Recent Blog Posts
Can I Get Temporary Total Disability (TTD) Benefits after a Work Injury?
People who suffer work-related injuries that fall under the Illinois Workers Compensation Act and cannot work or face certain work restrictions can be entitled to temporary disability benefits.
TTD benefits begin when an injured worker is off work for two consecutive weeks and become payable on the first full day the worker is authorized to be off of work. TTD benefits are paid weekly or biweekly depending on how an injured worker was paid by their employer.
Who Is Entitled To Ttd Benefits After A Work Injury?
TTD benefits are paid to workers who miss at least three days of work because of an injury or an illness. An injury must occur on the job, although an injury can still be covered by TTD even when it only partially resulted from a line of work.
Injured workers must notify their employers of their injuries or illnesses. TTD benefits are customarily calculated to be two-thirds of a worker’s average weekly wage.
Pursuing Compensation after a Construction Accident
WLS-TV recently reported that a 25-year-old man was walking around a strip mall on Aurora’s West Side when he fell about 15 feet into a hole that was dug for utility work and got stuck. It took 20 different rescue agencies two hours to rescue him.
If you or a loved one were hurt in a contruction accident, you may be able to pursue compensation for your medical bills and other damages.
Common Kinds of Construction Accidents
Some of the most frequent construction accidents in Illinois tend to include the following:
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Falls from heights — Many construction workers will be performing duties from elevated heights, and failure to secure these workers can lead to falls causing severe injuries.
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Crane or hoist accidents — While cranes and hoists are important construction tools, lack of training, operator errors, and other factors can lead to serious accidents on construction sites.
Be Careful of More Dangerous Roads This Fall Season
While National Safety Council (NSC) statistics indicate that November is actually a time of year in which fatalities on the road actually start to decrease after the five consecutive highest months, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI) actually shows that the 9 percent of motor vehicle crash deaths in November is almost on par with the 10 percent of deaths in June, July, August, September, and October. The NSC also estimates that more than 500 people will die during the Thanksgiving break. If you or a loved one were hurt in an automobile accident, you may be entitled to financial compensation.
The truth remains that November will be a time of year in which roads can be more subject to inclement weather that can impact driveability and make driving that much more difficult for all people. You should be aware of many of the kinds of dangers you can probably expect to encounter over the next couple of months.
Understanding the Dangers of Social Media in Workers’ Comp Cases
Social media has become an everyday aspect of most people’s lives, so it can be difficult not to share what is going on in your life with your friends and family. That said, people who have active workers' compensation cases will want to avoid posting anything about their activities on social media because there can be enormous drawbacks to posting certain kinds of information on these websites.
While social media is still a relatively new phenomenon, it is being quickly understood to have relatively permanent effects in various kinds of court cases. Insurance companies and lawyers alike will often go through the social media accounts of parties to lawsuits and other court cases to try and uncover any evidence that might help their own case.
How Social Media Might Be Used Against You
When you have filed a workers' compensation claim, you need to remember that an insurance company is always going to be seeking reasons to declare that your injuries are not as serious as you claim. Certain kinds of social media posts can effectively make this point for them.
What Rights do Illinois Nursing Home Residents Have?
The Illinois Nursing Home Care Act sets out certain rights that people who live in skilled nursing facilities have. People who go to live in nursing homes often give up many of the freedoms and comforts of living at home. They may be asked to sign in and out when they leave. Residents prone to elopement may be required to wear a personal alarm that will alert staff if they attempt to leave. However, a person does not give up all of their personal liberties when they move into a long-term care facility. In Illinois, enumerated rights are set out to protect individuals who live in nursing homes. These rules are in place to prevent vulnerable residents from being taken advantage of, neglected, or abused. Sadly, many elderly and disabled Illinois residents face neglect and mistreatment in these facilities. When a resident has their rights violated, they may suffer irreparable harm. If you or your loved one has suffered harm due to nursing home mistreatment, you may wish to speak to an attorney about the possibility of recovering compensation.
