John M. Popelka | Attorney

John M. Popelka focuses his entire practice on the field of Workers' Compensation law at Anesi, Ozmon, Rodin, Novak & Kohen, Ltd.  He has achieved millions of dollars in compensation for injured victims and their families.  John takes great pride in the number of cases he tries each year in order to maximize the recovery for his clients.  This has resulted in dozens of awards resulting in lifetime weekly payments for clients suffering career-ending injuries or who have been rendered permanently and totally disabled.  As a result of these awards, his clients enjoy lifetime medical coverage for their injuries in addition to their weekly benefits.  John's trial practice has also resulted in an extensive appellate practice, in which John has argued numerous cases before the Illinois Appellate Court and a case before the Illinois Supreme Court.  His trial practice also results in above average settlements.  His average settlement of more than $90,000.00 is more than $70,000.00 above the average case, according to Workers' Compensation Commission statistics.  A significant portion of John's practice involves litigating and settling claims for union tradesmen who suffer career-ending injuries, permanent total disability, catastrophic injuries requiring home modification and lifetime medical care, and death cases.

John's career was sparked by an accident he suffered as a teen-aged paper mill worker in Wisconsin in which he was unjustly denied benefits because he did not know his rights.  In the years since, his legal career has been devoted to helping other people avoid the same fate.  Armed with a service ethic that is embracing, he not only works with his clients on Workers' Compensation matters, but advises them and gets them help on other related problems they encounter as a result of their injuries.
 
Some of John's past verdict highlights include:  

• $500,000 award and settlement for a Local 1 ironworker who suffered a second career-ending injury in the same occupation, which involved defending in the Appellate Court against an employer's appeal of the Workers' Compensation Commission's original decision in favor of our client.
• $65,000 award. Expanded a $42,000 award including penalties and attorneys' fees to $65,000 in the Circuit Court of Cook County for a Local 1 ironworker after the insurance company unilaterally refused to pay the full $42,000 award it believed to be excessive, despite the fact it chose not to file an appeal.  The Circuit Court was persuaded to apply the underpayment first to the penalty and attorneys' fee award and then impose additional penalties and fees on the remainder, thus avoiding the common law prohibition of penalties on penalties.
• Prevailed against the Workers' Compensation insurance carrier which had denied the claim of a  union painter injured when a scissors lift topped.  Although, as owner of the painting firm, the injured party had opted out of Workers' Compensation insurance coverage, we proved that under the duties he was performing, he was acting as a covered employee, not as the owner who opted out.
• Successfully argued the claim for wage differential payments based on union roofer's journeyman's pay scale vs. the apprentice pay rate even though the injured worker was an apprentice at the time he suffered the career-ending injury, based on the fact that he did complete the classes and testing required for journeyman status.

Some of John's more recent verdicts and settlement highlights include:

