Have You Been Injured
At Work!

We Will Fight For You and Get the Compensation
You Deserve.

Don’t Handle the Insurance Company On Your Own.

Call Now

The Workers Compensation
Lawyer Law Firm

Have you been injured at work? A work-related injury could be devastating. After an injury, you can suddenly lose your earning capacity, diminish your quality of life, and have the burden of mounting medical expenses. While your boss might pay lip service in your entitlement to compensation, but more often than not, employers and their insurance providers make it difficult to receive the benefits you deserve and require. At this point, you might be feeling alone and lost. Do not give up.

The skilled lawyers at The Workers Compensation Lawyer Law Firm can assist you in navigating the maze of red tape linked to workers' compensation claims and stand with you in the face of the insurance company's opposition.

For many years, we have served thousands of clients in Los Angeles and believe that you should not settle for anything less than the full spectrum of your benefits. As a result, we know the details that should be part of a robust case and how to acquire it. We have immense knowledge of your rights, worksites, activities that are more likely to result in injuries, and workplace machinery.

Moreover, we can ensure you are permitted to medical intervention promptly, have a medical analysis with neutral doctors, and bring the necessary paperwork on your behalf.

How Can Workers Compensation Help After Your Accident?

A work-related accident is a traumatic event in many ways. Apart from being in physical pain, you could also experience physiological pain that could be worse than physical symptoms.

You have a lot to worry about. Will the impact of your accident alter your life for good? Will you recover?

Second, there is fear. If you fail to recover, how will you make a living? Who will take care of your family? How will you foot your bills?

Thirdly, there is confusion. What is the next step?

While your doctor could take care of your injuries, the competent legal team at The Workers Compensation Lawyer Law Firm can handle the rest.

Workers' compensation law in California is designed to protect you and your rights. To have a valid claim, you have to establish you were injured while on the job.

How We Can Help You

When injured at work and struggling with physical pain, you may be overwhelmed with the stress of figuring how the workers' comp system works. Unfortunately, over the decades, insurance providers have discovered that when they make the compensation process complicated, they can deny claims, and injured employees will give up, saving money.

Most victims do not know that workers' compensation attorneys exist to stand with them throughout the process. For many years, the Workers Compensation Lawyer Law Firm pays attention to identifying every available legal avenue.

We Will Help You Understand Worker Benefits and Rights

California follows a no-fault worker compensation system that benefits both employers and employees. Employees can't take legal action against their boss, and in return, workers do not have to establish that their company was accountable for their work-related injuries.

The workers' compensation system offers numerous benefits. All non-cash benefits and payments received are exempted from tax. They include:

  • Medical treatment bills — These are costs associated with medical treatment covered by the workers' compensation system. They include cost for medical treatment, evaluations, surgical procedures, medical aid devices, transportation costs, and prescription drugs. Generally, an employee is reimbursed fifty-four cents per mile for traveling to a medical appointment at the Internal Revenue Service mileage rate.
  • Temporary disability payment — It is paid to an injured employee for time taken off due to the injury. Payments made are 2/3 of your weekly income, with California's weekly maximum, depending mainly on the date of your injury. You could receive temporary disability payment for two years following the date of the accident unless you have either HIV, severe burns, amputation, chronic lung disease, pulmonary fibrosis, specific eye injuries, or hepatitis C or B.
  • Permanent disability payment — This is the payment to employees whose injuries affect their capability to engage in the job market or return to their employment. Under the permanent disability rating, the amount received varies depending primarily on your age, occupation, physician's restrictions, the injury sustained. Hinging on the disability rating, you can get permanent disability payments for a minimum of four (4) weeks to fourteen years.
  • Vocation retraining expenses — Also known as Supplemental Job Displacement Benefit, this benefit is available to employees who cannot go back to their former employment place and whose boss didn't provide a modified or alternative payment. Generally, the retraining benefit is a six-thousand-dollar voucher for educated-associated retraining at state-approved schools, covering books, fees, and school tuition.
  • Death benefits — They are owed to spouses or dependents of employees killed in work-related accidents. They include burial expenses.
  • Life pension payment —They are designed for severely disabled employees. While they are a small weekly payment alongside your weekly disability payments, you could get the benefits in question for the rest of your life.

