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There’s No Place Like Home: Ottawa Retains its Venue Status

Monday, September 5th, 2011

For those of our blog readers who were not aware, the Ottawa hearing site for workers’ compensation cases spent some uncomfortable time on the chopping block recently.  As part of the new workers’ compensation reform that passed earlier this summer, a panel created by the Governor had to help determine which “venues” – or hearing sites – would remain and how to group them together into new “zones.”  In one of the well-circulated proposals, Ottawa was to lose its status as a hearing site, which would have been a major loss to local injured workers, employers, and their attorneys.       

Thankfully, due to some great grassroot efforts, Ottawa has been retained as a hearing site.  Ottawa will now be in a rotating “zone” with the cities of Joliet and Geneva:

http://www.iwcc.illinois.gov/news.htm#reg

We would like to give a special thanks to State Senator Sue Rezin, Ottawa Mayor Bob Eschbach, a host of attorneys, and especially our own Jennifer Kiesewetter, for all of their hard work and support in keeping Ottawa a vital part of the workers’ compensation system here in Illinois.  It is a Happy Labor Day for us all.

– Thomas M. Strow, Attorney

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