2009

• Over $6 Million dollars in settlements.
• $425,000.00 settlement plus $485,000.00 Medicare Set-Aside Trust established for assistant project manager who developed reflex sympathetic dystrophy following a routine meniscal surgery to the knee.
• $377,000.00 settlement for Local 1 ironworker who tripped on the work site and underwent lumbar fusion surgery.
• $335,000.00 settlement for a helicopter pilot who crashed into a lake after clipping an unmarked electrical power line.
• $337,500.00 settlement for Local 1 ironworker who injured back and was unable to return to his trade.
• $300,000.00 settlement for union tuckpointer who suffered career ending injury.
• $250,000.00 settlement for apprentice carpenter who fell at the work site.
• $250,000.00 settlement for union boilermaker who sustained soft tissue injuries while twisting in a pipe.
• $250,000.00 settlement for injured worker whose previous amputation stump was aggravated by his accident.
• $225,000.00 settlement plus $55,000.00 Medicare Set-Aside Trust Account for union carpenter unable to return to work after slipping on an unnatural accumulation of ice.
• $225,000.00 settlement for construction worker who underwent back surgery but returned to his regular work.
• $190,000.00 settlement and $145,000.00 Medicare Set-Aside Trust Account for non-union printer who was unable to return to work after aggravating a pre-existing condition.
• Awarded authorization for brain surgery, lumbar surgery and over $175,000.00 worth of weekly benefits for Local 1 ironworker.  Successfully proved that ironworkers pre-existing Chiari malformation of the brain stem was aggravated by the accident causing the condition to become symptomatic and require surgery. 
• Awarded authorization to a roofer for shoulder surgery plus penalties and attorneys' fees by arbitrator where employer disputed fall caused injury to the shoulder because the treating physician failed to record the client's continued shoulder complaints in his medical records.  Penalties and fees were awarded because the treater testified that his patient did make complaints that he failed to record in his notes, and the employer's expert witnesses failed to acknowledge that testimony when rendering opinions that the lack of complaints in the records meant the shoulder condition was not related to the accident.
• Reversed arbitration decision and secured authorization for paramedic/nurse to receive two step surgical procedure to his leg and foot, rather than one step procedure proposed by employer's physician.
• Awarded authorization to truck driver for continued medical care from treating physician, along with weekly benefits, where employer denied further treatment based on its physician's full duty release, and then subsequently terminated the driver for not showing up for work.
• Concrete construction foreman authorized by arbitrator to receive ongoing medical care for back and post traumatic depression, along with weekly benefits and $35,000.00 in penalties and attorneys' fees despite the fact that the  foreman's treating physician released him to full duty work based on an invalid functional capacity evaluation.  The employer's collusion in the invalid FCE, coupled with a repeat evaluation that was valid and found the foreman was unable to return to his former occupation resulted in the award of penalties and fees.

2008

• $237,224.00 settlement for Local 393 ironworker injured when a sheet of steel collapsed onto him.
• $240,000.00 settlement for Local 1 ironworker whose shoulder injury led to several surgeries
• $200,000.00 settlement for Local 1 ironworker who slipped and injured his back while climbing into the back of his truck
• $191,000.00 settlement for Teamster truck driver injured while pulling a pallet jack out of his truck
• $190,000.00 settlement for non-union roofer who was unable to return to work at his former occupation
• $250,000.00 Settlement for Local 1 ironworker apprentice, who was retraining in a new career and found employment as a municipal building inspector
• $750,000.00 settlement to close out medical rights left open in 2007 settlement for business executive injured as a result of a flu shot at work
• $225,000.00 settlement to concrete construction foreman who injured his shoulder and returned to work for his employer in a front office capacity
• $70,776.00 award of permanent total disability benefits and entitlement to future back surgery to physical therapist injured lifting CPR dummy at work.  The award was subsequently supplemented by an award of Social Security disability benefits
• $33,400.00 award of benefits to fundraiser whose neck was injured from cradling telephone on shoulder while talking with prospective donors
• $116,865.06 award of wage differential benefits to floor nurse (R.N.) able to continue working as a pediatric nurse, but only on a part-time basis
• $155,561.53 award of benefits to City of Chicago employee for injury to knees, despite multiple prior surgeries to both knees

2007

• $225,000 settlement and agreement for lifetime medical care for a business executive who incurred reflex sympathetic dystrophy following an injection at work.  The employer had paid close to a million dollars in weekly and medical benefits prior to the settlement.
• $220,000 settlement for career-ending injury to Local 1 ironworker.
• $272,000 settlement for union electrician who suffered a career-ending injury.
• Award of permanent total disability benefits and lifetime medical benefits for foreman pipe fitter.  (See 2004)
• Award of permanent total disability benefits for forest preserve worker whose multiple injuries and surgeries have rendered him disabled.
• Award of permanent total disability benefits for Local 111 ironworker injured during bridge repair in Moline, Illinois.

