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Personal Injury Glossary

What to Know for a Successful Personal Injury Claim

You were hurt in an accident. Now you’re entering the world of personal injury claims.

You know a personal injury settlement can change your life for the better. But this is unfamiliar territory for you.

The lawyers at Schiro & Themer work with this system all the time.

We want to take some of the mystery out of it. So on this page we’ve gathered definitions of the most common personal injury terms you’ll hear.

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Misclassification of Work in Workers' Comp

Hurt On the Job, But Your Employer Says It Isn’t Their Problem?

If you get hurt in the course of your job and you’re an employee, your employer owes you Workers’ Compensation benefits to help you recover and financially survive.

If you’re not an employee but an independent contractor, they’re off the hook.

It sounds simple, but some employers try to skirt their responsibility by illegally misclassifying you as an independent contractor when you’re actually an employee.

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Workers' Comp Occupational Disease Act

YOU DESERVE PROTECTION FOR DANGEROUS WORK

As you well know, some jobs are just more dangerous than others.

That’s why the State of Illinois instituted the Workers’ Occupational Diseases Act – to protect you if you work a job with a high risk for certain kinds of diseases.

This law helps you collect Workers’ Compensation benefits for job-related diseases including:

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Things to Consider

THERE IS NO ONE-SIZE PAYMENT THAT FITS ALL WORKPLACE INJURIES

Some Workers’ Compensation defense attorneys and insurance adjusters will try to tell you there is a standard payment depending on your type of injury. But don’t trust the first number you hear.

THE LAWYERS AT SCHIRO & THEMER CAN HELP YOU FIGURE OUT EXACTLY HOW MUCH YOU’RE ENTITLED TO BASED UPON YOUR INJURY, THE AMOUNT OF TIME YOU WILL MISS FROM WORK, AND ANY MEDICAL TREATMENT YOU NEED.