If you get into a car accident in Chicago or a nearby area that is not your fault and you have an injury, there is some advice to know. Call the police so there’s an official report of what happened. Go to the doctor ASAP so your injuries can be documented. Oh, and get ready to be flooded with calls, texts and even in person visits from personal injury attorneys or their representatives.

That’s right, if you get hurt in a car accident and there’s a police report or any other injury that makes the news, scumbag PI lawyers, especially in the Chicago area, will be seeking you out.

When I became a lawyer I was certainly naive and didn’t think this type of stereotypical ambulance chasing actually happened. But it does all of the time.

Some attorneys have cops that they pay to either hand out their business cards or give them information on accidents. Others buy traffic crash reports which contains your personal information. Some will merely send you a letter or post card. If it says “lawyer advertisement” on it, that’s considered permissible free speech.

What they aren’t supposed to do under Illinois ethic laws is solicit you verbally if they don’t have a prior relationship with you. The way they get around that is to have “runners”, who are non-attorneys, approach you and try to get you to sign. And it won’t be 1-2 people contacting you, but 10-20 firms or more trying this slimy tactic. I can’t imagine running a business in that way.

The ARDC or Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission is in charge of licensing and disciplining attorneys in Illinois. They surely must be aware of this not so hidden secret as it’s routinely discussed on various listservs and it’s being done in such a blatant way. Just recently within 24 hours I had two calls from potential clients. One was talking to a non-lawyer who had shown up at her home to try and sign her family member up. The other was injured while in town on vacation and had received numerous calls and texts.

There are hundreds of great, ethical attorneys who would never take this approach. There are also hundreds who are doing it because they don’t think they can compete any other way or they just don’t care about ethics. Many of those are from nation wide firms who are setting up shop in Chicago and other major cities and aren’t really here, at least not in terms of having their main lawyers in Chicago.

And this is just a symptom of a huge ethical problem in the legal industry. Some claims I’ve heard repeated beyond all of this include:

  • Allegedly the major accidents division of the Chicago Police Department routing cases to certain lawyers for referral fees (which is illegal).
  • Church leaders receiving compensation for directing members to certain lawyers.
  • Injury firms throwing golf outings and other parties for union leaders, cops and other referral sources where they have a “raffle” in which everyone wins a prize that includes lavish trips, big screen TV’s, cash, etc.
  • Law firms buying gifts and groceries for injury victims to entice them to sign (also illegal).

Any time I hear from someone who says they’ve been solicited in unethical ways, I strenuously encourage them to report the lawyer/law firm to the ARDC. I’ve probably made that recommendation over 100 times. I know other lawyers have done the same. Yet I can’t recall one disciplinary investigation over this in the last decade. It’s certain that nothing has been done to dissuade this predatory behavior. And I have no idea why.

I usually hear from people who have been approached in one of two ways. The first is that they are being flooded with calls and contacts and don’t know what to do. They usually find this approach as gross as I do. The second is a couple of years after the case is going on when they get a settlement offer. I usually hear something like, “I signed with this lawyer because he promised me my case was worth at least a million dollars, but now he’s telling me to settle for $75,000.”

In almost every instance when that happens and I ask how they got the lawyer in the first place, they tell me the attorney reached out to them.

On behalf of every Illinois attorney who believes in ethics and that attorneys whose actions bring shame on the legal system as a whole should be disciplined, I’m begging the ARDC to show leadership in a way that appears to have been lacking.

A woman called me and said she was in a car accident and hired an attorney right away because she saw a commercial where the attorney told her on the TV that they could tell her on day one with the case was worth. That is complete and utter nonsense. Of course, this is a firm that is known for doing questionable things and we get a lot of calls from their unhappy clients.

The reason it’s nonsense is there is no way to tell after an accident or even a week or two later what your ultimate injury will be. It’s not uncommon to feel fine after an accident because of adrenaline, but then notice terrible neck or back pain a couple of days later. Nobody knows what medical care you will have, what financial loss you will suffer, how this will impact you in the future, etc.

The only possible exception to this would be if someone was killed, but even then, you’d not likely know the extent of any insurance that was available and there’s no guarantee that an insurance policy is going to be offered. You also likely don’t know much about the at fault party and what assets they have beyond insurance. You might think they were driving their personal vehicle, but later discover that they were driving for work. That could dramatically change how much money a case ultimately is worth.

