Once upon a time, injured workers got all the benefits they deserved without hiring attorneys. For too many injured workers, those days are over, and now that story has a bad ending. Injuries can be devastating, and loss of a job can ruin lives. Some employers have developed an unspoken policy of isolating and mistreating their injured workers. An injured worker with no job, little money, and no information is on the edge of losing it all. That person needs to talk with attorneys.
The decision of whether to hire legal representation should be simple. If you don’t need legal representation for your Workers’ Compensation claim, then don’t hire lawyers. If you need it, then hire them. If you’re uncertain, then make your decision after considering the following:
Does Your Claim Look Like This?
- A career-threatening injury is so difficult that it causes depression, creates inaction, and worries the injured worker and their spouse.
- Unfair treatment by the claims manager and/or a nurse case manager is causing problems.
- The injured worker can’t get important information such as a copy of their file, the IME report, the PPD rules, or good advice about a pension.
- An unfavorable ORDER arrives from L&I, and the injured worker does not know what to do or how to get L&I to do the right thing.
- The injured worker returns to light duty work and is given full duty. They are harassed and talked about, and their continued employment is in doubt.
- The injured worker walks out of an IME and knows something isn’t right. The doctor deciding his fate is hostile, abrupt, or rude. The doctor doesn’t listen and writes an unfair report. The injured worker can’t get a copy of the IME.
- There is a third-party claim.
- The injured worker has a serious and disabling injury that will never get better.
- The medical care is inadequate, or the doctor has given up because L&I claims are too much paperwork.
- The injured worker deserves a pension but doesn’t know how to qualify or how to get a pension.
- Time loss benefits are threatened, not paid timely, in the correct amount, or not paid at all.
- The injured worker deserves a permanent partial disability settlement but doesn’t know the rules and doesn’t trust L&I or the Self-Insured company to be fair.
- The unfortunate effects of the injury and the harsh realities of the L&I system have worn the injured worker down. They are too tired to fight anymore, and they get attorneys to help.
Contact us and get L&I help.
