If you've suffered a work-related injury or illness, you'll be wondering whether to rent a workers compensation audit attorney. The answer depends on the severity of your injury, the general complexity of your case, and therefore the actions of your employer (or its insurance company.
When You Can Probably Represent Yourself
As a general rule, you'll be ready to get by without an attorney if all of the subsequent statements are true:
- You suffered a minor workplace injury, like a twisted ankle or a cut requiring a couple of stitches.
- Your employer admits that the injury happened at work.
- You missed little or no work thanks to your injury.
- You don't have a pre-existing condition that affects an equivalent a part of your body because of the recent workplace injury (such as an old back injury from a car accident that was there before you slipped and hurt your back on the job).
Even in these relatively uncomplicated situations, it's often an honest idea to contact a workers' compensation attorney for a free consultation about your case. The lawyer can walk you thru the method, provide you with a warning to potential pitfalls, and provides you an honest appraisal of whether you'll handle the case on your own.
When to Hire a Lawyer
The moment any complexity arises in your case is that the moment you ought to hire an attorney. Here are some examples of situations that call for a lawyer’s intervention:
- Your employer denies your claim or doesn’t pay your benefits promptly. Employers and workers' comp insurers routinely reject real workers' comp claims, confident that a lot of workers will fail to appeal. Unfortunately, they're usually correct. Hiring a workers' comp attorney costs nothing upfront (more thereon later), and it gives you the simplest chance to receive a good settlement or award for your injuries.
- Your employer's settlement offer doesn't cover all of your lost wages or medical bills. If you are not sure a settlement offer is sweet enough, don't believe the workers' compensation judge to form sure that you're getting a good deal. Although workers' comp settlements must have judicial approval, judges will usually log off on any agreement as long as it isn't grossly unfair. If you actually want someone to urge you the simplest settlement possible, call an attorney.
- Your medical issues prevent you from returning to your prior job, limit what you'll do at work, or keep you from performing any work on all. If you've suffered permanent disability—whether partial or total—you could also be entitled to weekly payments (or one lump sum) to form up for your lost wages. These cases are often very expensive for insurance companies, and they'll often stop at nothing to avoid paying you what you deserve. A knowledgeable workers' comp attorney is important in cases involving permanent injuries or illness.
- You receive or decide to apply for Social Security disability benefits. If your settlement isn't structured properly, your workers’ comp benefits could significantly lower Social Security disability payments. An experienced attorney will understand the way to draft your settlement agreement to attenuate or eliminate this offset.
- Your boss retaliates against you for filing a workers' comp claim. If your employer has fired you, demoted you, slashed your hours, reduced your pay, or engaged in the other sort of discrimination because you filed a workers' comp claim, contact a workers' comp attorney immediately to guard your legal rights.
- You were injured because of a third party’s actions or your employer’s serious misconduct conduct. The workers' comp system was designed to stop civil lawsuits for work-related injuries. However, you're permitted to sue outside workers' comp in certain situations, including when someone aside from your employer contributed to your injury (such as a negligent driver who hit you while you were driving for work), your employer doesn’t have workers’ comp insurance, or your employer intentionally caused your injury. An experienced lawyer is going to be ready to explain how the law applies to your situation.
What Your Attorney Will Do for You
In addition to creating sure you file all the required forms and meet the deadlines, an experienced attorney will skill to collect the evidence needed to support your case, negotiate effectively with the insurance firm, and write a settlement agreement to avoid unanticipated consequences. If you can’t agree on an honest settlement, an attorney can steel oneself against and represent you at the hearing or trial. Learn more about what an honest workers’ comp lawyer should do and what to seem for during a workers' comp attorney.
Tilting the Scales in Your Favor
The workers' compensation system may are intended to supply prompt and fair compensation to injured workers. But now, it seems to figure mostly for the advantage of employers and insurers. Plus, insurance companies have teams of highly trained lawyers on their side. Hiring a seasoned workers' comp attorney will go an extended way toward tilting the scales in your favor. and since of the way workers’ comp attorneys charge for his or her services, your lawyer will only receive a limited percentage of what you win.
If you're in any doubt about your ability to handle your claim yourself, don't hesitate to call a workers' comp attorney for a free consultation.
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