Bloomington Illinois Work Injury Attorney

Illinois Workers’ Compensation Judges, who are called Arbitrators, will look closely at your first doctor visit record.

The Arbitrator is reviewing when you went to the doctor and what you told the doctor.

If you delay several weeks in seeing the doctor, the Arbitrator may question why you waited. Were you truly injured at work?

If you do not tell the doctor that you were injured at work, you are most likely going to lose your case.

Arbitrators believe that if you were hurt on the job you will tell the doctor immediately because it is such an important event in your life.

Do not give the Arbitrator any reason to doubt your testimony.

Go to the doctor right away and tell everyone you see at the hospital or doctor’s office how you were hurt on the job.

Questions about your work injury case? Feel free to contact Illinois Work Injury lawyer Dirk May at 309-827-4371.

Last week we discussed medical marijuana and Illinois Workers’ Compensation injuries.

This week we will discuss some work place issues in light of the legalization of recreational marijuana use in Illinois that was passed last weekend.

The Governor has indicated he will sign the bill and it will become effective January 1, 2020. (Not on 4-20, Just a joke)

Employers may still enact policies against marijuana use and drug test. They may also fire someone for having marijuana in their system.

The work injury issue that may come up is if you are injured and you test positive for marijuana.

There is a rebuttable presumption in Illinois law that if a person is found intoxicated it is the proximate cause of the injury and not compensable.

The injured worker is allowed to provide evidence to challenge that the intoxication was not the proximate cause of the accident.

An example might be an object falls on a person and injures her. She might be able to argue that stoned or not she was going to get hit and injured.

There will be a large number of unanswered questions regarding work injuries and the new marijuana law.

Questions about your work injury? Feel free to contact Illinois Work Injury Lawyer Dirk May at 309-827-4371.

In Illinois once you have a work injury you are entitled to 3 rights.

The insurance company should pay your work injury medical bills.

It should pay you for time off work.

Finally, you should be paid a settlement when you are released from the Doctor.

Some insurance companies will “forget” to tell you about the settlement.

It saves them a lot of money if the injured worker does not pursue the settlement.

Do not let that happen to you.

Make sure to contact an experienced workers’ compensation attorney to get the settlement you are entitled to.

Questions about your work injury? Feel free to contact Illinois Work Injury Attorney Dirk May at 309-827-4371.

You can make 2 types of mistakes in settling your Illinois Workers’ Compensation case.

You may settle for a lower value than what your case is worth.

You can prevent this through consulting with an experienced Illinois Workers’ Compensation Attorney. An experienced attorney can evaluate your case and determine a range of value.

The second type of mistake is to fail to settle for fair value and take your case to trial, and either lose or be awarded an amount below the settlement offer.

You cannot have a do over once you go to trial.

In other words, you cannot ask for the settlement offer after the trial. It is off the table.

Once you go to trial whatever the Arbitrator rules is what you get.

Once again you may avoid this fate through an experienced Illinois Workers’ Compensation Attorney. The attorney can spot your cases weaknesses and what the Arbitrator will look for.

You must pay attention to what your attorney says or you may have a very discouraging result.

Remember, it is better to have more money than less money or even no money.

Questions about your work injury case and its value? Feel free to contact Illinois Work Injury Attorney Dirk May at 309-827-4371.