Synopsis: OK, IL WC Bar—Now What Do We Do With SB 1596?? Are “Latent Injuries” Truly In The Mix? Editor’s comment: As I reported a week ago, ITLA got its wish and obtained the enactment of SB 1596 that is nutty, confusing and perplexing legislation which, for the first time, allows IL workers to sue their employers in Circuit Court for negligently causing whatever the heck “latent injuries” might be. As you will read, I don’t agree the term “latent injuries” should actually be used but seek my readers and industry comment about that irritating and somewhat “crazy-making” term. The…

Synopsis: Illinois’ Legal System Continues to Get More Judicial “Hell-Hole-y.” Editor’s comment: The American Tort Reform Association puts out a Rotten Tomatoes-type ranking of U.S. litigation systems they call Judicial “Hell-Holes.” Their goal is to let you, me and your friends know what things in our courts start to smell of limburger cheese. In my view, what just happened to our State stinks to high heaven. Now we have to wait and see what our wacky Illinois courts do with this new and shocking concept. Please also remember the terms in this legislation like “latent injury” and “statutes of repose”…

Synopsis: What to Do When the Unforeseen Happens—Incident Investigation.   Editor’s comment: Please note I am very reluctant to use the word “accident.” All my friends and scholars in the National and Local Safety Councils have convinced me to use the term “incident” to avoid anyone implying an “accident” means compensability. The word “incident” works much better—Please consider changing your “accident investigation” forms to reflect this concept.   Either way, when a catastrophic incident occurs, prompt and efficient collection of fresh evidence is critical to minimizing your liability exposure. If you don’t get evidence in 24 hours, it will rapidly…

Synopsis: Don’t Be Fooled When Settling Medical Exposure in Illinois Workers’ Comp.   Editor’s comment: There are a number of traps and pitfalls in handling/managing IL WC claims. I consider the worst to be   Amputations; Death claims Medical settlements.   If you have questions or concerns about amputation or death claims in IL WC, send me a reply and I can help, I promise. I don’t charge for routine advice.   On medical settlements, I recently had several plaintiff/petitioner lawyers send settlement contracts or request settlement contracts that settled PPD but sought this language to settle 8a or medical rights: “Respondent…

Synopsis:IL WC Commission WC Fraud Busters Suffer Budget Cuts?? Really—Is That Where Gov’t Budget Cutting Should Start?   Editor’s comment: Noting our State Government is awash in a tsunami of red ink, we were amazed and not surprised to receive news the IWCC is cutting its WC Fraud Busters budget yet again. This might be due to an across-the-board State budget cutting push to decrease all spending by 4%.   We note the IWCC isn’t appointing all the Arbitrators they could otherwise have but there is no true sense of “budget-cutting” anywhere in our State gov’t that I can tell or…

Synopsis: TTE or Temporary Transitional Employment May Be Coming to an IL WC Claim Near You!   Editor’s comment: A wonderful reader sent me a recent IL WC Commission decision regarding TTE or Temporary Transitional Employment for injured IL workers. This is a concept used and actually required in many State’s WC systems.   The issue concerns Temporary Transitional Employment (TTE) where the employer doesn’t have focused light duty work but sends Petitioner to a non-profit, charity or other similar facility that can accommodate restrictions.   I am sure getting injured employees back to work can make a huge difference in lowering the cost of…

Synopsis: Back to the Basics–Overview and Definition of Workers’ Comp Benefits. Editor’s comment: Every now and then, I consider it a strong idea to go back to the basics. Workers’ comp benefits arise when a given worker suffers an accident or disease that “arises out of” and occurs “in the course of” employ. This is shortened to AOO/ICO in WC parlance. In short, not everything that happens at work is covered but lots of stuff is.   Once suffering a work-related disease or illness, workers’ comp across the world provides three main benefits for injured workers: medical care, temporary total disability and permanency.…

Synopsis: Keefe, Campbell, Biery & Associates Closes WC Claims Faster Than Our Competition. Try Us and See!!! Editor’s comment: I/we continue to tell clients and potential clients, KCB&A closes our WC files faster than our competition. We have a number of great approaches to doing so. First and foremost, we are the only Midwest Defense Firm whose motto is “The Only Good File Is A Closed One!” We are committed to closure of your toughest WC claims in the five States we practice in. We assume you have set aside reserves for each claim and there is a cost involved…

Synopsis: As JB Pritzker settles in at the Governor’s Mansion in Illinois, the Winds of Change are picking up at the Workers’ Compensation Commission. Editor’s Comment: The 2011 changes to the Workers’ Compensation Act, followed by the tenure of former Republican Governor Bruce Rauner, moved the IL WC Commission from a highly Petitioner-oriented venue to one where most practitioners felt it had become, for the most part, a fair ruling body. This is a matter of perspective, of course. We are able to happily report the IL WC system is in the middle of the pack in terms of both…

Synopsis: The Illinois State Chamber Sends Veto Letter to Gov. Pritzker to Try to Block IL SB 1956. I Urge All Illinois Businesses and Local Gov’ts to Join and Support His Efforts. Editor’s comment: I salute the President of the IL Chamber Todd Maisch for his effort to save the structure of the IL WC system and avoid having lots of IL employers become uninsured for this new giant exposure and otherwise give them additional motivation to leave this State. For local gov’ts, I assure you this legislation isn’t going to apply to just the private sector—these lawyers will come…

Synopsis: INSURANCE ALERT—YOUR ILLINOIS OPERATIONS ARE ABOUT TO BE BARE/UNCOVERED FOR MAJOR RISK—READ THIS ARTICLE, CALL YOUR INSURANCE BROKER RIGHT NOW! Analysis by Bradley J. Smith, J.D. and Eugene F. Keefe, J.D.   Editor’s Comment: We reported to our readers a few weeks ago the Illinois Legislature was considering IL Senate Bill 1596. Fast forward 14 days and here it is: that didn’t take long, did it! Both Houses in our ITLA-controlled legislature passed SB 1596. Now the bill only awaits Governor Pritzker’s rubber stamp of approval by signing it with no apparent foresight to its effects on Illinois’ already…

Synopsis: Not All Injuries Occurring in the Workplace Are Covered Under Workers’ Comp—Thoughts from the Bard–Thomas A. Robinson, co-author, Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law Editor’s comment: Mr. Robinson and the team at Larson’s published some amazing thoughts that I consider to be a must-read for anyone managing U.S. work comp claims. If you want the equivalent of the Bible on U.S. Work Comp, subscribe to Larson’s. Mr. Robinson confirms there are important developments in workers’ compensation law as reported in the latest release of Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law, which is scheduled to ship to customers this June. To subscribe to Larson’s…

Synopsis: Open up the Floodgates! And Now the Town is Gone… Illinois Legislature Proposes a Statutory Exception to the IL Workers Compensation Act With Uncapped Liability for “Latent Injuries.” Analysis by Bradley J. Smith, J.D. and Eugene F. Keefe, J.D. Editor’s Comment: Please note our nutty State is in a very odd political situation—we are a “one-party State.” In short, there is literally nothing the Republicans in Springfield can do other than to let the voters know what is happening and then see if public opinion will sway the dominant Democratic party. IL Democrats have super-majorities in both the IL…