I get why people want to know what their case is worth. But only slimy attorneys tell you that right away because they know that they are lying just to get you to sign up. There are so many variables that could determine the ultimate outcome.

An honest attorney who will truly look out for you will tell you they can’t answer the “what is my case worth?” question, but will show you how their track record of success can help you get the most money in the end. They will also discuss ways that they can protect you along the way as well as all of the do’s and don’ts to be aware of such as not posting on social media about your case.

In general it’s a good idea to avoid the types of lawyers who tell you what you want to hear. They are comparable to slick used car salesmen. We don’t ever do that, but instead talk to you directly and honestly. We treat our callers like they are family members or friends and leave all the BS out. If you’d like a FREE consultation with an attorney, contact us any time at 312-346-5320.

I get calls all of the time from people who have done nothing wrong looking for an Illinois criminal defense attorney. It’s usually some version of the police called me or came looking for me.

When they are innocent, they will often tell me that they want to go talk to the police. “I didn’t do anything wrong, so what should I be afraid of.” Or, “They’ve got nothing on me, and I can explain what really happened.”

I’m here to tell you to never ever talk to the police. You might like/love cops and it doesn’t matter, don’t do it. You might have a simple explanation as to what happened. Don’t do it. You have a constitutional right to remain silent and should at all times.

But don’t take my word for it. Listen to this criminal defense attorney who articulates why you should never talk way better than I can.

So even if you are innocent or just want it to go away, keep your mouth shut. Call a criminal defense attorney and let them do the talking for you. It will save you time, money, embarrassment, and so much more. If you have questions or want an attorney referral, call us any time at 312-346-5320.

Prostate cancer is cancer that occurs in the prostate, found only in the male body. The prostate is a small walnut-shaped gland that produces seminal fluid that nourishes and transports sperm.

Most of us know someone who has had or currently has prostate cancer. It is one of the most common types of cancer. Prostate cancers can grow slowly, stay in the prostate gland, and not cause much harm. However, other types of prostate cancer are much more aggressive and can quickly spread. Early detection is critical because the best chance for successful treatment is when the cancer has not spread beyond the prostate gland. It’s when it’s not caught early, but should be that you may have a medical malpractice lawsuit in Illinois.

Urologists and primary care doctors should offer prostate cancer screenings to their male patients starting at age 50. For those men who are at a higher risk (for example, they have a family history of prostate cancer), screenings should be offered before age 50. For most men, screenings every 2-3 years is appropriate, but that can vary based on the results of your first screening.

There are two tests doctors use to detect prostate cancer. Both are simple and can be performed during a doctor’s office visit.

One is the PSA test. That is a prostate-specific antigen blood test. It measures a protein in the blood that is usually high if there is a prostate problem. However, this protein isn’t always elevated when cancer is present. So a second test, a DRE, or digital rectal exam, is also needed. The doctor manually examines the patient’s prostate for irregularities such as unusual size, texture, and shape.

Usually the process of prostate cancer detection and treatment goes smoothly. Unfortunately though, we have seen our share of medical malpractice cases due to doctor error. Those medical mistakes that delay the diagnosis of prostate cancer include the failure to:

• Offer (or at least recommend) routine prostate cancer screening

• Offer (or at least recommend) early prostate cancer screening for men at an increase risk
• Order a PSA test
• Perform a digital rectal exam
• Follow up thoroughly on PSA test results
• Investigate any suspicious findings from the tests

Because early detection and treatment is so important, a medical mistake (i.e. preventable delay) can cause a severe negative impact on the patient. Injuries from the failure to diagnose prostate cancer can include:

• Death
• Inoperable cancer
• Much more aggressive, invasive, and/or expensive treatment than would have been necessary (surgery, radiation, chemotherapy)
• Extreme pain
• Loss of sexual function
• Much longer recovery time
• Lost wages from being unable to work
• Long-term disability or permanent disability

We’ve been involved in a lot of lawsuits for failure to diagnose prostate cancer. The most common reason seems to be a failure to follow up on a high PSA test result. An experienced attorney who has successfully handled these failure-to-diagnose cases can help you or a loved one get the justice and compensation you deserve.

There is no cost to start an investigation into a case and we only get paid if we are successful. If you’d like to discuss a case, please call us any time at 312-346-5320 to speak with a lawyer for free.

