Williams v. Katz

POSNER, Chief Judge.

We are asked to decide whether under the law of Illinois an employer that pays workers’ compensation benefits to an injured employee may ever assert a lien in a judgment or settlement obtained by the employee in a suit for legal malpractice. The issue, a novel one in Illinois, has divided the other appellate courts to consider it. Compare Toole v. EBI Cos., 314 Or. 102, 838 P.2d 60 (1992); McDowell v. LaVoy, 63 AD.2d 358, 408 N.Y.S.2d 148 (1978), aff'd, 47 N.Y.2d 747, 417 N.Y.S.2d 255, 390 N.E.2d 1179 (1979); and Tallerday v. Delong, 68 Wash.App. 351, 842 P.2d 1023 (1993),…