Worker Compensation Case Results

When S. G. was released from care by his hand surgeon, Lipkin & Apter resolved his Workers’ Compensation claim for approximately $35,000.00. On the eve of the personal injury trial against the store owners, we resolved S.G.’s personal injury case for and additional $200,000.00. This resolution resulted in a total recovery of $235,000.00.

The Workers’ Compensation attorneys at Lipkin & Apter were contacted by M.R., a fifty-year-old suburban police officer who suffered a serious knee injury, that ultimately required knee surgery to repair his knee while responding to an emergency call. Lipkin & Apter was repeatedly forced to argue with the insurance company for M.R.’s employer to ensure that he received his temporary total disability (i.e. weekly benefits) while he remained unable to work. Additionally, he pursued a finding of permanent and total disability from the Illinois Pension Board while receiving TTD from Workers’ Compensation-a process that took many months of diligence and patience. Ultimately, M.R. was awarded a Duty Disability monthly pension. Lipkin & Apter was then able to secure for M.R. an excellent Lump Sum Workers’ Compensation settlement over $147,000.00, an amount equal to 40% loss of a person as a whole for permanent disability.

Lipkin & Apter have the experience it takes to ensure their clients receive the settlement they deserve. In this case, the firm was able to recover $845,000 from a combination of the defendant's insurance policy to its limit, a workers' compensation claim as well as underinsured motorists coverage.

YB, a 30-year carpenter at a lumber yard, reinjured his lumbar spine while lifting a 50-pound bucket filled with cement. He had initially injured his back in 2003, resulting in an L5-S1 microdiscectomy for sciatica. A year later after the February occurrence, he underwent another surgery, this time decompression of the right sciatic nerve at the piriformis fossa, a somewhat unusual procedure. The surgery was only partially successful, and his surgeon placed him on a permanent 30-pound lifting restriction, which the lumber yard refused to accommodate. Lipkin & Apter hired a vocational counselor to determine whether there was actual employment for YB given than he had worked his entire adult life for the lumber yard. The counselor's conclusion: there was no stable job market available for YB. The Workers’ Compensation insurer retained its vocational counselor, who concluded that there were numerous jobs available to YB. In the end, rather than proceed to trial, the Workers’ Compensation insurer agreed to settle YB’s claim for $273,000. Under the law, an injured worker may receive both Workers’ Compensation and Social Security Disability Income Benefits.

C.M., a long-time building engineer at a Condominium high-rise, injured his rotator cuff and biceps tendon pushing a heavy garbage bin up a ramp. He was diagnosed with a torn rotator cuff and biceps tendonitis. C.M. went through the full gamut of conservative medical treatment, before undergoing surgery 3 months post-accident. He was off work nearly a year, before returning to his job. At the end of his treatment, we were able to negotiate a settlement of C.M.’s permanent partial disability benefits of $63,000.

The Workers’ Compensation attorneys at Lipkin & Apter were contacted by Z.N., a seventy (70) year old, forty-one (41) year veteran flight attendant for United Airlines who severely injured her ankle in a fall in 2010 while on a layover in Frankfurt, Germany. Z.N. was a permanent resident of the State of Washington at the time of the accident. United paid Z.N.’s Temporary Total Disability and medical benefits under Illinois law even though she never set foot in Illinois. In all, Temporary Total Disability benefits were paid for five (5) years-through the middle of 2015. During that time, Z.N. underwent a total of three (3) ankle surgeries and United paid 100% of all medical bills for Z.N.’s treatment. Following an examination by an Independent Medical Examiner (ie. a doctor selected by the worker's compensation insurance carrier) and a successful negotiation, we resolved Z.N.’s claim for a 70% loss to Person as a Whole, or approximately $186,000.00.