When an employee is injured on the job, he/she is entitled to recover workers’ compensation benefits. If the injury is the fault of someone other than the employer or a coworker, the injured employee may have a personal injury case as well as a workers’ compensation case. This can result in a greater financial recovery for the injured worker than if he/she is limited to workers’ compensation benefits.
Workers’ compensation law and personal injury law are very different, but they overlap in several respects. However, very few personal injury attorneys handle workers’ compensation cases and likewise very few workers’ compensation attorneys handle personal injury cases. Elliott T. Dennis handles both types of injury cases and therefore, a client does not need to deal with two different attorneys at the same time.
Having one attorney handling both cases can be very beneficial to an injured worker. Here are a few of those benefits:
- Much of the information gathered in a workers’ compensation case is helpful in answering discovery requests which will be received in a personal injury case.
- An attorney who is handling both the personal injury case and the workers’ compensation case has the ability to see the “whole picture” rather than having two attorneys who are just focused on their respective injury cases.
- Doctors who provide treatment in the workers’ compensation cases can also be expert witnesses in the personal injury case. The worker’s compensation attorney can cultivate a positive relationship with the doctor which will be beneficial in the personal injury case.
- Personal injury clients must pay out-of-pocket expenses, such as expert witness fees, deposition costs, and other expenses from their final settlement. If these costs have been incurred in the workers’ compensation file and paid for by the workers’ compensation insurer as part of a settlement and the depositions taking in the workers’ compensation file can be available for use in the personal injury case. Thus, the costs to be paid in the personal injury case will be less than if there is not a workers’ compensation case.
- At the end of the personal injury case, the workers’ compensation attorney will be in a better position to negotiate a reduction of the workers’ compensation lien than a personal injury attorney having no connection with the workers’ compensation insurer.
- The personal injury attorney who knows workers’ compensation procedures, will understand what settlements the workers’ compensation lien applies to and what it does not.
- Last, but not least, only having to deal with one lawyer and one legal office is a huge savings of time for an injured worker.
If you have suffered an on the job injury which is the basis for a personal injury claim and only want to work with one attorney for both injury cases, contact Elliott T. Dennis for an obligation- free consultation.
Click here to learn more about personal injury and workers’ compensation law, and how they can work together.