When Should You Hire a Workers’ Compensation Attorney?
When it comes to hiring a workers’ compensation attorney after an accident at work, the attorneys at Harris Guidi Rosner, P.A. believe that timing can be everything, and often obtaining help at the beginning of your case is best for many reasons.
Top reasons it is best to seek legal advice at the onset of your work-related accident include:
- If an adjuster or investigator from the Carrier (the insurance company for your employer) has reached out to you and asked you for a recorded statement. This is a very important decision and statements made in it can be used later to deny you medical and money benefits. Usually, this is an adjuster who will call you and place you on the spot asking to record your conversation about your accident. If you have already given a recorded statement and are meeting with a workers’ compensation attorney, please tell your attorney, so that your attorney may obtain it and review it.
- If your injury is complex, you have been hospitalized and feel that you may need help navigating the process to obtaining medical benefits, obtaining regular indemnity benefits, and making sure your hospital bills get paid by the right party.
- If your employer is not reporting your claim to its insurance carrier to get you an immediate medical evaluation, legal advice about your rights is strongly recommended. There are ways to turn in a claim for your employer and to confirm if they have workers’ compensation coverage. We help expedite getting your benefits requested and initiated.
- If anything, recommended by your workers’ compensation physician is not being authorized by the Carrier, and its adjuster, in a timely manner. Keeping the paperwork after each visit with your doctor is very important. Usually, you are given a two-page form called a DWC-25 and this is the document after each visit your attorney will want to see.
- If you have an open workers’ compensation claim, and no legal representation, and the insurance carrier’s adjuster approaches you about a settlement offer. In our experience, insurance companies negotiate very differently with pro se (unrepresented) injured workers than with represented injured workers when it comes to settlement offers. Here at Harris Guidi Rosner, P.A. an attorney assisting you and the workers’ compensation team will have at least 19 years of experience negotiating to help you evaluate what your case is worth.
- If you have proof your employer is retaliating against you because you have a filed a workers’ compensation claim. By law, your employer is not permitted to harass, intimate or coerce you due to your work-related accident. If your employer has fired you or engaged in discrimination because you filed a workers’ compensation claim, please consider the evidence you have, and contact us for a free consultation about your evidence and case.
- If you have a nurse case manager assigned to your case and the nurse asks to attend your medical exams with you and the physician and you do not want this intrusion into your personal medical exam and the interruption with your discussion with your doctor.
- If you want guidance as to what are the correct forms to sign and return to the carrier and experienced legal resources available to you for your questions as you have them about your workers’ compensation case.
Hire a Jacksonville Workers’ Compensation Attorney
At Harris Guidi Rosner, P.A., we will assist you all along the way in the workers’ compensation process to obtain the medical and money benefits to which you are entitled following your accident. If the insurance Carrier is not timely providing your medical benefits, money benefits, or mileage, our office will file documents to obtain authorization/payment of the recommended benefits. And once you have recovered from your work accident, we can assist you with negotiating a settlement and can discuss with you all the details and considerations of a workers’ compensation settlement.
Our attorneys are paid on a contingency fee basis; therefore, no retainer is required upfront for representation. Attorney’s fees and costs are paid at the end of the case, at the time of settlement.
You can contact us for a free consultation at 904-777-7777 to discuss your work-related accident. If you have transportation difficulties to reach our office contact the workers’ compensation department and call us so we can discuss arranging an Uber for round-trip transportation for your initial consultation.
If email is more convenient for you, please email us at mills@harrisguidi.com to discuss your case and schedule a time for a confidential consultation.
Read Kendall's full bio
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