I was sitting at a sporting event recently, talking to a friend. Her teenage daughter who is about to graduate was there and somehow the topic turned to “What do you wish you knew when you were younger?” That led to us discussing legal advice people that call us wish they knew. Here is some legal advice for the Class of 2024 and everyone else too.

Never co-sign a loan for someone – If you do and they don’t pay, you are just as responsible for the loan as they are. In 23+ years of running this website, we’ve talked to hundreds of people who have done this and see it go sideways. A typical call is something like: “My boyfriend couldn’t get a car on his own so I co-signed for him, but the vehicle is in his name. We broke up and now he’s not making payments. The finance company is coming after me. What can I do?” The answer is to pay off the debt and go after the ex.

It’s not just romantic partners. We see this issue with parents and kids, other relatives, best buddies and even casual acquaintances. The people who co-sign are usually well intentioned, but as they say, no good deed goes unpunished.

Don’t drive a car you are not insured on or let someone use your car who isn’t insured on it – If you do this it could blow up your life financially. Basically you risk being on the hook for an uninsured accident. If that happens, the Secretary of State could suspend your license until you pay off the damages. That could be tens of thousands you owe out of pocket. In other words, if you are at a party and your friend is too drunk to drive, if you drive their car for them, you could be screwing yourself. Call an Uber or find someone sober who’s on the insurance to drive.

We see this happen a lot where a friend or relative borrows a car and they aren’t thinking anything bad could come of it. The reality is that if you borrow a car, it’s similar to buying a car and not getting insurance on it. And if you loan someone your car, you can be personally responsible potentially if they drive negligently.

Get a pre-nuptial agreement – Nobody thinks their marriage is going to end in divorce, and hopefully it won’t. Some people think a pre-nup isn’t romantic and is only for rich people. What it really is, is a contract to decide how things will get handled if the marriage goes sideways. It can save you both a lot of heartache and money if a divorce does happen. It’s much better to negotiate the terms of a divorce when you are loving each other than when you are hating each other.

Move over one lane or drastically slow down if you see an emergency vehicle on the side of the road – Those who fail to do this get what is called a Scott’s Law violation, named after an emergency responder who was killed on the side of the road. It requires you to move over a lane or slow down in these situations. Those who don’t risk a suspension of their license and a fine up to $10,000. Many people who get these tickets actually do so in a sting operation where there’s a second police car up the road waiting to pull you over.

Get a will and health care power of attorney done even if you have no kids or spouse – The power of attorney form is especially important. It dictates what will happen if you can’t make medical decisions on your own. And you can do the same with your finances. This isn’t for old people, it’s for everyone. You are one bad accident or illness away from needing it. Be prepared.

Don’t sign a birth certificate if you aren’t 100% sure you are the father and even then you might want a paternity test – If you do and later learn you aren’t the father, you likely will still be on the hook for child support payments.

It’s very hard to find a free lawyer, but there’s one tip for doing so – While there are great organizations in Illinois who provide free legal help, they seem to be hard to get. My advice is that if you can’t find a free lawyer is to Google, “What are the 20 biggest law firms in Chicago?” Most of them have a pro-bono department where newer attorneys will represent you for free under the supervision of more experienced attorneys.

Your cousin, friend, neighbor, etc. who is a lawyer probably isn’t right for you – When hiring a lawyer, think of hiring a doctor to do a surgery. You want to hire someone who makes that area of law their main practice focus. Too often, especially in personal injury cases, lawyers with no experience in a subject area take on a case they aren’t qualified for. You go to them because you know them. They should tell you that it’s not their area of expertise or that they’ll refer you to someone who is better suited to help you. We get a couple of calls a month from someone who got screwed over by someone they trusted and it’s usually because that lawyer thought they’d make an easy buck. Look out for yourself by getting an attorney in your corner that clearly knows what they are doing.

Get it in writing – It’s not that verbal contracts can’t be enforced. They can, but they are also open to interpretation. When you have a well written agreement, it takes away all of the ambiguity and spells out what to do if there is a problem. So if you lend your friend $5,000 and they don’t pay it back, a contract will prevent them from lying in court and saying it’s a gift. If the place you are buying a car from says they’ll give you free tune ups for a year, but it’s not in the contract, you don’t really have it. If you start a business with someone and they tell you that you will be a part owner, a contract proves it. Get agreements in writing. It’s the safest and smartest thing to do.

