By Scot Kersgaard
Wheaton, Illinois workers’ compensation attorney Christine Ory has been appointed by Governor Bruce Rauner to serve as an arbitrator on the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission.
Ory was a claims adjuster while working her way through college and law school. On her website, she touts that experience as helping her represent workers’ comp claimants.
From her website:
“I have been working in the workers' compensation field since 1975. Almost 20 years of that time, I have been an attorney helping my clients get the compensation they need after suffering work-related accidents. Before that, I spent 11 years on the other side, working as a claims adjuster and working in defense while working nights to get my undergraduate and legal degrees.
“That experience has helped me tremendously in my Wheaton, Illinois, workers' compensation practice. My clients get the benefit of my inside knowledge. I know how the other side works, and I use that experience to help my clients get the compensation they need.”
Elliot Richardson, CEO of the Chicago-based Small Business Advocacy Council, said he applauds the choice of Ory.
“Ms Ory has experience on both sides and would bring a balanced approach to her role as an arbitrator. That is what business wants—a fair and balanced approach, and I think that is what she brings to the role,” he said.
Ory has been in private practice since 1986, opening her own firm in 2005, where she focuses solely on workers’ comp. She is a member of the Workers’ Compensation Lawyers Association and a prior chair of the Illinois State Bar Association Workers’ Compensation Committee. Prior to getting her law degree, she was a workers’ compensation claims supervisor for
Hartford Insurance Company.
