How to Find a Work Comp Attorney For Your Claim

Sunday, March 28, 2004 | 0

After the difficult decision is made to get an attorney to assist with your workers' compensation claim, the next most difficult decision is who to hire. Just how does someone shop for an attorney to represent them in a workers' compensation proceeding?

One way, in California, is to check with the Information and Assistance Officer (I&A) at your local Workers' Compensation Appeals Board (WCAB) office.

The I&A Officer can give you a list of attorneys who practice regularly at that particular WCAB venue. While there may be 500 attorneys who practice at a particular venue, there are a select 35 or 40 that are very active at that WCAB office. They are well known by the Judges and the defense attorneys. They have good reputations. They do not have major or serious complaints against them.

The I&A has a list of these individuals. He or she will simply provide you the list. You don't have to divulge too much about your case.

You should then take that list, check with the State Bar for disciplinary action against those attorneys, interview the attorneys office, maybe even ask a few of their client's how they felt.

One of the biggest complaints most people have about their workers' compensation attorney is that the attorney is too busy to answer their calls and/or never return their calls. This is primarily a function of the quantity of cases the attorneys must handle in order to make a living out of the 9 to 12 percent fee they receive on your case.

Try not to get sucked up into the "conspiracy" mentality that the doctors, judges, applicant and defense attorneys are all out to take advantage of you. The system really does provide an upper hand to the injured worker with all sorts of presumptions in your favor and the benefit of the doubt always in your favor. The defense (i.e. insurance company) has the checkbook and you have to get it out of them, but you can, in a legitimate situation.

Contrary to rumor and "conspiracy" theorists, insurance companies do not write reports and have doctors sign them, neither do applicant attorneys. Doctors, even workers' compensation doctors, are doctors first, and second part of the work comp system by treating injured workers. The doctors are not "employed by" the insurance companies. They are paid fees for services just like any other medical provider. For now anyway, you have the right to choose your primary treating physician. Do it. Whomever you are comfortable with.

Your injured workers' attorney is not taking a kick back from the insurance company for accepting a lower settlement. Neither is the defense attorney getting a kickback from the injured workers' attorney for paying more. The doctors are not being paid extra under the table, a lot of them are having to fight to get paid the minimal amounts allowed for treatment of work comp patients. Any attorney you retain will receive 9-15% of your permanent disability settlement and vocational rehab services payments. In the big scheme, that isn't all that much.

In fact, many claims examiners that have been in the business more than a couple of years also know of the reputations of the top applicant attorneys, and prefer to deal with them because they know they are dealing with a professional that understands the system, its limitations, and its advantages. This does not mean that the attorney and claims examiner are in cahoots - it is simply a reflection of the reality that a good applicant attorney essentially makes the claims examiner's job easier by laying out all of the arguments against the defense, and laying out what is owed. This assists the claims examiner in making a more comprehensive analysis of the claim and in avoiding penalties.

Yes, you may see your attorney and the defense attorney talking to each other in the hallway, even being friendly. You may even see them chatting over coffee outside the WCAB office. Do not be alarmed. Even adversaries can be civil and smile at each other. That does not mean they are not doing their jobs for their clients.

Remember, finding a good attorney is a function of reputation that has been established through the years of impressing judges, other attorneys, and injured workers. That person will be knowledgeable not only about workers' compensation law, but about the people he or she deals with. That knowledge is garnered through personal contact, by getting to know the person on the other side of the table. The fastest, and often most beneficial, way to conclude a workers' compensation case is by a negotiated settlement rather than litigation. The respected, well known, attorney who has established his reputation will be in the best position to provide you with this service.

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The views and opinions expressed by the author are not necessarily those of workcompcentral.com, its editors or management.