Depending primarily on your claim's nature and injuries, you might recover:

  • Settlements or court judgment from a suit against a third party
  • Social Security disability benefits
  • State disability insurance benefits

We Will Help Determine Whether You Qualify for
Workers' Comp Benefits

Provided you qualify, you could receive compensation irrespective of who caused your injury. Generally, there are four eligibility requirements:

Workers' Compensation Requirements

Many employers should carry workers' compensation insurance. The obligation depends on the number of employees, the form of business, and employees' work. In California, all employers with more than one worker should carry the coverage.

You Must be an Employee

Not every worker is an employee as far as workers' compensation qualification is concerned. Generally, volunteers and independent contractors such as consultants and freelancers are not entitled to compensation.
An employer might misclassify a worker as an independent contractor to avoid paying workers' compensation premiums or payroll taxes. Even if you are an independent contractor, you can still receive benefits. However, the dispute might end up in court. The judge will consider the working relationship with your boss and the level of control you've over the work.

Your Injuries Should be Work-Related

If you were engaging in an activity that benefits your boss and you were hurt, then the injury is work-related.

Filing and Reporting Deadlines

If you fail to meet the reporting deadline requirement, you lose the entitlement to get workers' compensation benefits notwithstanding meeting the other qualifications.

If your boss claims that you do not qualify for compensation because you are an independent contractor, undocumented worker, casual worker, agricultural and farmworker, or domestic worker. In that case, you should speak with a skilled workers’ comp attorney. Insurance providers and employers often deny valid claims and will do everything to restrict their liability. The Attorneys at The Workers Compensation Lawyer Law Firm could assist even the playing field and ensure you receive your compensation.

We Will Help You Determine Whether Your Injury is Work-Related

Remember, one of the requirements of recovering workers' comp benefits is proving that the illness or injuries are work-related (stemming from employment and happening during work). Suppose you were engaging in an activity for your employer's benefit, and you became consequently ill or were hurt. In that case, the illness or injuries are work-related, and you should recover benefits provided you satisfy other qualification requirements.

Lunch Breaks

Injuries that occur on your lunch break aren't work-related. For instance, you cannot file a claim for spraining an ankle while going to a restaurant to pick your lunch or that of your colleagues.  However, you could be compensated if you were picking your boss's lunch as well.

If you got injured while taking your meal on the company's premises (it can be a lunchroom or cafeteria), the injury is work-related. You will not be covered if you were hurt while engaging in illegal activity.

Your Firm's Event

Most firms sponsor events such as baseball games, picnics, and parties. Injuries sustained at the events are work-related.

Your Travel

Generally, injuries sustained when commuting to or from work are not covered. However, there are exemptions, including:

  • Operating your company vehicle
  • Traveling on a business trip
  • Coming with your motor vehicle for work during the workday
  • Performing errands for your boss
  • A person who often travels for work

Your Misconduct

If you got injured while violating a workplace safety rule or engaging in conduct that your employer prohibits, workers' comp could still cover the injuries depending mainly on:

  • Where you reside, and
  • Your misconduct's extent.

However, your injuries are not covered because you were intoxicated or were:

  • Trying to injure yourself or another person,
  • Fooling around,
  • Intentionally breaking your workplace rules, or
  • Committing a serious offense.

You should speak with The Workers Compensation Lawyer Law Firm if your injuries fall into one of the gray areas for the workers' comp system. Our competent legal team will guide you through your complicated case to the rightful compensation and explain how the law applies to your situation. Contact our office today for a free initial case review.

We will Advise You on When and
How to Bring a Workers
Compensation Claim

If you are a qualified employee with a work-related health condition or injuries, your employer should pay your workers' compensation benefits. However, to be awarded the benefits, you should file your claim early.