Why Halloween Car Accidents Are a Risk to Children
Pedestrian accidents can happen any day of the year, as can drunk driving crashes. However, both of these horrifying types of auto accidents tend to increase in frequency on the days around Halloween. Many children love trick-or-treating, and many parents love to watch their children run around in a costume, collecting candy from neighbors. However, it is critical that parents be particularly wary of drivers on this holiday. Halloween invites dangerous driving practices - as well as unsafe pedestrian habits. Excited children are prone to abruptly running across the road. Likewise, adults who are uninterested in trick-or-treating tend to attend parties and events where drinking is a favorite activity. The combination of too many intoxicated drivers and too many children running about in a crowd can be incredibly deadly. Children are generally at more risk than adults for Halloween auto accidents. If your child is injured by a careless driver this Halloween, you may be able to recover significant compensation on their behalf.
Common Forms of Malpractice in Dental Care
Medical malpractice claims are often considered in terms of general practice and hospital care. While cases stemming from general healthcare errors are very common, those born of an error by a dentist or oral surgeon are also common. Dentists and other dental practitioners are held to a professional standard of care similar to healthcare professionals because careless mistakes by the medical professional tasked with caring for a patient’s teeth and mouth can cause significant harm to the patient.
Patients who have experienced medical malpractice at the hands of a dentist may suffer lasting harm, such as missing or badly damaged teeth, permanent numbness due to nerve damage, or anesthesia errors that can be severe or fatal. If you suspect that you have been harmed by medical malpractice in a dental setting, it would be advisable to contact an attorney as soon as your suspicions have been aroused. Strict statutes of limitation apply to malpractice cases of all varieties, so time is of the essence when preparing for potential malpractice litigation.
Options for Recovering Compensation After a Hit-and-Run
Being left injured on the side of the road with a disabled vehicle while the at-fault driver speeds away can induce feelings of hopelessness in anyone. If the driver who would be liable for the accident has disappeared, pursuing compensation from them may seem impossible, but in many cases, it actually is.
Hit-and-run car accidents involving personal injury are troubling to most police departments, and with the help of attorneys, they discover the identity of the at-fault driver more often than one might think. Additionally, the liable driver is not the only potential source of compensation. It would be wise to contact an attorney as soon as you are able to after a hit-and-run accident so that a prompt investigation can begin while evidence is more likely to be available at the location of the accident and from other sources.
Investigating a Hit-and-Run Accident
Hit-and-run drivers often assume that if they were not seen by the person they hit, it is not likely that their identity will be revealed so that they can be held responsible. This is frequently an errant line of thinking. Other options for discovering the identity of a hit-and-run driver include:
Understanding Illinois Premises Liability Law
Premises liability laws deal with injuries to welcomed persons due to dangerous conditions on a given premises. It is the duty of the party controlling the property to maintain the premises in a condition that is reasonably safe for visitors to the property, or otherwise to adequately caution visitors against conditions posing a potential risk of physical injury. In order to win a premises liability case in Illinois, a plaintiff must prove the existence of each of the four circumstances. The types of hazards and harms that may give rise to a valid premises liability claim are varied, and most frequently include accident types such as slip-and-fall incidents, staircase falls, swimming pool accidents, and in some instances, harms caused by animals, including canines. If you have suffered an injury on the premises of another, contact an attorney following the accident so that evidence can be promptly preserved.
5 Signs of an Unsafe Nursing Home
Choosing to move an elderly family member into a skilled nursing facility can be difficult. This decision is often made out of concern for the senior’s safety. When a person can no longer live at home because they are no longer able to care for themselves, or because their care has become overwhelming for family members, placement in a nursing home may be the best option. Nursing home residents are supposed to be cared for in a safe environment by skilled, concerned caregivers. Unfortunately, not all nursing homes are of equal quality. There are a few known telltale signs that a particular nursing home may not be the best place for vulnerable elderly people. If you notice several of these signs in the nursing home that is caring for your loved one, you may want to do a little more digging to find out whether they have been receiving the appropriate care. If you find that they may have been harmed by a negligent nursing home, you may want to speak to an attorney.