I hope these tips help. If you have any questions or need help finding a lawyer, contact us any time at 312-346-5320.

When you visit a hospital, you don’t go there thinking that it’s going to result in a lawsuit. You are there to get better and it’s only when something goes terribly wrong that you or your loved ones think about finding a lawyer to sue.

When that happens, it’s likely you’ll learn a lot about the legal system you didn’t know. For example, there are time limits for bringing a lawsuit. To sue for malpractice in Illinois you need the opinion of a medical expert that malpractice occurred. You’ll also learn that these are difficult cases that take a lot of time.

One thing I learned that I didn’t hear about until I was licensed for more than ten years is that sometimes you’ll be shocked over who you actually have to sue, and that can change the rules. One such situation happens to many people who go to West Suburban Hospital and many other medical facilities in the Chicago area.

Many of the doctors there are actually Federal Government employees. Sometimes this is done to provide assistance to those in under-served or poorer areas. Other times it’s done to help military doctors keep up with the skills that they need.

Whatever the reason, most patients don’t even know they are seeing a Federally employed doctor. They are just there to get medical care. But if you experience malpractice it’s incredibly important to know who the doctor truly works for. These lawsuits are governed by the Federal Torts Claim Act (FTCA) and have their own rules.

First off, the time limit to sue Federal doctors is different. It’s two years which can be the same as regular Illinois cases, but it’s way shorter if you are talking about a birth injury or injury to a minor. In those cases you might think you have eight years to sue (Illinois law) but you really only have two (Federal law). So if you aren’t aware of this and wait too long, it could literally cost you millions.

The other big difference is that before you sue a Federal doctor, you have to file what’s called a Form 95 that lays out the facts and asks for specific compensation. This gives the government time to respond and has to be done before a suit can happen. Beware, you can’t receive more than you ask for so it’s important to ask for a large number even if that number is unrealistic.

The final difference is where the case gets filed. It has to happen in Federal Court. That expands the jury pool and can often make it harder to get a big recovery.

All of this is of course why it’s really important to get an attorney who has years of handling these cases and knows what to look for, how to win them, can afford to bring these very expensive cases and has a track record of success.

If you would like our opinion as to which Illinois attorney is best for your medical malpractice lawsuit, please contact us any time at 312-346-5320.

We are in the throes of wedding season. I just celebrated my 25th anniversary, and I haven’t been to a wedding for a couple of years. But not too long ago, I was going to what felt like one wedding a week, and I’m sure there are plenty of 20- and 30-somethings who are going through that now, or even getting married themselves.

With that in mind, I thought I’d put together a list of legal tips for those getting married. I’m an Illinois attorney and while it’s possible these tips apply in other states, they are meant for Illinois. Now that I have that lawyer disclaimer out of the way …

  1. Get a prenup. If you do that, most of this list becomes obsolete. It’s the smartest thing you can do and I wish it was mandatory for everyone getting married. Note that it can’t be done last minute if you want it to hold up.
  2. Assuming no pre-nup, remember that things acquired during the marriage are considered marital assets. Each spouse has an interest in them.
  3. If you owned a house before the marriage, it’s not likely a marital asset unless you put your spouse’s name on the title. If you aren’t on the title it’s worth discussing having that changed.
  4. If you are married to someone who starts a business during the marriage, that is also considered a marital asset. That includes people who become partners in doctor’s groups or other professional environments.
  5. Items inherited during a marriage are not marital assets unless you co-mingle them with the marital funds. If you need to know how to prevent that or require a more detailed explanation, give us a call. Generally speaking though if you inherit money and don’t want it to be a marital asset, open up a bank account in your name only and put the money there.
  6. Earnings from 401k or pension plans before a marriage aren’t marital assets, but the day you get married, your spouse has an interest in that money from that day forward.
  7. If one of you gets cold feet and calls it off, that can affect who keeps the engagement ring. If you proposed and call it off, the ring is a gift. If you were given the ring and call it off, you have to give the ring back.
  8. If you’ve been paying rent on your fiance’s home or helping with the upkeep, you are legally most likely just a tenant.
  9. Being on a mortgage or lease payment (like a car for example) doesn’t convey ownership rights if it happens outside the marriage.
  10. Getting married or not has nothing to do with kids and custody. That is based on the best interests of the child.
  11. While a pre-nup is best, you can always do a post-nuptial agreement.

