When you think about the possibility of a motor vehicle accident, you might imagine a cut-and-dry situation in which one driver is clearly at fault and the other is a victim. In reality, many car accidents involve multiple drivers who are partially responsible for the...
In a case involving a schoolteacher obtaining an increased award of permanency from the Commission on appeal, both the arbitrator and the Commission decided in favor of the teacher (even though the Commission was more generous in awarding benefits). See Preschool...
Recently, an Appellate Court decision in Illinois reinforced the legal principle that the “open and obvious” doctrine is not a get-out-of-jail-free card for tortfeasors. In Fox v. Ameren, the Fourth District Appellate Court found that an injury alleged to be caused by...
In a case involving an employee’s tripping incident on a Chicago city bus, both the arbitrator and the Commission decided in favor of the employee. See Bus driver picks up benefits for tripping injury at work. Illinois Workers’ Compensation Law Bulletin, Volume 29,...
If you recently filed a workers' compensation claim in Illinois and received a denial, you probably have a lot of questions about your case and where to go from here. While Illinois workers' compensation law exists to benefit employees like you, sometimes things do...
In a case involving the question of whether a claimant’s neck pain was caused by and/or related to her work-related arm and shoulder injuries, both the Arbitrator and the Commission answered said question in the negative, finding that the two were unrelated. See...
Most everyone is familiar with liability contracts. Whether you’ve been asked to sign one before participating in a sporting or merely as a requirement to use a swimming pool or gym, contracts regularly ask us to give up legal rights in order to utilize a service. But...
In a case involving a lengthy appeal of the Commission’s decision to award permanent partial disability (“PPD”) benefits to a claimant, the Appellate Court affirmed the decision of the Circuit Court, which in turn had affirmed the Commission’s aforesaid PPD award to...
As an individual, I follow the cases considered by the United States Supreme Court rather closely. This is, I will admit, more a matter of personal interest than professional necessity. A majority of cases fall into areas of law that I don’t practice in. For example,...
In a case that involved an award of attorney’s fees requested by an association of manufacturing concerns, that had filed a restraining order and complaint for an injunction against the Illinois Worker’s Compensation Commission (or “IWCC”), in response to an emergency...