Illinois Lawyer Referrals and Legal Guidance
McHenry County Work Injuries
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If you are injured on the job in McHenry County and you have trouble getting your benefits, you do not file a lawsuit. Instead, you file a claim with the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission in Woodstock.
The commission has many locations throughout the state. Your claim is assigned to the location closest to the site of the injury. If you suffer a work-related injury in McHenry County, your claim will be assigned to an arbitrator at the McHenry Government Center in Woodstock, located at 2200 N. Seminary, Room A 140. If you are injured out of state, your claim will be assigned to the location closest to your home. So if you are injured in Wisconsin, but you live in McHenry County, your case will still be assigned to the Government Center in Woodstock.
You should file a claim with the Commission as soon as possible after an injury. There are strict time limits on notifying your employer and filing claims in these cases. It is important not to miss the deadline because you may lose your only chance to file a claim. The time limit for filing a claim is generally three years from the date of the injury, but be sure to check with an experienced attorney.
Your claim will be assigned to an arbitrator in Woodstock. Once every two months your case will be up for review by the arbitrator. These are called status hearings, where both parties and their attorneys appear before the arbitrator to discuss the status of the case. This process goes on until there is either a settlement or a trial. A trial can be requested by either side during a status hearing.
If the case goes on for too long without progress – generally three years – the arbitrator can dismiss the claim. The arbitrators are very busy, with possibly a thousand cases or more, so it is your responsibility, and your attorney’s, to move the case forward and take action when there is a problem.
Every case is different. Some cases last many years because there is a very serious injury. Others last years because the lawyer who is handling the case is lazy and does not push for a trial if a settlement can’t be reached.
If the parties reach a settlement, the arbitrator must approve it before it becomes final. If there is a trial, the arbitrator will make a decision within 60 days after the trial ends. The process may take a couple of years. However, emergency hearings are available in certain situations, such as when medical payments or lost time are involved.
The commission is neutral, just like a court, so we recommend hiring an attorney to fight for you. We believe you will get the best results with an attorney who specializes in work injuries, who appears before the McHenry County arbitrators regularly, and who is respected by the insurance companies. There is only one Arbitrator for work injuries in Woodstock so getting a lawyer who regularly appears before that Arbitrator and knows their tendencies can often be the difference between winning and losing. People come to us to find the right lawyer for on the job injuries.
Lawyer fees in Illinois work injury cases are limited to 20% of what you recover for the permanent nature of your injury. The attorneys that we recommend almost never charge a fee for getting medical bills paid or payments for time off of work unless court action is required.
If any of this is confusing, or if you have any questions, you are welcome to contact our office and speak to one of our lawyers for free any time. We promise to listen to what you have to say and point you in the right direction.
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