The hope of course is that you’ll have a long, happy marriage. But it’s always best to be informed and prepared. If you have any questions please call us at 312-346-5320.

It’s not unusual for me to hear someone say, “There ought to be a law …” and me tell them that what they are saying makes sense. Sometimes it’s something where a law could actually happen and other times it’s them seeing something that isn’t run efficiently and wanting to improve it.

I thought of that as I reflected on the college application process. I’ve been fortunate that my kids have both ended up at great places which seem to be perfect fits for them. But the horror stories I’ve heard along the way calls for some changes to be made to the process.

First off, the gaming of the system and advantage that wealthy families have is out of control. If you are a college admissions officer and are blown away by an applicant’s essay, chances are that it was edited or even partially written by a highly paid college counselor. If you are impressed that a kid did volunteer work, don’t be surprised if it’s really something that was put together by the parents that the kid had to do. That’s not to say that there aren’t a lot of kids doing great volunteer work that they care about, but when thousands of kids are all doing it through the same nationwide organizations, it kind of loses its luster. I’d love to see someone commission a study to see how much volunteer work kids do from age 18-25.

Many kids today are feeling compelled to start the college prep process in Junior High. That’s nuts. But when great schools like UCLA have 150,000 applications or Michigan has around 100,000, there is a lot more competition for a lot fewer spots. When you take away spots for athletes, some legacies, and rich donors, there are even smaller chances than you think. Everyone knows some super smart kid with straight A’s and great test scores who didn’t get into their top choice. That’s because there are tens of thousands of kids with similar profiles and they are applying to the same schools that have really limited spots. It’s not an exaggeration to say it’s harder to get into UCLA than most Ivies simply because of how many impressive applicants are applying.

A lot of the high application numbers are due to the common app. It makes it easier to apply and for some states you can just check a box and apply to multiple schools at once. It’s awesome that so many people have access to applying to college, but I think it has an unintended effect of preventing a lot of lower income kids and others from getting a proper look or even having a chance at schools they are interested in. Basically I believe that many kids are applying to schools without reason or strong desire to go there.

And colleges know this too so one thing you’ll find is that the concept of a “safety school” is going away as well. Schools are insanely worried about their yield which is the percentage of people who accept the offers given. This factors into rankings which is another absurd thing that everyone worries about. Because schools are worried about yield, if you don’t apply early decision to a school you are more than qualified for, they will likely defer your application and then ask you to commit to accepting if they offer you. It’s not a situation where they are trying to get the best students or best fits for their school, but instead where they are trying to get the best acceptance rate possible.

The other awful thing a lot of colleges do is pressure kids with the essays they ask. There’s a big focus on overcoming hurdles. Now if a kid had cancer, or was from an abused home, or lost a parent, it’s amazing if that kid persevered and accomplished things. I believe those factors should be considered. But two unintended consequences are happening. First, these highly paid college counselors are polishing up the trauma these kids experience. Many kids haven’t processed it in a way that can be fully articulated and others are pressured into making more of a situation than it really is. It’s almost as if you have to compete with your trauma. But way worse is that kids feel pressure to share their trauma with strangers. My son has one good friend who lost his Dad and ended up in an argument over whether or not he’d write about it. He’s a private kid and didn’t want to talk about it, but felt like he had to. I can’t imagine that’s a unique situation.

As a lawyer I try to be solution focused when I am presented with a problem. There is no perfect solution and I believe the first priority needs to be a system that makes the playing field more level and doesn’t give special preference to those who can afford it more or game the system. So here are some ideas:

