I will be meeting with an attorney next week to discuss the possibility of my initiating a workmen’s compensation lawsuit. I’m terrified. I’ve never been a party to a lawsuit, and in fact have never dealt with a lawyer at all. Seriously, all I know about the legal profession is based on what I see on TV (which is obviously going to be vastly different from the reality).
What is the general progression of things in workmen’s compensation suits? Will the lawyer laugh me out of his office if he doesn’t think I have a case? Will all of my personal shortcomings and failures be brought out into the open by the opposing counsel in order to make me look bad?
Do these things usually go to court? Or are they settled out of court more often than not?
What kinds of judgments are handed out in these cases? I know that the answer will be “it varies.” Without giving away too many details, the bottom line in my case is that, at a minimum, I’ll have difficulty walking for the rest of my life, and will probably be needing a cane before too much longer.
Finally, the lawyer I’m seeing operates on a contingency basis, so the only way he gets paid is if I win. That means he’ll take, what, 30% of my settlement? 50%? 99%?
The only part I can even partially answer is this one, so I’ll take a swing. Bear in mind, I’m not a lawyer, just someone who has recently visited a lawyer to discuss a possible contingency case.
In my state, the lawyer is only allowed to take up to one-third of the settlement, plus expenses. I asked the lawyer whether the “plus expenses” part could be so much that you win the case and still end up owing the lawyer money, and was told that no decent lawyer would 1) take a case where the settlement / judgement was likely to be smaller than the expenses, or 2) charge a client extra when they’ve already taken all the settlement.
Unless he’s a complete jackass (which, as in most fields, is only ~1% of them) he’ll simply explain why it’s not a winnable case.
Pretty darn unlikely unless you’re divorcing some rich and powerful or accusing someone of rape. Seriously though, only your actions which have a bearing on the matter at hand are likely to be scrutinized.
IANAL. I do have legal experience (comp and disability) and tons of experience with medical records, which means I see comp records now and then.
If they don’t think you have a case, they won’t laugh you out of the office, they’ll just tell you so. I’ve never personally seen a lawyer tell anyone they don’t have a case when it comes to disability or comp, but I’m sure it’s happened.
No, your shortcomings, etc. won’t be brought out into the open. In other words, if you’re on wife #4 and have 7 kids by 5 baby mamas, it’s not relevant.
If they have reason to think you’re malingering (and it is indeed rampant), they may have someone tail you to catch you in the act of, oh, re-roofing your house. This is not the time to join a bowling league or do a lot of yard work.
One of the most important things you can do, though, is keep your nose clean. If you’re prescribed narcotics, do everything your doctor says. No driving to the next town over to get more Percocets from the ER - they will bust you and that will be used against you as far as credibility goes, right or wrong. You need to be the king (or queen) of compliance. Go to your PT appointments. Do your home exercises. Don’t even think about using illicit drugs. (I’m not saying you’ll do any of this, of course, just telling you what I’ve seen WC use against people.) And for the love of God DO NOT apply for unemployment!
I’ve never seen a case go to court. I saw 1 case ALMOST go to court until the company’s lawyers got wise and settled out of court at the last minute. That case, though, was particularly hairy - the plaintiff had lost a leg and it was TOTALLY the company’s fault. He got big bucks. Had they gone to court, the company would have probably paid out even more than the 800k or so they ended up paying.
It completely varies. Based on what little you’ve said, and what I’ve seen, you’re definitely gonna want to look into retraining for a desk job or something. If you get a settlement, it’s not going to be that big. YMMV, of course.
Read the fine print on the contract. Most of the time it’s straight up contingency. Sometimes, though, they’ll stick a clause in there that says something about how you agree to pay them, whether you win or not, for things like travel expenses, fees for copying medical records, long distance phone calls (which is a joke these days), etc. Read every word before you sign.
