Nov 11, 2019 · You should also collect documents and other relevant information to bring to your meeting, including: any written reports of your accident or injury your medical records a list of your medical providers and their contact information a list of any witnesses who saw your accident, with contact information
Aug 30, 2021 · If you injure yourself at work and are collecting workers’ compensation benefits, one piece of mail you want to receive less than a letter for jury duty is a Termination Petition filed by ...
You might ask to speak with any legal assistants and paralegals working in your lawyer's office; they may be able to give you information about the status of your case. If you don't get help from them and you're concerned that things have fallen through the cracks in your case, you should ask to see your workers' comp file.
A lawyer will be able to analyze the details of a particular workers’ comp case to ensure an employee receives proper benefits. The lawyer might look over medical records to determine the extent of the injury in question and could also examine your business’s records to see if it has had any previous safety violations. Determine a rightful benefit
Answer: Your attorney has a legal and ethical obligation to communicate with you and keep you informed about your case. That being said, attorneys are typically very busy, often juggling several cases at a time. Depending on your state, workers' comp cases can also move quite slowly.
However, your lawyer should be keeping you informed, even if it's just to say that your case is in a holding pattern. You might ask to speak with any legal assistants and paralegals working in your lawyer's office; they may be able to give you information about the status of your case.
Be sure to bring a copy of your workers' comp file to any meetings that you set up with other lawyers. As for a malpractice suit, it's probably not worth the time and effort unless your lawyer made a big mistake, like missing a filing deadline.
In most cases, you won't lose money in your workers' comp case just because your lawyer didn't communicate with you about your case, so you wouldn't get anywhere with a malpractice lawsuit. You can, however, always file a complaint with the state bar, which is the state agency responsible for disciplining attorneys.
Employees who retain an attorney often do so because: They don’t understand how the claims process works. They want to make sure they are filing the claim correctly.
A lawyer will be able to analyze the details of a particular workers ’ comp case to ensure an employee receives proper benefits. The lawyer might look over medical records to determine the extent of the injury in question and could also examine your business’s records to see if it has had any previous safety violations.
When employees file a workers’ comp claim, they report the incident to the proper labor authorities in their state. If an injured employee accepts benefits or a settlement package, they usually waive the right to sue your business, but they can reject the settlement outright and pursue litigation.
Lawyers can also advise employees after your business’s insurance provider decides whether or not to grant benefits. If the insurer denies the claim or offers an unsatisfactory payout, the employee’s lawyer may encourage him or her to appeal the decision. As noted above, this is an instance when a small business might consider hiring its own ...
Your business lacks workers’ comp insurance. If your company fails to purchase the required workers’ comp coverage for the states in which you do business, you are likely to hear from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, in which case it’s wise to speak with an attorney.
Lawyers help employees assess the cost of their injury or illness to determine how much money they should receive. To do so, attorneys consider medical bills, rehabilitation costs, time away from work, and the type of disability that the employee has incurred.
The good news: Small business owners rarely need to hire lawyers for workers’ comp claims because they rarely end in lawsuits. Usually, the injured employee is simply exercising his or her right to compensation, and the employer’s workers’ comp insurance provider will decide whether the worker is eligible for benefits.
If that doesn't work, you may substitute a new attorney. But don't fire don't fire the current lawyer until you've found a new replacement and taken the steps for switching workers' comp lawyers.
It's common for injured workers to complain that their workers’ comp lawyers don't communicate with them often enough. If your lawyer isn’t responding to your emails and phone calls, you're probably frustrated and wondering what you can do.
Most of the time, your lawyer has no control over the time that various stages in the process take. For example, it may take several months to get a hearing on schedule because of a backlog at the state workers’ compensation agency. Or it may take several weeks ...
If your case is in a holding pattern, your lawyer should let you know and explain why. If you’ve made multiple efforts to contact your lawyer and have received no response, you may have a real problem on your hands. Your lawyer has an ethical duty to keep you reasonably informed about important matters in your case.
If you’re getting radio silence from your lawyer, call the assistant or paralegal and try to set up a meeting.
Or it may take several weeks for the insurance company to schedule your deposition or independent medical examination. If you haven’t heard from your lawyer in a few weeks, it’s possible that there's simply no news to report. That being said, you shouldn’t be left in the dark about what's going on with your claim.
Before you march down to your lawyer’s office to demand an explanation, consider whether there are any legitimate reasons for the delay in response. If this is your first time working with a lawyer, for example, you may not know what to expect. In general, lawyers are pretty busy and have several cases going on at a time.
This means spending at least some time to help you prepare for critical proceedings such as an independent medical examinatio n, your deposition, and the workers’ comp hearing. You shouldn’t have to go into these events blind.
However, if your lawyer can’t answer simple questions about the status of your case, or repeatedly asks you the same questions, it may be a sign of neglect.
Your Lawyer Doesn’t Return Your Calls. One of the biggest complaints about workers’ comp lawyers is that they don’t communicate enough with their clients. Sometimes, this is simply because attorneys are too busy and have a lot of cases (as is often the case with workers’ comp lawyers). Other times, however, a lawyer may not be giving your case ...
If your benefits stop before that happens and there's no explanation, you should contact your lawyer immediately. It could be a mistake, or the insurance company may have decided to end your benefits for some other reason (for example, because it disputes your treating doctor's assessment of your condition).
But an attorney who rushes you into a bad deal may not be looking out for your best interests.
Other times, however, a lawyer may not be giving your case the attention it needs. You could have a real problem if your lawyer is unreachable for weeks at a time or doesn’t respond to fair requests in a reasonable amount of time.