Filing your claim involves three steps.

All these steps have a deadline that starts on your injury's date. The date is evident if you got injured in a work-related accident, such as falling from a ladder. However, it is more difficult to prove if you suffer from cumulative trauma injuries, such as occupational diseases like chronic lung disease due to exposure to a toxic chemical or a strain injury or repetitive injury. In this case, the duration for filing and reporting your workers' comp claim begins when the following occurs:

  • You first saw your doctor for your illness or injury or missed work.
  • You were aware or should have known that your work caused the injury or disease.
  1. Reporting Your Injury

An employee should seek immediate medical attention after sustaining an injury. If it is an emergency, they could visit any medical facility. However, if their company or their insurer has a medical provider network, the employee should see a medical expert in the network. The employee should notify their treating doctors that injuries or health conditions are work-related.

Report the illness or injury to the employer as soon as possible. A worker might lose the entitlement to workers' compensation benefits if they fail to provide their boss with a notice within thirty days following their injury's date.

  1. Filing DWC-1 (Workers' Compensation Claim)

Within a day following reporting your illness or injuries, your boss should provide you with a Form DWC-1 (workers' comp claim form) together with:

  • Details about the claim process
  • Details about the rights and eligibility
  • Your obligation to obtain the benefits

If your employer did not give the form, you could access it at the official California Workers' Compensation website.

Carefully adhere to the instructions when filling out the worker's portion. Make sure you outline all injured body parts. Once you are done, either send your form to the employer via certified mail or hand it to them.

Your boss must:

  • Fill out their portion,
  • Provide their insurer the form, and
  • Provide you with a copy.
  1. The Insurer's Response

After you have submitted your claim form, the company's insurer should approve medical bills payment while simultaneously investigating whether the claim is valid. Until the insurance firm decides, the insurer should pay ten thousand dollars in medical expenses. Your claim is deemed approved when the insurance company fails to deny it within ninety days after submitting your claim form.

If you missed work due to a work-related injury, the insurance provider should start issuing temporary disability benefits within fourteen days following its discovery of the temporary disability and injury.

If the insurance firm fails to either respond to your claim by:

  • asking for more details or denying it, or
  • begin making the payments,

the insurer should pay a late penalty that is an additional ten percent on your temporary disability benefits.

Applying an Adjudication
of Claim

If the company's insurer has begun paying your temporary disability and medical benefits, you might think all is well. Well, that might be the case if the injuries are minor, you agree with the insurance company about missing work or your medical treatment, and you have recovered completely. Disagreements are prevalent, and the medical condition might change. Even when you brought a workers' comp claim with the boss, you cannot resolve the matter unless you file an Application for Adjudication of Claim.

You should bring an Application for Adjudication of Claim within a year following:

  • Your injury's date
  • The day your temporary disability benefit lapses
  • Last day your boss offered medical benefits.

More often than not, injured persons might have an extended duration to bring the application for adjudication of claim if their insurer or employer advanced payment for medical bills while aware that the medical treatment might be associated with a workers' compensation claim. In this case, you have five (5) years from your injury's date to bring your application. If the insurance firm denies your claim, you have one year to bring your application.

If you are in quest of death benefits as a dependent of a person who died due to a work-related injury, you've a year from the demise's date to bring your application.

If you require assistance in completing your application, contact The Workers Compensation Lawyer Law Firm. We can guide you on the instructions for filing your application and advise you on the necessary documents.

Moreover, we can help you if you did not file your claim on time. There are situations that the duration is extended or could be exempted for missing the deadline. We could clarify how the workers' comp laws apply to the case and assist in safeguarding your rights. In addition to that, we could represent you in an appeal should your boss deny the claim.

We Represent Your rights in Workers Compensation Injuries.
Contact Us Today for Immediate Assistance!

Get The Compensation You Deserve. Your Safety and Security Are Our Priority.
Contact Us Today for Immediate Assistance!

