A Marysville workers compensation attorney can assist clients through a workers’ compensation case to ensure the best result is reached. Unlike other legal cases, workers’ compensation cases are decided by a workers’ compensation judge or at a workers’ compensation appeals board.
There are three distinct types of settlements for workers’ comp cases. Understanding them can give a client a better idea of what a workers’ compensation lawyer can provide. Below, these three types of settlements or outcomes are explained.
Clients should take special note that a workers’ comp attorney cannot ask for an advanced payment without the consent of a workers’ comp judge. For more information or to discuss your case in detail, please contact a Marysville workers compensation attorney at Gold Country Workers’ Comp Center to schedule a free case consultation.
Stipulation With A Request For Reward
A settlement known as a Stipulation with a Request for Reward involves the client receiving bi-weekly installments covering the amount of partial permanent disability (PPD) money owing.
Factors that influence this settlement include the percentage of disability found by both the treating doctors and evaluating doctors, the client’s earnings, age and occupational duties, and whether they will be physically able to return to work following medical treatment.
California workers’ compensation laws also qualify a client that receives this kind of settlement for the lifetime workers’ compensation benefit of paid medical care in the future. (This is subject to the California procedures that generally limit the medical care to what the insurance company’s doctors allow.) This settlement also allows a client to reopen their workers’ comp case within five years of the original workplace injury if their disability level has increased.
Following the five year time period, the disability percentage will be final. Despite this, the lifetime of workers’ comp medical care will remain open.
Compromise And Release
The next type of settlement a Marysville workers compensation attorney can assist a client with is known as a Compromise and Release. This outcome will provide a workers’ comp benefits claimant to receive one large lump sum.
The sum is meant to financially settle all issues involving a workers’ compensation case, including any temporary disability payments that may arguably be owing and the partial permanent disability owing. A Compromise and Release settlement is typically pursued in workers’ comp cases that involve future medical care, back pay benefits, and permanent or temporary disability from the workplace injury, with the final settlement of all those benefits being covered by the one agreed upon final amount.
When a judge approves this kind of award, all workers’ comp issues regarding the case are considered completely settled.
However, there is a hybrid type of settlement, where all issues are settled with the exception of future medical care. Insurance companies generally avoid this type of settlement, but attorneys can often negotiate for this type of settlement.
If the case can’t be settled, a Trial will be necessary
A workers’ comp attorney can assist a client with a trial before a judge. A judge won’t have authority to Order anything that can’t be covered in the same way as a Stipulation with a Request for Reward settlement mentioned above.
Unlike in the above-mentioned settlement, a judge will hear the medical and possibly vocational evidence a client has along with their testimony to make a decision. The defense will have an attorney appear and try to present evidence favorable to the employer’s position. A client who appears without an attorney is at a distinct disadvantage.
If a judge rules in favor of the client, the judge will determine the percentage of the client’s permanent disability, including the factors discussed above, award back due temporary disability, if any, and if the evidence supports it, award future medical care benefits for treatment to those body parts and systems found to be industrially injured.
Early intervention works! Only workers’ compensation specialists understand the law well enough to advise clients in dealing with trained claims adjusters and attorneys. You are definitely at a disadvantage in the process if you don’t have an attorney to speak with. Consult with a California workers compensation attorney today to begin working towards acquiring the benefits you are rightfully owed.
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