawsuits for all sorts of failures to diagnose cancer.  That said, the most common errors are for skin cancer (melanoma), breast cancer, colon, prostate, lung, and cervical cancer.

We are happy to speak to you for free to see if there is a case worth investigating. Every attorney we recommend has a great track record of success and does not charge a penny unless they win the case.

We are Illinois lawyers who will talk to you for free. Fill out our contact form or call us at 312-346-5320. We cover all of Illinois.

Illinois workers’ compensation laws are designed to provide medical treatment and payment for time off work for injured workers.  To receive that, you need to show that you sustained an injury that arose out of and in the course of your employment. In other words, you were hurt doing your job duties due to a risk of your job.  It’s a no fault law which means that you don’t have to prove negligence and making a claim for benefits isn’t a lawsuit.

Insurance companies for your employer can’t deny your case and refuse to pay benefits unless they have a good reason.  Despite that, we see insurance companies all the time telling injured workers that they don’t have a case and the claim is denied.

They do this because insurance companies aren’t about your health, but instead about their bottom line.  If they wrongly turn down your claim and you accept that, it saves them money.  It’s a strategy that works because most of these insurance companies make billions.

The good news is that if you know the law, they won’t get away with it.  And beyond that, Illinois workers’ compensation laws can actually punish them or their bad behavior.  This was shown in a recent court case.

In that claim, a grocery store worker at Jewel Foods was collecting carts when he was struck by a car.  He fell, hit his head and received treatment at the scene. The next day he was found slumped over and it was determined he had a brain injury.  Emergency surgery took place.

Despite the obvious nature of his injury being related to the job accident, Jewel did not pay his time off or bills.  The worker got a lawyer and went to arbitration. Not only was all of his time off awarded and the bills paid, the Arbitrator awarded penalties and fees due to the unreasonable denial of benefits  The employer had surveillance video that showed how the accident happened and presented no medical evidence that the problems were anything other than the work place injury.  They simply denied the case without explanation or reason.

When that happens, the insurance company/employer can get punished which includes extra payments for time off work, extra money to the worker for the unpaid bills and payment of lawyer fees.

The problem is that only the best Illinois work comp attorneys pursue this strategy on a regular basis. Too many lawyers let insurance companies get away with this nonsense.

The good news is that the law is on your side. It can be very frustrating when cases are denied for no reason.  We know experienced, aggressive work injury lawyers who will fight for you. If you want a recommendation or just have questions, contact us at any time.

In the famous words of Rainman, “Walmart sucks.”

My unscientific poll of the hundreds of thousands of people I have talked to about Illinois legal matters in the last 20 years shows that Walmart treats their workers worse than most, if not all, companies.

I have heard countless stories of injured Walmart workers having their work comp claims denied or interrupted for ridiculous reasons.  It’s not that Walmart doesn’t have a right to defend the cases.  They do.  It just seems that they often try to discourage workers from bringing cases at all and they fight cases with positions that don’t always seem legitimate.

One thing I hear from their workers is that they think that lawyers will be scared to take on Walmart because they are a multi-billion-dollar corporation.  There is a belief that they have a team of lawyers that can’t be beaten.

The reality is that while Walmart might be more difficult or appear at times of having a strategy of screwing workers over, the laws apply the same to them as any other company.  The Illinois Workers’ Compensation Act doesn’t make it easier for big companies.

Beyond that, Walmart doesn’t have a “team of lawyers” to fight these cases.  They hire good law firms who fight hard, but it’s not like you are going to show up to a court hearing and see 3-5 lawyers sitting there working against you.  It will be your lawyer against their lawyer.  If they hired a “team” they’d end up spending more money on lawyer fees than your case is likely worth.

So if you have a good work comp attorney in your corner who knows the laws and is a fighter, you should win your case if the facts are on your side.  Meaning that if you lifted a box at Walmart while working and felt a pop in your back, you should have a winning workers comp case.

What Walmart does, in my experience, is make workers nervous and frustrate them.  But when push comes to shove, if you have the facts on your side (meaning you got hurt, reported it right away, went to the doctor right away, etc.) you should win your case and get benefits.

We also have found that they will often deny cases, especially in rural areas, with the hopes that you won’t get a lawyer.  It’s probably a strategy that saves them money because some people in small towns can be hesitant to get legal help.  They don’t always know that hiring an Illinois work injury lawyer costs nothing upfront nor do they know that it’s illegal to fire someone for bringing a work injury.

The good news is that we’ve had a lot of success in cases against Walmart because Illinois work comp laws favor honest, hard-working workers. So don’t stress or think your case is harder because your employer is Walmart, Amazon, or anyone else.  If you would like a free consultation with an attorney to discuss a case you can call us for free at 800-517-1614 any time.

