Bio
Michael J. Brennan
Michael J. Brennan was appointed as Chairman of the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission by Governor JB Pritzker in 2019. On March 13, 2023, he was reappointed as Chairman, by Governor Pritzker. He previously served as a Public Member Commissioner from 2013 to 2018.
As Chairman he has executed procedural changes leading to the creation and implementation of a paperless filing system for the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission, as well as a virtual process for the appearance of parties at monthly status calls and pre-trial hearings.
He co-chaired a Rules Committee which resulted in the first comprehensive review and modification of the IWCC Rules of Practice since 1975. Revised Rules were unanimously approved by the Legislature and Commission in October of 2016.
Mr. Brennan earned both his Bachelor of Arts and Juris Doctorate Degrees at De Paul University. He has practiced law in Illinois and has litigated numerous cases reported by the Illinois Appellate Court, the Illinois Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme Court.
From 1991 through 2013, Mr. Brennan was engaged in a private law practice, with an emphasis on Workers’ Compensation. Previously, he served as an Illinois Assistant Attorney General, from 1977 through 1991, where he prosecuted Civil Revenue and Criminal Medicaid Fraud cases, before becoming the Chief of the then Industrial Commission Division.
He was among the principal authors of Larson’s Illinois Workers’ Compensation Handbook and published numerous articles dealing with Illinois Workers’ Compensation issues for Quinlan’s, Thomson West and Reuters. He has been qualified and testified as an expert on Workers’ Compensation matters and has lectured extensively on the topic.
He has been elected by his peers as a Martindale-Hubbell Rated AV Preeminent Attorney for over Twenty Years, an Illinois Super Lawyer, an Illinois Leading Lawyer, named as among the Best Lawyers of America and among the Top Attorneys in Illinois by Chicago Magazine. He was inducted as a Fellow in the College of Workers' Compensation Lawyers. He is a member of the Chicago Bar Association and Workers’ Compensation Lawyers' Association
