Category Archives: Workers’ Compensation

How To Select A Good Lawyer For Your Problem

Today’s post comes to us from Rod Rehm of Rehm, Bennett & Moore.

Selecting and hiring a good lawyer is critical in dealing with a legal problem. Lawyers are increasingly limiting the types of cases handled in an effort to provided better representation. The Internet is a common starting point for consumers to locate and select lawyers who have the right kind of knowledge and experience for their problem. I recommend the following steps for selecting a lawyer.

1. Check with family, friends, neighbors, or others whom you trust and respect to learn if they know of a lawyer or law firm who they would recommend for the kind of problem you are dealing with. This approach is the traditional way to find a professional and often leads to a good attorney-client relationship with satisfactory results.

2. Consult a general-practice lawyer you know and ask for recommendations. This approach gives you the advantage of having someone who knows area lawyers help you find the right mixture of knowledge and expertise.

3. Internet searches will turn up a large variety of lawyers who handle the kind of problem you are experiencing. Read several of the websites with a careful eye for the following:

a. Is the firm A-rated by the leading peer-rating organization Martindale and Hubbell? The ratings are very good indicators of how the firm is regarded because they come from judges and other lawyers who work with the firm.

b. Do the members of the firm appear to be actively involved in organizations dealing with your kind of problem? Are the lawyers officers or board members of such groups? Have the lawyers been speakers at seminars? This kind of activity shows the lawyers are interested in improving and protecting the law for people with your kind of problem and respected by other lawyers and judges. Here are some examples of law organizations. For employment matters, see the National Employment Lawyers Association (NELA). For workers’ compensation organizations, see the Workers’ Injury Law and Advocacy Group. For other personal-injury matters, see the American Association for Justice. For general trial-attorney needs, see the American Board of Trial Advocates.

c. Do the lawyers from a firm belong to any organizations indicating that they have been honored or selected for membership based on knowledge and experience?

d. Do the lawyers appear to belong the bar associations in their area? Have they served on any committees, sections, or governing bodies?

4. Go to Martindale and Hubbell and use the lawyer search. You can search for lawyers by city, state, and specialty. Lawyers are rated as follows. AV® Preeminent™ is the highest rating, followed by BV® Distinguished™ then Distinguished. We recommend only A-rated lawyers if they are available. One way to get the best of the best is to limit the search by checking the box “Featured Peer Review Rated.” The website is very user friendly.

5. Contact the lawyer or lawyers you focus on, and talk to the lawyer. Learn how the lawyer interacts with clients. The following are some questions that might be helpful: Do you feel comfortable talking with the lawyer? Are they Internet users? Will you have a specific team of people working with you? How do they charge? Can you have Skype conferences or do they have other face-to-face conferencing options through the Internet? Will retainer documents be required and available for review before an appointment?

These suggestions provide a framework on how to locate and evaluate an attorney to help you. The references we refer to are industry standards, so they not subject to as much manipulation as other online approaches, such as reviews, testimonials, or video recommendations on lawyers’ websites.

Prior results do not guarantee outcomes.
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Workers Beware Questionable (Fraudulent) Employer Tactics

Today we have a guest post from our colleague Tom Domer of Wisconsin. 

Over the course of 35 years representing injured workers, I have heard some whoppers – Employers’ questionable tactics that make even my jaw drop. With all the insurance company generated blather about “employee fraud” incidences of employer fraudulent tactics abound. Workers beware of the following:

    • Recorded statements taken by worker’s compensation carrier adjuster while employee is under medication or in the hospital still suffering from the injury. Questions such as “It’s true you had (low back pain, arm pain, fill in the blank pain, etc.) before your work injury, correct? You’ve had lots more pain from (your motor vehicle accident, sports injury, etc.) than you’re experiencing from your work injury, correct?
    • Employer “channeling” a work to its “Return to Work Clinic” (doctors on company payroll whose opinion is “like some athletic coaches, ‘rub some dirt on it and get back in the game’.”
    • Telling employees to take sick leave rather than claim worker’s compensation.
    • Telling employees to file medical bills under their group insurance, not worker’s comp.
    • Nurse Case Manager who initially befriends the employee but later makes every attempt with the worker’s doctor to prematurely return the worker to the job before a healing occurs.
    • Employer paying worker in cash with no payroll stub (or gives workers a Form 1099 rather than a W-2). Continue reading →

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Returning to Work Shouldn’t Be This Hard

Today we have a guest post by our colleague Roger Moore of Nebraska.

In virtually all workers’ compensation cases an injured worker has to return to work in some capacity. Often these are very stressful situations and it is not uncommon for issues to arrise including conflict with an employer over what a safe return to work actually is. Your goal should be to continue to earn a paycheck while at the same time not risking further injury. Many times this is easier said than done.

Whether it’s a supervisor who ignores your restrictions or a human resources department that actively skirts them, issues frequently come up. We see employers do everything from requiring an injured worker to lift or stand more than they should, to pressuring an employee to return to work the day after a surgical procedure.

You can expect that a nurse case manager or HR specialist from your employer is communicating with your doctor’s office about your return to work. Sometimes they may misrepresent the work that they expect you to do upon your return. It is your job to fill in the gaps.

The most important thing an injured worker can do is communicate with his or her treating physician.

  1. Educate your doctor about the job you were doing when you were initially hurt.
  2. When you are assigned to work, educate your doctor about the light duty job you are doing.
  3. If you are assigned to a job that is difficult for you to perform due to your injury, talk to your doctor about what aspects of that job are difficult. The doctor will likely be willing to restrict you from doing that specific activity.
  4. If your employer is Continue reading →

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Dystonia Is Often Misunderstood

 

Today we have a guest post from our colleague Len Jernigan of North Carolina.