Despite what insurance companies and some politicians like to tell people, it’s very hard to win a medical malpractice lawsuit in Illinois.  You need to show that the medical provider screwed up, that without their error you wouldn’t have suffered your harm and in most cases, that your damages are really significant. In other words, saying “I could have died” isn’t enough, even when their mistake was terrible. You don’t have to die, but do need to show some harm.

In my opinion, there are about ten really good Illinois medical malpractice law firms.  They have the track record of winning cases, have many lawyers and a large support staff often consisting of doctors and/or nurses and can afford the risk of bringing these very expensive cases without cutting corners to do so.  They take cases that they think they can win and also recover enough to justify their time, expense and risk. In other words, if it typically costs $100,000.00 to go to trial in a malpractice lawsuit, you aren’t going to spend that money if you think the case is only worth $200,000.00.

As a result, most people who want to sue a doctor or hospital can’t find an attorney to bring a case for them.  This can, understandably, be really frustrating for the people who call us looking for an attorney referral.  We get that, but are always honest. We love to make money and do so by taking on cases, but we always tell the truth. And if the truth is that we don’t think you have a case or don’t have enough of an injury, we will tell you.

Being wronged by a medical provider can be emotional. So callers will often say to us, “Well, if it’s not medical malpractice, can I sue for negligence?”  Unfortunately those two terms mean the exact same thing.  Medical malpractice lawsuits are when doctors, nurses, etc are negligent. So there aren’t different standards or time limits for bringing these claims.

So if you can’t find an Illinois medical malpractice attorney, what can you do?

1. You can file a complaint with the Illinois Department of Professional and Financial Regulations (“IDFPR”).  The license and discipline doctors and nurses.  In some cases you might not be able to get money from suing, but the IDFPR might be able to take away their license.
2. In some cases you can get results from the risk management department at a hospital.  That could mean them reducing or eliminating your bill and in some cases it could mean them offering you a small amount of money.
3. I’m not a fan of Yelp or those types of places, but I get that doing so could be therapeutic.
4. Be mad, but realize you’ll probably have to get over it. That sucks to hear, but if five lawyers who have a great track record tell you there’s no case, at some point you have to move on.  It’s a product of how hard and expensive it is win these cases.

Is it weird for an attorney to tell you to move on? Again, we always tell the truth, even if we know it’s not what you want to hear.  The bottom line is that if you have been wronged and want to know if you have a case, we are happy to speak with you for free and offer an honest opinion and if needed, recommend a law firm that has a great track record.  Call us for free any time at 312-346-5320.  We cover all of Illinois.

We are an Illinois lawyer referral service run by attorneys. Since 2001 we’ve helped over 500,000 people find the best law firm for their case or just given them free legal advice to solve their problem. Call us at 800-517-1614 to speak with a lawyer for free.

When people call me looking for an attorney referral, I hear two things a lot: 1. “I want the best lawyer.” 2. “I don’t want to travel.”  One of the most searched phrases that leads people to our website is “Who is the best workers compensation lawyer near me?”

While it sounds like it should be a simple question, if you really want what is best for you, your case and your long term health, please believe me when I tell you it’s not so simple.

First off, “best” for one person may not be “best” for you. There are so many factors.  What is your injury?  How much experience does that attorney have with that type of injury? Do you need someone who speaks a foreign language? Will you mesh well with someone who has an aggressive personality or do you need a lawyer that is more of a hand holder and compassionate? Will your case likely need to go to trial? What defenses does the insurance company have?

The truth is, especially in bigger cities, there are many attorneys who could get a good result for you.  But the top one for your case will depend on a lot of those factors I mentioned.  And something I’ve learned in almost 20 years of running this site is that if you just got injured and it’s not clear if you are seriously hurt or not, some “top” firms will assign your case to a young lawyer.  If it turns out that you are seriously injured, you are likely stuck with that young attorney who certainly isn’t best for you.

As far as getting a lawyer near you, that is understandable, but something you should not worry about.  Most cases, even before Covid, are handled by phone calls and emails.  Whether the attorney you hired is next door or 50 miles away, your interaction with them isn’t likely to include a lot of face to face contact that isn’t done by Zoom.  The exception is when your case is going to trial or if you want a first meeting in person. In my experience, many great attorneys are willing to meet you by your home at a mutually convenient time.

More importantly though, you aren’t likely to find many if any really good work comp attorneys in cities that don’t have a hearing location.  In the Chicagoland area, more than 90% of cases are handled by lawyers whose offices are in Chicago.  That’s because the main Illinois Workers Compensation Commission location is the Thompson Center downtown.  If you live in Tinley Park or Schaumburg or Evanston, etc., it’s not that lawyers there couldn’t take your case, it’s that it’s likely that they don’t focus on work comp cases all day every day. If they did, they’d spend way too much time in the car or on the train because they are so far from court.

