2025 ILLINOIS ATTORNEYS TO WATCH
COLE GARRETT
AGE 39
FIRM Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission
LAW SCHOOL Chicago-Kent College of Law
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AREA(S) OF PRACTICE Government administration
Cole is one of the most essential employees in this huge commission.
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F ew attorneys have made as big of an impact on workers' compensation law in Illinois as Cole Garrett. An example? Garrett spearheaded the first major revision of the Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission's administrative rules in decades, modifying 11 parts and more than 60 sections. James Clune, with Chicago's Garofalo, Schreiber, Storm & Grant, said that Garrett played a key role when 28 lawyers and two commissioners met over several months to revise the prac- tice rules of the Commission. "Cole Garrett was the shepherd and mediator," Clune said. "It's humorous to envision herding cats, but this project is prob- ably as close as one can come to that phrase. Cole Garrett suc- cessfully mediated disputes, maintained focus and herded cats." The Administration, stakeholders and legislators have come to rely on Garrett’s legal research, legal writing and legislative drafting skills. Garrett has authored dozens of legislative amend- ments, including six major House and Senate bills that are now codified in the Illinois Workers' Compensation Act, Workers’ Occupational Diseases Act and Illinois Insurance Code. As administrator of the Rate Adjustment Fund and Second Injury Fund, special funds totaling roughly $13 million per year, Cole eliminated some of the Commission’s most serious repeat
audit findings. This work ensures prompt payment of statutory benefits each month to more than 1,000 of Illinois' most vulner- able citizens. David Menchetti, partner with Chicago's Cullen Haskins Nich- olson Menchetti, said that Garrett's ability to work effectively and efficiently with large institutions and the bureaucracy that so often comes with them is a rare talent. "Although Cole's legislative and rule-making skills are excep- tional, I think the primary example of his lawyering skills was the way he straightened out the Rate Adjustment Fund, which was a mess, to make sure that widows and orphans of deceased work- ers got their cost-of-living increases," Menchetti said. "Cole is one of the most essential employees in this huge commission," said Kevin Durkin, partner with Clifford Law Of- fices. "Injured workers deserve protection. This attorney has been essential in the operation of this commission where over 30,000 new cases are filed each year." As a demonstration of Garrett's top legal skills, he success- fully defended the Commission to earn a no-penalty negotiated outcome on an Illinois OSHA complaint and has defended the Commission in matters before the EEOC, IDHR, IDOL, FOIA PAC and Civil Service Commission.
40 Under Forty 2025
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CHICAGO LAWYER & CHICAGO DAILY LAW BULLETIN
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