  1. Limit the number of schools someone can apply to. Nobody needs to apply to 20-30 schools. The ability to do so favors the rich as they can pay the application fees at all of those places. I would suggest a maximum of ten. That gives you the chance to apply at dream/reach schools, schools where you think it’s 50/50 and a couple safetys. If you limit it to a lower number, it will force kids to think about where they want to go to and why. Everyone should get to apply where they want to, but the way the system works now clogs up the application process.
  2. Speaking of which, every school should have a “Why Us” type essay. There are some that do and I think it really gives a kid a chance to show their personality and also talk about the school in general. It forces some research into the school which could also have the effect of helping the kid realize that it’s not the right place for them.
  3. Even without a paid consultant, Chat GPT and editing tools make it easy to craft a “perfect” essay. If schools really want to judge your writing ability, but want to prevent the system from being gamed as much, they should have impromptu essays. In other words, you login on a certain date and time and they tell you the essay questions then with 30 minutes to answer one. It wouldn’t prevent all gaming as you could of course prep for possible questions with a college counselor, but it would likely prevent any editing, Chat GPT, etc. and would more show how well you write, think on your feet, etc. And if someone is going to take the time to do this, it also shows a genuine interest in the school.
  4. Schools should encourage kids to give a decision sooner. I’ve seen kids who post about being accepted to 15 colleges. Congrats on the flex, but you know you aren’t going to go to many of those places. The longer you hold on to an offer, the longer someone else who really wants that spot has to wait. Schools should be following up with accepted applicants who don’t take an offer to find out what their timeline is and also kindly encourage them to say no if they don’t want the spot. College counselors and high schools should be doing the same.
  5. Financial aid and cost needs to be fixed. FAFSA was an absolute joke this year and the delays forced many kids to accept schools just because they were worried they wouldn’t be able to afford the school they really want. I personally think that public schools should be free aside from food/books/housing. At the very least it can be greatly reduced. It’s insane to spend $250,000-$400,000 on a college degree. I get that free college isn’t coming any time soon. And while I know the cost benefit of going to junior college for two years, taking away the connections people make by being in person for four years is a real problem. So I have two thoughts: 1. We need to streamline the FAFSA system and make it easier for people to get aid as well as make it so more loans are forgivable. I won’t act like I know enough about it to say how it would exactly work, but the beginning process shouldn’t be much harder than here are my and my parents tax returns and that process should be able to start much earlier. 2. If you go to a public school, you’ll miss out on a ton socially and networking wise if you aren’t in person with your peers your first year. There’s a hack though that can save you a lot of money. In your second year or over the summer, you can likely knock out a bunch of core classes for next to nothing by doing online junior college. Most public schools take those credits. In other words, if you take a leave of absence from your school, but still live in an apartment with buddies, you can get most of the school experience, save a semester of tuition, and then be back on campus for classes in your major right after that. At the very least, online junior college can make it so most people can graduate a semester early which takes away some of the cost and the cash grab that most universities are doing.
  6. Early decision applications heavily favor the rich as they don’t have to worry about committing without a good financial aid package. Applying early decision greatly increases your chances of getting in. There needs to be an economic opt out that doesn’t make students feel like they can’t pick their first choice.
  7. Schools need to be smarter about making sure special circumstance situations favor those who really have it. I know one kid who got in as a “first generation” college admit. Technically he’s the first in his family to go to a US college, but both of his parents have post-graduate degrees from the US after doing undergrad overseas. It’s no different than someone who is 2% Native-American getting special consideration. The playing field needs to be leveled, but not manipulated by those who already have advantages.

I’m sure some/all of my ideas have an unintended consequence or aren’t perfect for everyone. But the truth is that the college application process is broken, and not doing anything about it isn’t the right solution.

We have been helping people find the best Illinois medical malpractice lawyer for their case since 2001. We’ve helped thousands of people with these very tough cases. Having the right law firm is the difference between winning and losing. The right attorney can also make your case worth more money.

While there are hundreds of things that could lead to an Illinois medical malpractice lawsuit, here are some of the most common we’ve seen:

