When you come to us after you've lost the trial it's too late

We had a really nice conversation with a very pleasant woman this morning.  She described how she got work at her job in Chicago.  She described her medical treatment and recovery.  She seemed like an ideal client with a decent case.  When we started to take the discussion further into representation she then admitted that she had actually already hired an attorney.  That lawyer went to trial and lost.  He filed an appeal and lost that too.  Now she was looking for someone for the next appeal level.

We aren't sure what the first lawyer did wrong, but the only appeals that we do are on our cases.  In fact, I doubt that there is an attorney in Illinois that would take over a case where the trial was lost.  We only get paid if we win the case and no matter how good the case might have been, once you've been to trial we can't undo any errors by your first lawyer or present any new evidence.  It's not that it's impossible to win an appeal, it's just very un-likely.

So if you are going to trial on your Illinois work injury, you better have great faith in the person representing you.  It's likely your only shot.