Philip A. Bareck

A managing partner at Katz Friedman, Eisenstein, Johnson Bareck & Bertuca and Adjunct Professor at IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law teaching the Workers' Compensation Law since 2017, Philip A. Bareck was recently inducted in the College of Workers Compensation in New Orleans, LA.  He continues to be recognized not only a Super Lawyer, but also an Illinois Leading Lawyer and Best Lawyer based upon surveys and reviews from peers and clients.  He focuses his practice primarily on assisting people throughout Illinois who have been injured on the job or have developed occupational illnesses to obtain their deserved benefits under their employer's workers' compensation insurance coverage. Based in Chicago but with a statewide practice, he has appeared on behalf of clients at administrative hearings before the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission and at state court levels. He has successfully represented workers in proceedings against Caterpillar Inc., Stellantis/Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V., the State of Illinois, the City of Chicago, UTC Aerospace Systems, and other large private and public employers. Moreover, he has represented thousands of injured workers in the Quincy, IL region and continues to have a monthly meeting schedule to assist those injured in that city and neighboring towns. In a 2016 landmark decision against Caterpillar, the state's appellate court found that his client's self-treatment at home for a workplace injury, which worsened and altered his injured condition, remained a work-related situation justifying benefits under the Illinois Workers' Compensation Act and expanding the medical treatment/benefits coverage for Illinois injured workers.

Mr. Bareck pursued his undergraduate studies at the University of Illinois and received a Bachelor of Science in political science and government in 1988. He then went on to attend Chicago-Kent College of Law, part of the Illinois Institute of Technology, and was awarded his Juris Doctor with high honors in 1991. Admitted to practice before all Illinois state courts, Mr. Bareck has been with his present firm for his entire career.

Mr. Bareck is a regular speaker on a variety of workers' compensation topics at Illinois Institute of Continuing Legal Education (IICLE) education seminars, and he has written materials on Illinois workers' compensation jurisdiction for the Illinois State Bar Journal,  statutory reform for the Illinois Daily Law Bulletin and  has written materials permanency recoveries, arbitration strategy, evidence depositions, wage loss cases, advanced workers' compensation, and permanent and total disability. Admired by his colleagues for his ethics and track record, Mr. Bareck has been inducted into the College of Workers' Compensation (2022),  selected as a Leading Lawyer and included in The Best Lawyers in America.