  1. Failure to diagnose cancer. Typically when you can show that your doctor delayed discovery of your cancer by six months or more, you have the chance to bring a lawsuit, especially if your outcome got much worse.
  2. Failure to diagnose a blood clot. This can happen when you come to the hospital with certain complaints or after a surgery. If they don’t catch it in time it could have catastrophic results.
  3. Not recognizing nerve compression on your spine. Sometimes when they don’t discover this in time it could result in you being paralyzed.
  4. Not recognizing the signs of a stroke or stopping it in time. These are tough cases for sure, but if you can prove that had they treated you earlier the outcome wouldn’t be as bad, you have the makings of a big lawsuit.
  5. Giving the wrong medication. There are supposed to be protections in place, but at least once a month we get a call from someone who was given the wrong meds, often medication meant for another patient. If it causes a harm, it’s a lawsuit.
  6. Giving the wrong dose of medicine. Again, there are supposed to be protections in place, but sometimes a much higher dosage is given with terrible results.
  7. Not checking for medication interactions. Some drugs together can be deadly.
  8. Foot drop after knee replacement surgery. While foot drop is a risk of some back surgeries, it shouldn’t happen from a knee replacement and if it does it’s usually due to surgeon error.
  9. Not performing a C-section in a timely manner. If the baby is in distress and this doesn’t happen right away, the results can be awful. This falls under the general category of birth injuries and can be things like causing a brachial plexus (shoulder) injury for improper delivery and many other problems.
  10. Anesthesia errors. While going under is always a risk, if you aren’t monitored properly and are injured it’s likely a lawsuit, especially if there is brain damage.
  11. Not ordering proper tests. Some simple tests can prevent big harms.
  12. Surgical errors. There are too many to list as to what can happen. Some are risks of a procedure, but many are just negligence. For example, cutting a nerve during a spinal fusion. Another one is improperly placing a patient during a surgery. In one case the patient’s head dropped and resulted in a major, life altering neck injury.
  13. Not catching an infection in time. Getting an infection is usually not malpractice. But if they don’t realize you have one it can lead to sepsis which can cause amputations or even death.
  14. Improper interpretation of diagnostic tests. Misreading a MRI, X-ray, CT scan etc can have catastrophic results.
  15. Not notifying patients of a result. In one case were involved with, the doctor knew the patient had colon cancer, but due to office miscommunication, nobody ever told them.
  16. Using the wrong sperm at a fertility clinic. This isn’t common, but there have been times when sperm has been used to fertilize the wrong egg.
  17. Not diagnosing chicken pox. Although we remember chicken pox as a kid as no big deal, if an adult gets it and it isn’t treated, it can be deadly.
  18. An air bubble during a procedure which causes an embolism. This can be from a hole in a catheter, a defective tube, a straight injection of air or many other reasons. The results are usually deadly.
  19. Improper follow up instructions and/or failure to refer patient to a specialist. This happens a lot with emergency room visits and is often a result of staffing issues or bad communication protocols. A lot of ER doctors are now just contractors and don’t work well with the corporations that own the actual hospital. This can have terrible results for patients.
  20. Failure to monitor. This can be so many things as well. In one case we helped with, a dialysis patient wasn’t monitored during their procedure and literally had most of their blood removed from their body, resulting in death.

As you can see, a lot of malpractice cases fall under similar descriptions. We know the best lawyers in Illinois for suing a doctor, hospital or other medical provider. If you would like a FREE, confidential consultation to see if you have a case, call us any time at 312-346-5320. We help everywhere in Illinois.

We have literally helped tens of thousands of injured Illinois workers in the last 23 years. There isn’t a legal issue that we haven’t seen or helped with when it comes to job injuries.

A lot of injured workers want to leave the job they got hurt on. Sometimes it is because their old company sucks. Other times they want to go to a less physically demanding job. And in some cases a better opportunity comes along.

So we get asked a lot by injured workers if they can quit their jobs while on workers comp?

The answer is yes you can, but it’s a much bigger question as to whether or not you should.

Generally speaking, if you are injured on the job and receiving TTD benefits, it would be a really bad idea to quit. If you do, your old employer could lie and say that had you not quit, they’d have a job for you within your doctor’s restrictions. In other words, unless you are taken completely off work, odds are you will lose your benefits.

Now if you have a better paying job lined up, that might be a reason to consider leaving. That said, if there’s any risk that the new job can aggravate your condition, I would think long and hard about leaving. If the new job seems to make your problem worse, the insurance company for your work comp case will use that as a reason to cut off your medical benefits too.

In other words, you could be putting both your financial and physical health at risk if you quit. While it’s still a consideration as you get closer to settling, that is really the best time to think about leaving. But even then, doing so could cost you hundreds of thousands of dollars.

I say that because if you have permanent restrictions your old job can’t cover, they might have to pay you the difference of what you’d make with them vs what you can make in a new job within those restrictions. So if you had a great union job making $65 an hour and now can only make $20 an hour, you are entitled to 2/3 of the difference. But if you quit, the employer will say they would have accommodate you. So your settlement could go from $350,000 to $50,000.

Bottom line is that whatever your situation is, if you are hurt while working, don’t quit your job before going over the case with an experienced attorney. If you would like to talk with us for free, you can call any time. We help all over Illinois.