how can lawyer get me money faster in workers compensation

Personal Injury

If you’ve been injured and aren’t sure where to turn, let us help. We represent individuals in many areas of personal injury including truck, auto and motorcycle accidents, property liability (slip & fall), spinal cord injuries, and more.

Worker's Comp

Injured at work? We can help! If you have suffered a work-related injury or illness, we can help ensure you get full and fair compensation under the law.

Our Personal Injury & Worker's Comp Attorneys

Northland Injury Law: Personal Injury Lawyers in Northland Kansas City and Northwest Missouri.

Latest Blog

As Northland personal injury lawyers in Kansas City, we constantly encounter clients who have children in the car when they are involved in car accidents. As fathers first and then attorneys, it is important for us to promote baby safety....

Frequently Asked Questions

Get answers about our Kansas City law firm, like how and when to file a suit for your Personal Injury & Worker’s Compensation.

What are legal costs?

Legal Costs. Legal costs are a separate item that will need to be paid in your case. These are the expenses that a lawyer incurs in furthering your case, such as the costs to file documents, copy medical records, and hire expert witnesses (a doctor, for example) to testify at your worker's comp hearing.

What is a contingency fee?

Most lawyers charge a contingency fee ⁠— a percentage of the benefits that the lawyer helps you obtain. If you receive a settlement or an award by a workers' comp judge, the lawyer will take a percentage of that payout as his or her fee. If the lawyer doesn't help you recover benefits, the lawyer doesn't get paid.

Do attorneys have to be approved by workers comp?

In most states, attorneys' fees in workers' comp cases must be approved by the workers' compensation agency. At the end of your case, your lawyer must submit his or her fee for approval by a worker's comp judge. It is often illegal for a lawyer to take a fee without getting the agency's approval first. A workers' comp judge will consider several ...

What is a free consultation?

Free Consultation with a Lawyer. Most lawyers will offer a free initial consultation to an injured worker. (In some states, such as California, lawyers are legally required to provide a no-charge initial consultation.) This meeting is an opportunity for the lawyer to evaluate your case and decide whether to take it on.

Do lawyers get paid by the hour?

However, they are typically still paid out of the proceeds of your settlement or award at the end of your case. This means that you won't have to pay legal fees up front.

How long does it take to get a workers comp case resolved?

According to our survey, workers’ comp cases took nearly six months longer to conclude when a lawyer was involved. On average, cases resolved in 17.9 months with a lawyer and 12.2 months without a lawyer.

How to file a workers comp claim?

Because lawyers have more knowledge about the workers’ comp system and more tools at their disposal, it makes sense that they would add time to a workers’ comp case. When faced with an insurance company that refuses to budge on its position, the lawyer may take several actions, including: 1 sending you to another doctor for a second opinion on your degree of permanent disability 2 hiring a vocational expert to prove that you can no longer hold any gainful employment due to your injury, or 3 filing an appeal or request a hearing in front of a workers’ comp judge.

What is Martindale Nolo's 2015 survey?

The data referenced above is from Martindale-Nolo Research's 2015 workers’ compensation study, which analyzed survey responses from readers who had recently experienced a work-related injury or illness and had researched hiring a lawyer. The names of any quoted readers have been changed to protect their privacy.

Can workers comp be denied?

Denied Workers' Comp Claims. Injured employees face an uphill battle when their employers' insurance companies deny their workers' comp claims. They first have to show that they're eligible for benefits, and then they have to argue for the proper amount of benefits. Denied claims are unfortunately very common.

Is it worth hiring a lawyer for workers comp?

Many injured employees wonder whether it’s worth it to hire a lawyer for their workers’ compensation cases. On the one hand, it can be difficult and time-consuming to fight an insurance company—and its lawyer—on your own. On the other hand, hiring a lawyer means giving up a portion of your workers' comp benefits.

Leonard Bernard Feld

Dear Madam or Sir:#N#We don't like the sound of your attorney "taking money out of your check", but if the Judge approved a Fee request, he may have also directed that an amount be deducted every week if there was no retroactive payments owing to you.

Eric Edward Rothstein

Workers Comp attorneys tend to get a fee whenever the client gets money. The attorney requets a percentage at the hearing and the Adminstrative Law Judge must approve the fee.

Brian Marc Mittman

ALL attorneys fees in NY Workers Compensation must be approved by the Judge. Since workers compensation is often paid out to injured workers over time as opposed to a one time check, attorneys' fees may be spread out over that time.

What does an attorney do for you?

A lawyer will file the paperwork on time, build your case, negotiate with the insurance company and draft a settlement, if one is agreed on. If it’s not, you’re headed for a hearing.

How long does it take to file a workers comp claim?

Reporting regulations and deadlines vary from state to state, but it should typically take no longer than 30 days to complete this process.

Do attorneys cross-examine witnesses?

An attorney not only will prepare your argument, he or she will prepare you to say the right things in testimony. They also will cross-examine the insurance company’s witnesses. That job should not be left up to amateurs. Unlike civil cases, workers compensation law has a safety net of sort.

When is a settlement final?

When an employee represents himself or herself, the settlement is not final until the judge approves it. They can reject the settlement if they feel it’s not reasonable and the employee is getting a raw deal. But the settlement usually has to be grossly unfair for a judge to reject it.

Can SSDI be reduced?

You plan file for Social Security disability benefits – Those benefits, known as SSDI , may be reduced by workers comp benefits. A lawyer can structure your settlement to minimize or eliminate the offset. Your employer retaliates against you – If you are fired, demoted, have your hours cut or are pressured to return to work too soon, ...