2006

• $275,000 settlement for career-ending injury of Local 1 ironworker.
• $266,000 settlement for a career-ending injury of a Local 63 apprentice ironworker.
• $250,000 settlement for a career-ending injury for a Local 1 ironworker.
• $235,000 settlement for a career-ending injury to a union carpenter.
• $208,000 settlement for a career-ending injury to a Local 1 ironworker.
• $173,000 settlement for a career-ending injury for a Local 111 ironworker.
• Award on appeal in favor of forest preserve mounted police officer whose claim was denied by the arbitrator due to conflicting medical records and the testimony of a co-employee who testified against the officer.
• $90,000.00 award for interim benefits for secretary who underwent multiple shoulder surgeries, but whose benefits were denied and medical treatment refused for cervical condition which arose 7 years after the accident.  The Commission adopted the injured workers' physician testimony that her cervical condition and surgery were related, and awarded benefits.

2005

• $300,000 settlement for injured warehouse worker whose injuries rendered him permanently and totally disabled.
• $250,000 settlement for Local 498 ironworker who suffered a career-ending injury.
• $200,000 settlement for a non-union truck driver who suffered a career-ending injury, but who obtained alternative employment as a security consultant.

Many of John's clients have third party claims in addition to their Workers' Compensation claims.  In 2005, John had seven (7) Workers' Compensation settlements for $1.00 plus a waiver of the Workers' Compensation lien by the insurance carrier.  These settlements were obtained in conjunction with over $6,000,000 in third party settlements, all but one for union ironworkers.

2004

• $340,000 settlement for a litigation associate of a major Chicago law firm who was injured when her car flipped on black ice returning from a business trip.  Her injuries restricted the hours she was able to work to 40 per week, which John argued restricted her from partnership track.
• $525,000 award and settlement for a Local 1 ironworker whose foreman (and uncle) testified against him claiming no notice of an injury was given.  Through phone records and through the impeachment of the testimony of the company's Workers' Compensation administrator, John obtained an award in excess of $250,000.00, including $125,000.00 in penalties and fees.  The claim then later settled for an additional $275,000.00.
• $125,000 award for Local 597 pipe fitter foreman who suffered serious injuries resulting in permanent work restrictions.  The employer accommodated the restrictions but failed to timely pay the award, which resulted in a further award of penalties and interest of $26,000 in 2006.  The injured pipe fitter foreman then re-injured himself at work with the same employer, resulting in additional injuries that rendered him unable to work.  In 2007, John obtained an award for permanent total disability benefits as well as lifetime medical care.
• $115,000 award of interim benefits and authorization for surgery for a physical therapist who sustained three different injuries over the course of her employment with two different employers.  The employers denied treatment and benefits, pointing the finger at each other, resulting in an award of back benefits, penalties and fees, and an order for authorization of future back surgery.

2003

• $350,000 award of accrued benefits plus ongoing weekly benefits for life for a union carpenter who suffered a heart attack on the job.  The claim was denied because it appeared that the carpenter's activities were not particularly strenuous or unusual.  Through expert testimony, John convinced the Appellate Court to award benefits by distinguishing between the physical stress brought on from isometric activities such as trimming the side of a solid wood door vs. aerobic activities, upon which heart attack claims are normally based.
• $215,000 settlement for union electrician on a claim that State Farm denied based on the fact that the accident occurred early Monday morning.  Despite having the owner of the business and a co-worker testify against the injured worker, John prevailed at trial and successfully settled the claim.
• $300,000 settlement for a career-ending injury to a Local 1 ironworker.
• $130,000 award and settlement for a petite female police lieutenant who suffered injuries as a result of sharing the lieutenant's squad car with three male counterparts each of whom weighed over 250 lbs.  As a result, the driver's seat was broken and stuck in a position halfway into the back seat which resulted in no back support and subsequent injury to the female lieutenant. 

Several of John's published decisions have expanded the rights of working men and women in Illinois.  He has authored articles on Workers' Compensation law, and spoken on Workers' Compensation at seminars and at John Marshall Law School.

"Compassion and understanding are the foundation of my practice."