Response to Chicago Tribune's 6/23/12 Editorial on "Repetitive Walking"

The Chicago Tribune recently published an editorial blaming workers injured on the job for the  rising cost of workers’ compensation insurance and hampering Illinois businesses. As a member of the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association (ITLA), we feel this continued assault on innocent injured workers in the name of creating a better business climate in the State of Illinois is reform gone a muck.  We urge the citizens of Illinois, our elected officials, and congress persons to reconsider placing the burden of reform on the backs of workers with legitimate and devastating injuries. To this end, ITLA drafted a response to the editorial staff at The Chicago Tribune, which the Tribune chose NOT to run.  We felt it was important to share with the public this response and we have copied it below:

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Here’s the link to the editorial:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/editorials/ct-edit-workcomp-0623-jm-20120623,0,6852389.story

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Dear Editor,

Worker safety and well-being should drive any discussion about reforms to the Illinois workers’ compensation system. Sadly, the Tribune’s recent editorial (“Repetitive Walking,” June 23, 2012) blamed workers injured on the job for the cost of workers’ comp, and demanded further curtailment of workers’ already limited rights.

The insurance industry, whose premiums dictate the price of our workers’ comp system, enjoyed a pass from the Tribune’s analysis of last year’s bipartisan workers’ comp reform law. Insurers are profiting from that new law, yet any consideration of the exorbitant premiums their industry slaps on Illinois employers is conspicuously absent from the editorial.

As to the standard that injured workers must meet, the editorial surmises “work doesn’t have to be the primary cause of an injury for an employee to collect a payoff,” and that employees have “no requirement to connect the injury to work.”  A simple review of existing law makes clear that a worker’s injury must occur in the course of employment. Injuries that don’t occur on the job are not covered by the Workers’ Compensation Act and never have been. 

We agree that any type of fraud in the system - either by employers or employees - needs to stop. Any fraud within the Illinois workers’ comp system is an unfair drain on employers and taxpayers and it needs to be eliminated to reduce costs. We support more oversight and empowering the appropriate authorities to crack down on abusers. Reform should not be at the expense of those injured on the job.

The goal of last year’s overhaul was to protect workers’ rights while reducing costs for employers, and many employers supported passage of that law.  In any rewrite of the law, Illinois lawmakers should look closely at the insurance industry’s lack of regulation. Insurance reform, not further diminishment of injured workers’ rights, is the key to further reducing employers’ workers’ comp costs.

Gregory L. Shevlin
President – Illinois Trial Lawyers Association

4th of July Celebration in Bolingbrook

Bolingbrook 4th of July Festivities

Celebrate Independence Day in Bolingbrook with hours of entertainment, food and drink. Admission to the celebration at the Bolingbrook Golf Club, 2001 Rodeo Dr., is free.

Fireworks will follow the singing of the National Anthem at 9:15 p.m. by Jim Cornelison from the Chicago Blackhawks.

More information can be found at: http://www.bolingbrook.com//info/pdf/BB4thofJuly2012.pdf

Jason A. Marker, Esq. named "Rising Star" by SuperLawyers magazine.

QMM partner, Jason A. Marker, was recently selected by SuperLawyers Magazine as a "Rising Star." The magazine just released its 2012 edition, in which it selects attorneys using a rigorous, multiphase process in which peer nominations and evaluations are combined with independent research. Each year, the magazine's attorney-led research staff searches for lawyers who have attained honors or results. The researchers evaluate candidates in 12 different areas of peer recognition and professional achievement. Candidates are grouped into their primary practice areas and those who receive the highest points totals are asked to serve on a review panel. Attorneys with the highest totals from each category are selected.

In order to be selected as a "Rising Star," a candidate must be (1) either 40 years old or younger or in practice for ten years or less; (2) candidates for Rising Stars do not go through step three above—peer evaluation by practice area. While up to five percent of the lawyers in the state are named to Super Lawyers, no more than 2.5 percent are named to the Rising Stars list.

Congratulations to Mr. Marker on his this selection and his achievements. Mr. Marker represents people who have sustained significant injuries in the workplace, via automobile collisions, or slip and falls. He offers a free half hour consultation on all matters.  