We Advise on the Steps to Take After a Work-Related Injury

After sustaining a work-related injury, there are steps you should take to make sure you protect your rights, your injuries are compensated, and you satisfy specific deadlines. Failing to adhere to these steps might result in your workers' comp claim being denied.

Below The Workers Compensation Lawyer Law Firm outlines the steps you require to take following the work-related accident. For help with your claim, kindly schedule a free initial consultation today.

The first step you must take is notifying your boss of the injury. Make sure you report immediately. In most cases, insurance companies and employers deny claims if the injuries weren't promptly reported.

You should seek medical treatment immediately. Make sure you notify the doctor that your injuries are work-related. Also, ensure your physician records these details in the medical notes.

Prompt medical care could result in a quicker, full recovery. Moreover, it provides essential medical proof in your claim by describing your physical limitations and injuries and documenting the accident. Should you delay in receiving treatment, the insurer might argue that you were not severely hurt or the injury did not occur.

It is always in your best interests to keep copies of paperwork about your workers' compensation claim, such as:

  • Letters from the insurance provider or your boss
  • Completed forms
  • Work limitations
  • Medical records

Most of these records are fundamental for getting your claim paid and approved.

Inadequate medical proof is one of the reasons claims are denied. If you have robust medical evidence, your claim will be approved, receiving all your benefits. Our knowledgeable attorney can assist develop medical proof by:

  • Collecting medical records
  • Recommending and arranging treatment with specific doctors
  • Getting medical opinions through independent medical examinations and from the treating doctors
  • Representing you when asked to answer questions and appear at a deposition
  • Conducting a deposition of medical practitioners

Other evidence that might build your case include:

  • Testimonies from experts concerning your work's physical requirements
  • Statements from your loved ones about your everyday activities
  • Proof showing lack of training or your boss' history of poor workplace safety

Based on your case's weaknesses and strengths, we know what proof is required to maximize the odds of a favorable case outcome.

During the negotiation with the insurance provider to reach an agreement, we have the advantage of estimating the worth of your case based on the following factors:

  • Your previous income
  • Whether your boss should pay you penalties for late payment and previous temporary disability benefits
  • The nature of the injury and resulting restrictions in what you could do
  • Both current and future medical expenses

The Workers Compensation Lawyer Law Firm understands tactics and tricks insurance providers use, such as a bogus final offer and initial low offer. We will also make sure the settlement agreement is well written to prevent adverse effects along the way.

If you fail to reach an agreement, your case will proceed to trial. During the case discovery, we might request your medical records, take a witness's deposition, conduct legal research, and ensure everything is submitted on time.

If you aren't satisfied with your case outcome, we can assist you in appealing the verdict.

testimonial

The Workers Compensation Lawyer Law Firm saved my life. I got injured while working and wasn’t getting compensated for my medical bills. The lawyers stood by me and I am happy...

Michael N.

Because California is a “no-fault” state, I was really confused with the process. The Workers Compensation Lawyer Law Firm explained the whole process and let me know what to...

Jose V.

When I got hurt on my job, I was not only physically traumatized, but mentally as well. I was so stressed and my medical bills were piling up. Claims were being denied. The...

Janice L.

Contact Us

If you are injured on the job in Los Angeles, workers' compensation laws should be applicable to you. That means you have a right to benefits for your injuries and coverage of the associated costs after reporting your accident to your boss and bringing a workers' compensation lawsuit. While you are more likely to sustain injuries in specific jobs, the injury can adversely impact your life, such as challenges performing your everyday tasks or loss of earning capacity. You have enough to worry about after an injury so you should retain an attorney. At The Workers Compensation Lawyer Law Firm, we believe in quick recovery of benefits and compensation to support your family. As a result, we guide you throughout your claim process while protecting your rights. To learn more about your case, contact us today at 424-501-9228 for a free, no-obligation case review. We are available 24/7 and respond promptly to requests.

Menu