Accidents can happen anywhere, and the workplace is not exempt from that risk. However, when an employee is hurt at work, the process for an injury settlement will look quite different.
Workers’ compensation acts as a no-fault system that allows employees to receive benefits after an accident on the job without the company facing fear of a lawsuit. Generally speaking, an employer is required to have insurance like workers’ compensation to protect both the company and the employees, but that doesn’t necessarily make the claim process a breeze.
The CEO Lawyer Personal Injury Law Firm is dedicated to serving members of the Lawrenceville community like you. Ali Awad, the founding and managing attorney, has spent the last few years turning a local firm into this trusted national brand.
As one of the fastest-growing firms in the United States, the CEO Lawyer is ready and eager to assist you with your case.
An initial consultation with the CEO Lawyer team is free and comes with no obligation to continue with our services. In this initial meeting, our goals are to better understand the specific details of your accident, map out a general course of action, and offer you the chance to ask any pressing questions.
To get started, speak with an experienced Lawrenceville workers’ compensation lawyer by calling (770) 525-9098 or contacting us online.
What Can a Lawrenceville Workers’ Compensation Attorney Do For My Case?
Facing an injury at work can be a shocking and confusing experience for an employee, garnering many questions about the future. The steps that come after the accident don’t have to be as daunting, as an experienced professional can help you walk through it.
An attorney can help you sort through the information regarding your accident and put together a clear course of action to seek the maximum amount of benefits available for your medical costs and missed work income. Having an ally by your side throughout the process can potentially make all the difference in your claim, not just in the outcome but also in the stress and effort involved throughout the journey.
Your workers’ compensation attorney can provide comprehensive case management with services such as:
- Organizing all collected documentation: Throughout the course of any accident, a victim is bound to accumulate mass amounts of paperwork. From doctors’ notes to insurance information, you’ll end up with a lot of documents to sort through. An attorney can help you make sense of this paperwork and understand how it can be useful later.
- Managing communication with all outside parties: The claims process requires that both parties communicate with an insurance adjuster and possibly even a middleman along the way. An attorney will speak on your behalf in all communications with representatives from the negligent party, saving you precious time and energy.
- Helping you understand the laws, regulations, and most effective strategies related to your case: Every state has its own laws surrounding personal injury claims and for minute details like coverage minimums. Searching through the sea of information available and looking for hidden factors that can impact your claim is a time-consuming process, but an attorney can explain what statutes and rules are impactful to your case and what to prepare for.
- Helping you get an accurate medical opinion: Employers and insurers have a high degree of control over where an injured employee is allowed to obtain a diagnosis and where they receive treatment. Your attorney can help you exercise your right to obtain a second opinion from a provider you trust, as well as to seek care through your preferred healthcare organization.
- Investigating your accident, including a thorough evaluation of claims of negligence: An attorney can deep-dive into the data collected from the time of the accident, as well as from your medical documentation afterward, effectively extracting key details that can impact your claim. A lawyer is likely to catch hidden factors that a claimant may miss on their own.
- Negotiating on your behalf: One of the most difficult aspects of litigation to face up to is negotiating the final settlement. Proposing a settlement number and presenting evidence to back its value can be an unnerving task for a claimant, but an attorney like The CEO Lawyer can take on the negotiation process on your behalf.
What Benefits Are Available for Workers’ Compensation Claims?
Workers’ compensation is different from traditional consumer or commercial insurance policies. These plans exist to protect an employee financially in the event they are injured at work, but the benefits have their limitations.
An employee receiving workers’ compensation benefits can only secure recovery for physical injuries and other economic damages. Economic damages include objectifiable damages that can be proven with a monetary burden, but non-economic damages account for unverifiable damages like emotional suffering.
Non-economic damages are not applicable through workers’ compensation. The same can be said for punitive damages, as workers’ compensation is a no-fault system.
The victim of a work-related accident can recover the following damages from workers’ compensation:
- Medical treatment
- Follow-up care
- Physical rehabilitation
- Vocational retraining
- Funeral arrangements for wrongful death accidents
In any case, an employer or their insurance carrier may dispute a claim, saying that the injuries weren’t work-related or that certain aspects of care aren’t needed in an attempt to underpay. The employer may even try to retaliate after the employee’s attempt to claim benefits.
It’s a risky game to blindly trust that an insurer, which is motivated by profit, will always be fair in their offer. An attorney’s job is to represent you and ensure that each step of the litigation process is being conducted with due diligence and full respect for your legal rights.
Most Common Types of Workers’ Compensation Claims
A work accident can happen in many ways, but some of the most common include:
- Exposure to harmful substances or environments (including COVID-19): The human body can only take so much, and in extreme environments with little safety protection, a worker is at high risk of injury. Exposure to extreme heat, cold, changes in pressure, or electricity can be harmful when an injury occurs. This category also notes exposure to infectious diseases, such as COVID-19, or occupational hazards, like silica dust.
- Overexertion: Many jobs require heavy lifting, constant moving of objects, and agile movements. An injury due to overexertion can happen suddenly or gradually. For example, many of these injuries are caused by lifting, holding, throwing, turning, and carrying heavy objects.
- Slips, trips, and falls: Slippery floors, objects in the way, or simply rushing can cause a slip and fall. Slips and falls are one of the most common injuries for workers, causing more than 700 fatalities per year on average. You could fall at the same level or fall to a lower level, creating serious injuries to places like the back, legs, and neck.
- Contact with unsafe objects or environments: This category includes injuries where an object falls onto or strikes the victim, such as collapsing or moving material. In these situations, the employee may also be pinched, squeezed, or compressed between two objects. These accidents are most common on construction sites.
- Transportation incidents: The roads can be dangerous, and work vehicles are not exempt from the hazards on the road. In 2020, over 1,000 workers endured fatal injuries while driving. An accident can happen to anyone at any time, and when you’re on the clock, you may be able to apply for workers’ compensation benefits.
- Violence: Workplace violence can involve a coworker, a customer, a third-party visitor, or even an animal. As long as the situation occurred within the scope of employment and during the employee’s shift, the injuries are claimable under workers’ compensation.
- Fire exposure and explosions: Accidents with fire can lead to serious injuries like burns, loss of limbs, permanent disfigurement, or an inability to return to work due to limited function. Work environments that involve fire or explosions are generally carefully regulated, and the employees are given extensive training on how to manage similar situations. When the safety precautions fail, The CEO lawyer can help you secure workers’ compensation benefits that prompt a comfortable recovery.
If You’ve Been Injured at Work, Contact a Trusted Lawrenceville Workers’ Compensation Law Firm Today
When you are facing the aftermath of an accident on the job, you are looking at new debts, expenses, and limitations. Managing your financial and physical care after any accident can be stress-inducing, but an attorney can be there to help guide you through the fog.
The CEO Lawyer Personal Injury Firm works on a contingency basis, meaning that we promise not to take a dime until we’ve won your personal injury case. We never charge any initial or hourly fees and will only walk away with an agreed-upon percentage after litigation has eased.
Our experienced workers’ compensation attorney team is standing by to help you get started on your injury claim. The first appointment comes with no obligation to continue with our services but is a great way to better understand what the process of your claim may look like.
To meet with an attorney in a free initial consultation, schedule a meeting with a member of our team by calling (770) 525-9098 or contacting us online
