Illinois Lawyer Referrals and Legal Guidance
Injuries in Illinois Workers' Compensation Claims
Findgreatlawyers.com is a free service, run by Illinois lawyers, to find an attorney or obtain guidance for any Illinois legal matter, including Illinois workers' compensation cases. Our founding attorneys are Chicago workers' compensation lawyers and we are able to help people that contact us with work injury questions probably better than in any area of law that we help with. Please call us at (312) 346-5320 or (800) 517-1614 or fill out our contact us form and we will contact you. All inquiries are kept in strict confidence.
There are many injuries that can arise out of and in the course of one's employment that result in an Illinois workers compensation case. The following are examples of some of the injuries that can be pursued. To learn if your injury is covered under Illinois workers comp laws contact our office to be connected with an experienced Illinois workers compensation lawyer.
Traumatic Physical Injuries in Illinois Workers Compensation Claims
Most Illinois workers compensation claims will fall into the category of traumatic physical injuries caused by an accident. This means a specific incident caused a specific accident at a specific time. An example would be lifting a box at work and feeling a pop in your back. Another example would be slipping on wet stairs and twisting your knee.
If you have a specific accident on the job, be sure to report it to a supervisor as soon as possible. When you seek medical treatment make sure that you give your doctor a description as to exactly how you hurt yourself. Insurance companies often deny work injury cases in Illinois because a worker did not give a detailed description to a doctor or supervisor. We often see employers tell their co-workers to lie to the doctor and say that their accident was not on the job. If you do this you will most likely hurt yourself in the end because it will make your case difficult to prove. You could find yourself without a job and with no workers' compensation benefits.
Repetitive Trauma Injuries in Illinois Workers Compensation Claims
Instead of one accident occurring and causing harm, repetitive trauma injuries consist of injuries that happen over a period of time. This typically happens when a worker is required to repeat certain physical movements in order to do their job. For example, if a worker has to use his arms and shoulders to complete his or her job over and over again each day, repetitive injury can occur to the arms and shoulders because of the excessive strain put on that part of the body. Often secretaries in Illinois will develop carpal tunnel syndrome from the frequent typing that they have to do.
As soon as you suspect that you have developed a condition from repetitive trauma at work, you should report it to a supervisor. In addition, when you see a doctor you should give them a detailed description of your job activities. Even if you have a pre-existing condition, in Illinois if your job has caused, aggravated or accelerated your injury it should be covered under Illinois workers' compensation laws.
Mental Injuries
Mental injuries are psychological injuries that either result from a physical incident or from a mental strain. For example if an Illinois worker sees a co-worker have their hand cut off in a machine and as a result begins to have nightmares and a fear of working they may be able to pursue an Illinois workers comp case. Another example would be someone who gets hurt on the job and then becomes depressed because of their physical injury. Since that is a continuance of a physical injury the worker would be able to have their counseling covered by their workers' comp benefits.
Occupational Diseases
Workers compensation benefits will be awarded in Illinois if you can prove that you contracted a disease from your work environment that you would not have ordinarily developed in every day life. An example would be an exposure to fumes that resulted in lung scarring.
In Illinois, the attorneys that we recommend for work injury cases almost exclusively handle workers compensation matters in Illinois. Because they are focused on one area we believe that they are best suited to know the Arbitrator's and the laws and achieve the best results for their clients. If you want to speak with an experienced, tough and knowledgeable IL workers' compensation attorney please contact us and we will refer you to the lawyer that we feel could best handle your case.
Findgreatlawyers.com is a free service, run by Illinois lawyers, to help people with any Illinois legal matter. From Chicago to Belleville, to Peoria to Rockford and all locations in between, we will use our best efforts to help you with your legal situation.