Important Recent Case Law for Illinois

Monday, March 31, 2014 | 0

NEW! Donald W. Fohrman & Associates v. Marc D. Alberts, 2011 CH 03229, (03/14/2014): The Appellate Court ruled that a workers' compensation firm was not entitled to the referral fees it claimed to be due from a personal injury firm to which it had referred clients.

Village of Villa Park v. Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission, 10-MR-000027, (02/06/2014): The Illinois Appellate Court will not reconsider its determination that a police officer who fell while descending a flight of stairs at work was entitled to compensation for his back injury.

Bartlow v. Costigan, 115152, (02/21/2014): The Illinois Supreme Court rejected a constitutional challenge to the state's Employee Classification Act, finding its provisions on how to determine if a worker is an independent contractor or an employee were not impermissibly vague.

Carrillo v. Park Ridge Firefighters' Pension Fund, 1-13-0656, (02/14/2014): The Appellate Court ruled that a 40-year-old firefighter with a history of knee problems which predated her employment as a firefighter was not entitled to line-of-duty disability benefits when her knee condition stopped her from continuing to work.

Williams v. BNSF Railway Co., 06 L 8509, (01/31/2014): The Illinois Appellate Court is standing by its determination that a railway's failure to file a notice of appeal within 30 days of a trial judge's oral denial of its post-trial motions for relief from a jury's verdict was fatal to its ability to review the verdict.

Green v. Papa, 5-13-0029, (02/05/2014): The Appellate Court of Illinois ruled that an attorney did not commit malpractice in his representation of a client who received less than a full recovery on a claim before the court of claims based on the court of claims' erroneous – but final and binding – finding that the client's workplace injury was the superseding cause of her damages and need for medical treatment.

Ferris, Thompson & Zweig v. Esposito, No. 2-13-0129, (02/05/2014): A dispute between law firms about the appropriate division of fees between them from the successful settlement of a joint client's workers' compensation case does not belong before the state Industrial Commission, according to the Appellate Court of Illinois.

Ramirez v. FCL Builders, 08 L 6482, (01/31/2014): The Illinois Appellate Court upheld a jury's $1.588 million verdict against a general contractor for a roofer's back injury.

City of Chicago v. Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission, 1-12-1507WC, (01/23/2014): A decision by the city of Chicago's firefighters' retirement board that a trainee suffered no permanent disability barred the claimant's claim for continuing disability benefits after the date of that decision, the Illinois Appellate Court ruled, reversing the Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission.

Illinois State Treasurer v. Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission, 120549WC, (01/22/2014): The Illinois state treasurer's failure to file an appeal bond doomed its bid to overturn a Workers' Compensation Commission award to a home health-care worker who was injured while working for an uninsured employer, the Illinois 1st District Appellate Court ruled.