Several years ago I had a client in North Carolina who was an insurance man. While taking some papers out of the back of his car at work he slipped, hit his head and developed a neurological conditon called “Dystonia.” I did some research and discovered that it is a disorder that affects the nervous system, causing muscles to contract involuntarily.

it is a disorder that affects the nervous system, causing muscles to contract involuntarily

Significantly, I also found out it can be caused by trauma, although often dystonia develops without any trauma and may be genetic. The case was denied by the workers’ compensation carrier (and Continue reading →

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Celebrating Workers – An Ad Campaign That Warms the Heart

 

Today we have a guest post from our colleague Kit Case of The Causey Law Firm in Seattle, Washington. 

General Electric is running a series of advertisements that portray their employees, working in several industries, celebrating the impact of their work on our communities as well as on individuals.

In one spot, workers who build jet engines explain the precision of their work and are shown watching a plane take off using a set of engines they built, with smiles on every face.

In another, workers in a plant that builds medical scanning machines are visited by a bus load of cancer survivors whose treatment included scans by the devices. In a third spot, workers who build engine turbines are toasted at their local watering hole because, without them, there wouldn’t be cold beer (Bud, specifically).

It’s more than just television, it’s Social Networking

General Electric has launched a website which encourages individuals to participate in its “Celebrate and Power What Works” campaign. Visitors are able to upload photos and vote on their favorites, hooking into Facebook and entering to win prizes. For every action taken on the site – – upload or like a photo, or like GE on Facebook – – GE will donate $1 towards a non-profit group supporting workers, with a new non-profit recipient each week, giving up to $10,000 to each group. Past groups that benefited from this campaign include: Veterans Green Jobs, College for Every Student, Hire Heroes USA, and the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship. In order to participate, you have to log in using your Facebook or Twitter account, so I skipped this step.

 

The message: real workers make an impact on all of our lives every day.

The company’s primary message, of course, is that General Electric has an impact on our lives every day, that GE is a leader in technology on multiple fronts. But, every time I see the ads, I am more focused on the pride on the workers’ faces and the message that the work they do matters. Everyone wants their work to matter but, in many cases, blue-collar workers are portrayed in an unflattering manner.
If our manufacturing economy is to prosper, we need to respect and appreciate the workers in that sector. Young people need to be shown that skilled labor is a valued and important facet of the workforce. GE has accomplished this in their latest ad campaign and created a way for individuals, in their own small way, to take action that matters, too.

Prior results do not guarantee outcomes.
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What If An Independent Medical Examination Doctor Doesn’t Agree With My Doctor?

Today’s wise words come to us from my colleague Roger Moore of Nebraska.

As I have written previously,  in Nebraska, you have the right to choose your family doctor to treat you for your work injury.  For purposes of the workers’ compensation court, that person becomes your “treating doctor.”  However, sometimes an employer or insurance provider selects a non-treating doctor for an “independent medical examination” (IME). According to the workers’ group National Association of Injured & Disabled Workers (NAIDW), IMEs are used for three reasons:

  1. “to determine the cause, extent and medical treatment of a work-related or other injury where liability is at issue”
  2. “whether an individual has reached maximum benefit from treatment”
  3. “whether any permanent impairment remains after treatment”

When an IME is scheduled, this probably means your employer or the insurance company is trying to fight some aspect of your workers’ compensation benefits.  An IME doctor frequently bases his or her findings on what is often a very brief visit with a patient.  Sometimes they don’t even perform a physical examination before rendering their opinion.  Rarely do they issue opinions that are favorable to an injured worker.  For that reason, when an examination like this is scheduled, my policy is to Continue reading →

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I Can’t Find Work – Does That Mean I’m Disabled?

Today we have a guest post from our colleague Roger Moore of Nebraska.

Many people believe that if they suffer from a physical and/or mental impairment and can’t find work, this means they should be on Social Security Disability.  This simply isn’t true.

 Disability is not necessarily tied to your ability to obtain work, or your inability to perform one main occupation.  The Social Security Administration (SSA) will review your employability not just in your immediate locality, but also in the state and region in which you live.

While only employment opportunities in your immediate areas are considered for workers’ compensation, the same is not true for social security disability. If you are unable to find work in your immediate area, the SSA requires you to move to a locality where a job exists.  Note that the SSA’s responsibility doesn’t include having to find you employment, but only to establish that you are physically and mentally capable of performing that job if a position became available.

Additionally, your inability to perform the work you’ve done for years or decades does not automatically qualify you for disability.  The SSA will consider skills you’ve acquired from your work life in determining whether those skills allow you to “transfer” to or perform other occupations.  It’s important to also remember that the SSA isn’t really concerned with how much those other occupations may pay.  If you can work full-time in a position that is available in your state and region, this will normally disqualify you from receiving disability.

The conditions which the SSA imposes upon a claimant are unfortunately, not always feasible or fair. Nevertheless, as it is the current state of the law, compliance is required.

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Death by Overwork: Is It Compensable?

Today we have a guest post from my colleague Jon Gelman of New Jersey.

Since the 1960s there has been serious social concern over health problems due to long working hours in Japan. Around that time the term Karoshi, or “death from over work,” became known.

Recent national statistics show that more than 6 million people worked for 60 h or more per week during years 2000 and 2004. Approximately three hundred cases of brain and heart diseases were recognized as labour accidents resulting from overwork (Karoshi) by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) between 2002 and 2005. Consequently, the MHLW has been working to establish a more appropriate compensation system for Karoshi, as well as preventive measures for overwork related health problems.

In 2001, the MHLW set the standards for clearly recognizing Karoshi in association with the amount of overtime working hours. These standards Continue reading →

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