One of the first questions injured workers ask us is a simple one: how much will a lawyer cost? The short answer is that in Illinois you generally pay no attorney fee up front. The fee comes out of what the lawyer recovers for you, it is usually capped at 20 percent, and case costs are handled separately. If you are already missing paychecks and facing medical bills, here is how attorney fees actually work under the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Act.
Illinois Workers’ Compensation Lawyers Work on Contingency
Workers’ compensation attorneys in Illinois are paid on a contingency basis. That means the fee is a percentage of the compensation the lawyer recovers for you, and it is paid only if there is a recovery. There is no retainer to pay up front and no bill that arrives in the mail each month. If your case does not result in compensation, you owe no attorney fee.
At our firm, consultations are always free, and once you hire us there are no hourly charges for phone calls, emails, or meetings. Our only fee is the contingency fee approved by the Commission.
The 20 Percent Limit Under Section 16a
Section 16a of the Act (820 ILCS 305/16a) limits attorney fees in workers’ compensation cases to 20 percent of the compensation recovered. This is very different from many personal injury cases, where fees are set by private agreement and are often higher. The Illinois legislature capped workers’ compensation fees to protect injured workers and keep more of their benefits in their hands.
For example, if your case settles for $40,000 and the ordinary 20 percent fee applies, the attorney fee would be $8,000, leaving $32,000 before case costs and any other deductions that apply, such as a lien. In death, total disability, and partial disability cases, the Act also sets an outer limit on the fee: 20 percent of what 364 weeks of permanent total disability benefits would be, calculated from your average weekly wage and subject to the state maximum. That limit keeps the fee from growing indefinitely in very large or long-running cases. The Commission can approve a higher fee only after a hearing and only in unusual cases involving extraordinary services, and Illinois courts have held that routine work, even in a long case, does not justify going above 20 percent.
Fees Must Be Approved by the Commission
Unlike most legal fees, workers’ compensation fees are supervised by the state. Your attorney must use a written fee agreement on a form prescribed by the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission, and that agreement is filed with the Commission. When your case settles or an award is entered, the fee is reviewed and approved as part of that process. If there is ever a dispute about the fee, the Commission, not the lawyer, decides it.
In practice, this means the fee comes out of your settlement or award. You do not write a separate check to your attorney.
What Your Lawyer Cannot Take a Fee On
Many injured workers are surprised to learn that the Act also protects certain benefits from attorney fees altogether.
No fee on undisputed medical bills. Under Section 16a(D), an attorney may not take a fee from medical expenses that the insurance company is not disputing. If the insurer is paying your doctor and hospital bills, hiring a lawyer does not reduce those payments. Learn more about how payment of medical bills works in Illinois workers’ compensation cases.
No fee on TTD checks that are paid on time. Temporary total disability (TTD) benefits are the weekly checks you receive while a doctor keeps you off work. Under Section 16a(E), an attorney may not take a fee from those checks unless the insurer refused to pay them, paid them late or in the wrong amount, or cut them off, and the attorney’s work obtained or restored them. If your checks are arriving on time and in the right amount, they stay yours. See our guide to payment for time off after a work injury.
Limits when you already had a written offer. Under Section 16a(H), if the insurance company made you a written offer before you hired an attorney, and your final recovery is not more than that offer, the attorney receives no fee. If the recovery is more than the offer, the Commission’s required fee agreement limits the fee on your permanent disability compensation to the lesser of a percentage of the amount above the offer or a percentage (no more than 20 percent) of the total. Under our agreement, that means half of the amount above the offer or 20 percent of the total, whichever is less. Either way, the fee is tied to the value the lawyer adds.
Very small fees in certain undisputed cases. In a few situations where nothing is disputed, such as certain amputation and statutory permanency cases, the Act limits the fee to a nominal amount of no more than $100.
What About Case Costs?
Attorney fees and case costs are two different things. Costs are out-of-pocket expenses needed to prove your case, such as obtaining medical records, deposition transcripts, and fees charged by doctors to give testimony. At our firm, we advance these costs so you do not have to pay them as the case moves forward. They are repaid from the settlement or award at the end of the case. If there is no recovery, you owe no fee and do not have to repay the costs.
If you decide to change lawyers before your case is resolved, the Commission’s standard agreement still protects you from paying anything up front. The first lawyer may receive a reasonable fee, set by the Commission and within the same limits, plus any unpaid case expenses, but only out of your eventual recovery. When more than one lawyer has worked on a case, the Commission resolves how the fee is divided.
Not every firm handles costs the same way, so when you speak with any attorney, it is worth asking how costs are handled and whether you would owe anything if the case is not successful.
Is a Workers’ Compensation Lawyer Worth the Fee?
A lawyer is not required in an Illinois workers’ compensation case, but having one offers real benefits. An experienced attorney checks that your average weekly wage and benefit rate are calculated correctly, files your claim with the Commission so disputes can be heard quickly, responds when benefits are delayed or surgery is denied, and knows what cases like yours are worth. When an insurer has no good reason for cutting off benefits, the Act also allows the Commission to award penalties and attorney fees against the insurance company on top of the benefits owed.
Because fees are capped, supervised by the Commission, and paid only from a recovery, the cost of finding out whether a lawyer can help you is nothing at all. Read answers to other common questions about hiring a workers’ compensation lawyer.
Key Points to Remember
If you have been hurt at work, you do not need money to hire a workers’ compensation lawyer in Illinois. Fees are contingent, generally limited to 20 percent of what is recovered, and approved by the Commission. Your undisputed medical bills and TTD checks that are paid on time and in the right amount are protected from fees, and if you already had a written offer before hiring a lawyer, the fee is limited to the value added beyond that offer. Before you sign any fee agreement, ask how costs are handled and make sure you understand what you would owe if the case does not succeed.
If you have been injured at work and have questions about what it will cost to hire a lawyer, the attorneys at The Law Offices of Millon & Peskin, Ltd. are here to help. We represent injured workers throughout the Chicagoland area, including DuPage, Cook, Will, Kane, and Lake counties. Call us at 630-260-1130 for a free consultation to discuss your case.