Even outside of Chicagoland, you’ll find it’s likely that unless you are in a big city like Springfield, Rockford, Peoria, Belleville, etc. that the best attorney for your case, the one with real experience, isn’t going to be near you.  I promise you that is OK and it’s in your best interests to get someone who has a real track record of success. It’s no different than how you’d choose the best doctor for your care other than that you won’t need to be face to face with the lawyer all the time like you will with the doctor.

As always, if you have any questions let us know.

One of the most common questions that comes up in any Illinois personal injury lawsuit is should I settle or go to trial?

This is of course a very sensible question.  The answer to it really depends on the case, the facts, your goals and some other things.

For most cases, getting a settlement makes sense if you get a good offer. If we think your case is worth at most $300,000.00 at trial and you are being offered $275,000.00, settling and getting the cash now is most likely the sensible thing to do.

In other major cases, you may not be offered close to your best case scenario at trial, but the amount is still so much that not settling seems risky.  We had a client on a case whose trial was delayed until late 2021 due to Covid. The case settled earlier this year for $1 million.  It’s possible at trial the case could have been worth double that, but the client who is very ill wanted the sure thing and the money now.

We supported the decision of this client because it’s their life.  Our job as lawyers is to lay out the best and worst case scenarios and help you make an educated decision as to what to do.  The lawyer who was working hard on this case would have gladly gone to trial, but an attorney’s job is to do what is best for the client.

In other cases you might want to go to trial for a non-monetary reason. Perhaps you want their to be publicity to prevent something like what happened to you from happening to others such as in a sexual abuse or police misconduct case.  Maybe telling your story in court is therapeutic which is something a settlement can’t give.  In some cases you want to confront the person who harmed you.  Again it comes down to what is personal to you and in YOUR best interests.

On the flip side, we’ve seen cases where we knew the client would never go to trial.  It could be that they make a very bad witness and being on the stand would hurt them. It might be that they don’t want to have to confront the person that harmed them as it would have a negative psychological impact.

And sometimes the offer is not good enough and you have your dollar amount that if not met means you will be taking your chances in court.  In one famous case from when I was a young lawyer, a violinist lost her leg when she was dragged by a train for 200 feet. Back then it was rare to get settlement offers in the eight figures and there were stories of her and her lawyer turning down offers in the high seven figures and low eight figures.  The rumor was that she wanted $20 million, not a penny less.  She didn’t get that offer, went to trial and the jury awarded her almost $30 million.  Rolling the dice with trial clearly worked out for her.

My advice to you is to make sure you are given the best and worst case scenarios as well as the likely scenario. You might want $1 million, but if your best case scenario is $50,000.00 and you get offered that, going to trial is foolish.

Every case is different. Learning what is realistic for your case will help you make a smart decision.

As always, we are lawyers who will talk to anyone for free. Call us any time at 312-346-5320.

Covid has greatly impacted everyone’s lives. That’s not breaking news or surprising to anyone.  Other than hand sanitizer manufacturers, most businesses are suffering as a result.

Law firms are no exception to this impact although compared to the restaurant and bar industry, we generally don’t have it as bad.

The most obvious impact in Chicago is the fact that you can’t go to trial in most cases.  There were hundreds of claims set for hearing that have been reset until 2021.  While the courts did require all parties to try and settle if they can through a pre-trial, the reality is that a lot of justice is being delayed or denied. There is no guarantee as to when trials will start and for whatever reason, they aren’t using creative ideas like moving trials to hotel ball rooms where social distancing is possible.

An unforseen impact is the reality that many people who are getting injured in car accidents, slip and falls and other personal injury cases are refusing to go to the doctor to get treatment.  They often have underlying conditions that make getting Coronavirus a real risk to their life.  So they self medicate and do what they can to get by rather than risk getting infected by being at an ER or medical office.

In general you can’t prove an injury without getting medical care.  While a slight delay is understandable, if you wait too long or refuse treatment, you will likely have no case or at least greatly impact the case in a negative way.

I get why at risk people wouldn’t want to go to the doctor and would never tell someone they have to do so.  I would recommend that they at least try telemedicine if possible. In some cases if you express your concern, a doctor’s office can also have you enter and leave through a separate entrance than the regular public or even examine you outside.  It’s not ideal, but what I don’t want to see if worry over Covid cause anyone to have a life long injury they otherwise could have avoided.

Bonus tip, while in most cases if you ignore a doctor’s instructions it will hurt you, if you skip physical therapy because you have Covid, we don’t expect that would impact your case in a negative way at all.

As always, if you have any questions you can call us at 312-346-5320.

See also: Falls From Defective Or Illegal Stairs In Illinois