For anyone who has been injured whilst at work, you will need a Workers’ Compensation Lawyer Greensboro in order to fully maximize the value of your case. To help you with the decision of choosing the right lawyer for you and your case, we have put together below a list of tips to follow.
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Do not pay for a consultation meeting
The great majority of those lawyers that practice workers comp law provide their potential clients with consultation meetings completely free from any charge. If one does try to charge you for setting up such a meet, even where it is only a small amount, this should act as a serious red flag.
Demand a face to face consultation meeting
Because it is easier for them and takes up less of their time, many workers comp lawyers will attempt to have the initial consultation meeting with you over the telephone. Although this may actually also be better for you, where you can, you should always try and visit their office instead, as doing so can provide you with some key pieces of information. The first of these being what length of time that are they happen to spend with potential new clients. Where you get very little time with them, then take this as a reflection of the service that they are likely to provide you with throughout the entirety of your case.
Some layers who provide a better level of service are happy to spend anywhere from 45 minutes through to 1 hour with a prospective client. Secondly, you get to see the size and scale of their office, including how many staff they have working for them.
If it looks well run and with plenty of staff working away, then you would be happy for any of them to work on aspects of your case whilst the main workers comp lawyer is working on the cases of their other clients.
Turn up well prepared
The easiest and most effective way for a workers comp lawyer to get a comprehensive understanding of your case is by providing them with as much relevant information as possible.
Whilst they can obtain some information directly from your employer or their insurance company, they will not be very forthcoming with this, so if you have pay stubs, copies or relevant communications, and a personnel file, then be sure to take them with you to the consultation meeting.
Find out how often they handle workers comp cases
Workers comp is a very specialized area of the law and so a regular general practice lawyer will not possess all of the required knowledge and experience to win your case and get you the level of compensation that you deserve. However, that does not necessarily mean that the lawyer must devote all of their professional time to practicing this area of the law in order to be good at it.
There are many good workers comp lawyers out there who also practice in employment, immigration, social security, and personal injury law. In fact, some even do criminal law. You should stay away from any lawyer that does less than a third of workers comp law.
With all lawyers charging the same level of contingency (15 percent), regardless of their experience or expertise, you may as well go with one that has a certain level of knowledge in workers comp law.
Establish what their plan is should your case be denied
It is often the case that an employer’s insurance company will do whatever they can to deny your claim for compensation. This is especially true where cumulative trauma disorder (CTD) is concerned. Where your claim is denied, the employer’s insurance company will not pay for disability benefits and nor will they pay for any medical treatment that you require.
When and where this happens, a workers comp lawyer should have a plan of action that ultimately results in your case being accepted and the medical treatment that you require delivered.
Ask if they use contract lawyers or hearing representatives
There are many workers comp lawyers out there that, in order to cover their calendar, appoint contract lawyers and / or hearing representatives to help out. However, this is not true of all lawyers; but even if this is the case, it is not necessarily something to be concerned by as there are actually some very good and highly capable hearing representatives out there. Nonetheless it is important to know this information upfront, as you want to know who exactly will be working on your case.
Do lots of research
With there being so many good and not so good workers comp lawyers all touting for work, it can be difficult to know which one to choose, especially if appointing s law to represent you is something that you have never had to do before. For this very reason you need to do plenty of research and actually meet with a number of lawyers so that you can work out which ones are good and which ones are bad.
Do not be pressured by them during consultation meetings to sign up with them there and then. If they do ask you sto, then explain to them that you are in the process of doing some research and you will get back to them about your final decision. If you have a strong case then they should not mind waiting for a short while.
Do not be scared to change lawyer
If you discover half way through your case that the workers comp lawyer that you have appointed to represent you is not very good at their job and has missed some things, then do not be afraid to sack them and appoint a new one instead. As stated, there are hundreds of good ones out there so you will not struggle to find a new one to represent you. Again, if you have a case that is really strong then you should have lawyers queuing up to represent you.