New Rulings on the Contact Sports Exception Help Plaintiff's in Premises Liability Cases

We have found a new trend by injury defense firms in arguing that some slip and fall injuries should not be compensible legally based on the "contact sports exception". This is a very narrowly defined exception that bars a plaintiff from suing a co-participant in a sporting activity for normal negligence. Rather, the plaintiff would have to plead and prove willful and wanton or extremely reckless behavior to prevail. Defendants are attempting to apply this exception to corporate entities as well and this had been met with some success.

In this recent 5th District case, the court held the exception did NOT apply to the organizational entity and therefore plaintiff need only plead normal negligence against the entity rather than willful and wanton. We find this development very beneficial for plaintiff's throughout the State of Illinois.

Negligence 5th Dist.
Gvillo v. DeCamp Junction, 2011 IL App (5th) 100262 (October 31, 2011) Madison Co. (CHAPMAN) Reversed.
Plaintiff, the first baseman, was injured during softball game (in informal amateur summer softball league) when Defendant, collided with him while running to first base. Plaintiff alleged that Defendants set up softball field in an unreasonably dangerous manner, by not following safety rules of Amateur Softball Association as to double-base system for first base and in not painting a running lane, thereby causing the collision. These rules do nothing to interfere with vigorous participation in softball. Contact sports exception does not apply to these facts, and thus court erred in granting summary judgment for Defendants. (SPOMER and STEWART, concurring.)

Jason Marker appointed co-chair of the Will County Bar Association Civil Committee

QMM partner, Jason Marker, was recently appointed co-chair of the Will County Bar Association's Civil Committee. As co-chair of the committee, Mr. Marker will be responsible for leading the committee's meetings, which typically involves discussing legal topics with other members of the bar association and obtaining lecturers at seminars that attorneys attend to obtain continuing legal education hours required by the State of Illinois Supreme Court.

Mr. Marker practices primarily in the areas of workers' compensation and personal injury law.  He frequently appears before arbitrators, commissioners and judges throughout Will, DuPage, Cook, and Kane counties.  

QMM's newest attorney, Mr. Jonathan Crannell, appointed to DCBA Publication Board

QMM's newest associate attorney, Mr. Jonathan Crannell, was recently appointed to the DuPage County Bar Association Publication Board. The Publication Board is responsible for publishing the monthly periodical “DCBA Brief”. The board members take turns as issue editor and are responsible for selecting, obtaining and editing quality substantive legal articles written by local attorneys for their issue.

Congratulations to Mr. Crannell for being selected to the Publication Board!

Summary of the recent changes to the Illinois Workers' Compensation Act

House Bill 1698 was recently signed into law by Governor Quinn. Below, please find a summary of some of the major areas of change in the new Act. This is not meant to be a complete list, only a brief summary of some of the main changes that could effect working men and women.

1. Illinois' Medical Fee Schedule - the amount paid to healthcare providers for workers' comp procedures - would be cut by 30 percent, to 150 percent over what those providers are paid by Medicare for the same procedure.

2. Employers would have the opportunity to prove that intoxication on the job was the cause of an injury and not the workplace, and employees would then have the burden of proving it was not their intoxication.

3. Employers would be allowed to refer workers to a preferred medical provider network, under which employees still would be allowed their current two choices of doctor. If an injured worker chooses a doctor outside the network, he/she gives up one of his choices. If an employer offers a company doctor, the employee has the option of going to the company doctor and/or one other physician of his or her choice and anyone either of those doctors refer him or her to.

4. The new Act will allow for anonymous reports of fraudulent claims and require any fraud claims be sent to the Attorney General's office for determination of prosecution.

5. All of the arbitrators currently on staff would be fired. Governor Quinn would be able to appoint new arbiters, subject to Senate confirmation. The Governor's office has already posted an Application Form on the IWCC's main website. Even current Arbitrators will have to apply in order to be re-appointed. This again seems to indicate his likelihood of signing the bill.

6. Under the new law, if an employee's injuries result in a loss of wages, the wage differential paid to the employee would be capped at age 67, or five years after the accident, whichever occurs later. This is significantly less money than what the previous Act allowed - which was payment of the difference for the rest of the employee's life.

It should be noted that these changes would only effect cases filed after September 1, 2011.

For more information on the changes to the Workers' Compensation Act and how they might affect you, feel free to contact us at 630-759-7000.