Experience

Jon Walker focuses his practice on representing injured individuals throughout the State of Illinois in workers' compensation, Social Security Disability and personal injury claims.

In workers' compensation claims, Jon has extensive experience litigating repetitive trauma injuries involving auto manufacturing employees. He has also successfully won hearings at the Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission where employers have defended the claims based on independent contractor agreements; denied the increased risk of the employment; and refused payment and medical treatment based on independent medical examinations. Jon is one of the few attorneys in the State of Illinois taking cases to emergency hearings under Section 19(b-1) of the Illinois Workers' Compensation Act, which provides for an expedited trial and appellate review.

In claims for Social Security Disability, Jon has successfully represented disabled individuals before the Social Security Administration. He has won claims for individuals suffering a range of conditions from obesity to sleep apnea to chronic pain. In most cases Jon attempts to expedite the claimants' benefits by requesting an On-The-Record review, where he presents evidence to the Administrative Law Judge prior to the hearing, often with favorable results.

Jon currently sits on the Board of the Young Lawyers Section of the Workers' Compensation Lawyers' Association and the Illinois State Bar Association's Workers' Compensation Law Section Council. In 2011 he was appointed to the Chicago Bar Association's Judical Evaluation Committee for the evaluation of candidates for judicial offices and sitting judges seeking retention within Cook County. In 2010 he served as a judge in the Chicago Bar Association's 2010 Winter Moot Court Competition for law students from across the country. In 2009 he finished third in the Chicago Bar Association's "Most Fit Lawyer Competition" for attorneys 30-39 years of age.

He is a member of the Workers' Compensation Lawyers Association (WCLA), the Chicago Bar Association Workers' Compensation Committee, Social Security Disability Committee and Tort Litigation Committee (CBA). He is a member of the National Association of Social Security Claimants' Representatives (NOSSCR) and Illinois State Bar Association (ISBA).

Jon earned his Juris Doctor from the University of Illinois College of Law in 2004. He was a finalist in the Frederick Green Moot Court Competition and an active member of the law school ice hockey team. He earned his Bachelor of Arts from the University of British Columbia in 2001, with a double major in History and English Literature. At UBC he was a member of Golden Key National Honors Society and the Captain of the Faculty of Arts ice hockey team.

He is admitted to practice by the Illinois Supreme Court (November 2004) and federally by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (January 2005).

When he's not fighting for his clients, Jon can be found watching Fighting Illini Basketball, lifting weights, playing ice hockey, riding his mountain bike, playing tennis or  boxing at Evanston Boxing Club. He volunteers with the Chicago Anti-Cruelty Society animal rescue and is active with several wildlife and ecological conservation programs.