You don’t have to sign anything that day, either. Think about it for a day or two. You may not even need a lawyer - I’m not sure I’d bother getting one for a comp claim, anyway. (I absolutely wouldn’t hire a lawyer for a disability claim but that’s another thread.)
Why be terrified?—just because he wears a suit and tie to work, and you don’t?
Calm down…it’s just a lawyer. A guy offering you a professional service for your problem
There’s another guy who’s already given you a lot of professional service for the same problem, who also wears a tie—and I assume that you weren’t terrified to deal with him.. (I’m talking about your doctor). If it helps you stay calm, think of your visit to the lawyer like a visit to your doctor.
They both poke and prod you a bit, and you have to be honest when they ask you personal questions.
You’ve already discussed your problems in depth with the doctor. Now you’re going to do the same with the lawyer.
If the doctor asked, say, about your use of alcohol before the accident, then the lawyer will, too.
No need to be afraid. Just tell him all the facts, and ask what the prognosis for recovery is.
I am also not a lawyer, but I have some experience in this area as well. PandaBear is giving you the same advice I would offer.
In the cases I saw, they never went to trial. I was told by my W/C provider that it is always cheaper to pay them to go away than try to disprove the claim. You may not really need an attorney and thus won’t have to share the reward, but it’s not clear from your OP where you are in the process.
Is there a reason you *need *a lawyer? Reasons would be 1) your employer knows you were hurt at work but refuses to report the claim, and you can’t find their work comp insurance carrier’s information anywhere. 2) You’ve tried to file a claim with their carrier, but they won’t take it from you. 3) You’ve filed a claim but the insurance company has denied it.
If you don’t need a lawyer for any of those reasons, don’t get one yet. People who run straight for a lawyer appear overly-litigious (it’s a big red flag), so your claim will be investigated *much *more deeply. Whereas if you work with the adjuster for a while and get nowhere, *then *get a lawyer, it doesn’t look fishy. The longer a claim has been open without proper action being taken, the more it’s accepted that lawyering up is necessary.
What steps have you taken at this point? I work for a commercial insurance company (I take work comp claims all day long). I know all about the claim-filing process; I have to explain it dozens of times a day. I can tell you that if you haven’t reported this injury to your employer yet, but come in with lawyers blazing, you’re not likely to have your complaint taken as seriously as if you follow these steps. I **don’t **recommend getting a lawyer until you have done all of these things:
Report the injury to your employer. --asap, there’s a deadline on this (varies by state)
Report the claim to their work comp carrier. It’s easy, just a 20 minute call. They’ll ask you a shitload of questions and assign the claim to an adjuster within a few days. You can call them even if you don’t know the policy number, there are lots of ways to search. But you DO need to know what insurance company to report it to.
2a*) Report the claim to the state work comp board. You can find their information by googling “Illinois board of workers compensation” (or whatever your state is).
Seek medical treatment at a work comp clinic, using the claim number you received from the insurance company. If you don’t know where to go for treatment, call the insurance and they’ll get you a list of area providers. Keep in mind that if you haven’t had your treatment or medical provider approved ahead of time, there’s a risk you’ll be billed for it later. There are a shitload of varying laws about this in different states, about what providers you can see and when. If you’re already treating for the injury without having reported it (like if it was pain that developed over time, and you didn’t know it was work-related at first), report the claim asap!
Send the bills to the insurance company. They should be paid, along with anything you paid out of pocket (prescriptions, copays if you filed under your personal health insurance instead of work comp, etc).
*2a is a really good step if you’re not able to get your employer’s policy information.
You don’t have to go straight to a lawyer to get your medical bills taken care of. On the other hand, if you have already done all these things and your claim isn’t being taken seriously, you probably DO need to lawyer up. Feel free to PM me with any questions. I’m not an adjuster and I don’t have any licensure, especially not in your state, but I know enough to know what I don’t know… if that makes sense.
Seriously though, only your actions which have a bearing on the matter at hand are likely to be scrutinized.