Here at the Meliora Law Firm, we can help with many different kinds of cases. While we do offer civil litigation help, we primarily help with workers compensation cases. We’ve found over the years that even some of the most informed, intelligent workers don’t know all of their laws and rights. That’s perfectly understandable. In this blog, we’ll lay out some of the essentials as to what our workers compensation lawyers and attorneys in Los Angeles can do for you.
Workers Compensation Explained
When you’re injured on the job in California, you can qualify for workers compensation. Most people are surprised to hear this, as they think that someone else has to be responsible for your injury. That’s not the case. Even if you yourself caused your own injury, so long as it happened in the course of doing your job, you can qualify for workers compensation. We’ve helped so many clients to get the compensation they deserve for their at-work injuries, even if their claims were initially denied.
Types of Workers Compensation Benefits
Workers compensation functions as a sort of reparations. You get this compensation for your injury, to help with some of the money you lost on account of not being able to do your job. You may also receive compensation to pay for your medical bills. Some of the different kinds of benefits that we can help you to get include medical benefits, temporary partial disability benefits, permanent partial disability benefits, permanent total disability benefits, vocational rehabilitation benefits and even wage reimbursement benefits (also known as “lost wages.”) When you contact us, we’ll sit down with you to figure out the right kind of workers compensation for you.
When you’re injured at Work
The first thing you want to do is make sure that you’re OK. Once you’ve determined that you’re no longer in imminent danger, tell your supervisor or boss. We know that’s not easy for many people. We all want to “tough it out” and do our jobs even when we’re in a bit of pain. That’s laudable, but it isn’t practical. You can’t diagnose yourself accurately, so you may not know how bad your injury is. Telling your supervisor as quickly as possible can start the workers compensation process.
Should you get medical attention?
There’s a very good rule of thumb in determining whether or not you should get medical attention after an injury at work. As yourself: “am I in any pain?” If the answer is “yes,” then you want to do it. Note: this is true if you feel any pain whatsoever. The truth is that a little bit of pain today could become a whole lot of pain tomorrow. That’s particularly true if your injury goes unchecked. Should you feel literally any pain whatsoever, you want to get medical attention as quickly as possible.
Hiring a worker’s compensation lawyer
You want to be careful not to sign something from the insurance company without letting your lawyer look at it first. All too often, insurance claims adjusters are trying to get you to take less money than you deserve. After all, the insurance company knows far more about claims and cases like yours than you do. If you bring any offer or forms to us, we can look them over. Drawing upon our experience, we can let you know if it’s a good deal or not. From there, we can figure out the best way to get you all of the compensation that you deserve.
Here at Meliora Law Firm, we can be with you every step of the way. When you come in to talk to us, we can answer all of your questions and much more. We know how confusing this entire process can be. That’s why we believe education is important: the more our clients know, the better informed decisions they can make about their cases.
If you don’t have a medical provider or would just like assistance with that part of the process, we can help you there, too. We can contact medical providers for you and complete any and all onerous paperwork that relates to your claim.
From there, we’ll represent you aggressively at every part o the process. From negotiation through hearings, depositions, oral arguments and anything else, we’ll make sure that you get all of the compensation that you deserve. Many of our cases include wrongful deaths at work, as well. We know that you’re counting on workers compensation to help pay for your bills. We also know how there are people who are counting on you. At our firm, we offer free consultations. It’s not always easy to reach out to an attorney, which is why we make the process simple. To take the first step towards your compensation, call us at (877) 724-0515.