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Many of you who have followed all of our posts on the continuing saga of workers’ compensation “reform” in Illinois have asked about whether the Governor has signed the bill (HB 1698 and all of its amendments) yet. The answer, surprisingly, is “no.” What does this mean?…

In an interesting recent opinion, the Illinois Supreme Court held that the current version of Illinois Pattern Jury Instruction 105.01 does not accurately state the law on institutional negligence. Studt v. Sherman Health, Docket No. 108182 is the case. Because, let’s face it, the general publ…

A huge win for injured individuals, as well as their lawyers, is a rather complex and mind-numbing decision that came down recently in the case of Haro v. Sebelius, No. CV 09-134, TUC DUB, United States District Court D. Arizona, May 5, 2011. To explain this decision in a fairly simple way, this mea…

The Chicago Bar Association Solo and Small Practitioner Committee, of which I am co-chair, is proud to hold it’s last meeting of this fiscal year on Tuesday June 7th at 12:15 p.m. at the Chicago Bar Association at 321 South Plymouth Court. The topic is How to Implement Twitter, Blogging, and S…

Workers’ compensation reform (or whatever you want to call it) has arrived in Illinois. This was a huge reversal of the vote in the Illinois House just a few days ago when the reform attempt only garnered 55 votes, with 60 votes required. This time, with Speaker Madigan arm twisting and with G…

A Senate Panel has voted along party lines to abolish the Worker’s Compensation Act. After the surprising failure of the Senate to pass the reform bill already passed by the Illinois House over the weekend, the competing effort to abolish the entire workers’ compensation system in Illino…

Will this be a tough pill to swallow or death by a thousand knives? It appears that a compromise bill and amendment will affect significantly worker rights. Essentially, this bill, which is expected to be voted on and approved shortly (although nothing is ever certain in Sprinfield), would reduce an…

This breaking news–Illinois House passed a bill to do away with the entire workers’ compensation system. It still would have to pass the Senate and be signed into law. The article in the Bloomington Normal Daily also mentions negotiations are ongoing. So, as of this moment, the choice is…