Illinois Lawyer Referrals and Legal Guidance
Kane County Workers’ Compensation Lawyers
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If you are injured on the job in Kane 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 Geneva.
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 Kane County, your claim will be assigned to an arbitrator at the Kane County Courthouse in Geneva, located at 100 S. 3rd St. 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 Texas, but you live in Kane County, your case will still be assigned to the Geneva Courthouse. Remeber, even though claims are heard at the courthouse, a claim is not a lawsuit.
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 or two years from the last payment of compensation, whichever is later. Be sure to check with an experienced attorney as to when your time limits are as every case is different and failure to file in time will bar your case forever.
Your claim will be assigned to an arbitrator in Geneva. 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 more than a thousand cases so it is your attorney’s responsibility to move the case forward and take action when there is a problem.
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 altogether may take a couple of years, but that really depends on the unique details of your case. If there is a dispute and benefits are being denied then emergency hearings are available to address whether or not the employer has to pay medical bills or time off of work.
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 focuses on work injuries, who appears before the Kane County arbitrators regularly, and who is respected by the insurance companies and their defense attorneys as a fighter for his clients.
Lawyer fees in Illinois work injury cases are limited to 20% of what you recover. The lawyers we recommend usually only handle work injury cases and are very strong advocates for their clients.
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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