Articles Posted in Workers’ Compensation

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This happens quite a bit to innocent, hard-working people who are hurt on the job due to no fault of their own.  What can be done in this situation when there is no workers' compensation insurance available?

In Massachusetts, the Department of Industrial Accidents has a Trust Fund which is set up for this very purpose.  The Trust Fund steps in when there is no workers compensation insurance, so the injured employee at least has some remedy.  It is worth noting that there are very, very severe penalties for not carrying workers' compensation insurance in Massachusetts, as there should be.

 

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Through the years I have noticed there are some common questions that most clients ask at the beginning of their case.  Here are some answers to these common questions, which hopefully are of assistance to you if you have been injured by the fault of someone else:

1) Do I have a case?

This depends on a number of factors.  Were you injured?  Did someone else's fault cause you to be injured?  Is there insurance?  Has the statute of limitations passed?  Basically, this question does not have a standard response, but rather is dependent on a number of factors.

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If you are injured at work in Massachusetts, you cannot sue your employer.  What you can do is file a Massachusetts workers' compensation claim.  Your employer is required under Massachusetts law to carry workers' compensation insurance.  Also, should your employer not have workers compensation insurance at the time of your injury, you can still file a claim with the Trust Fund of the Department of Industrial Accidents.

Workers' compensation was created in the early part of the last century as a compromise between employers and employees.  When the employee is injured at work, he does not need to show fault on the part of the employer.  The employer on the other hand does not have to go to court every time an employee is injured.  This benefits the employer because it greatly reduces its liability.

Massachusetts workers' compensation disputes are not handled in court, but by the Industrial Accident Board.  The Statute of Limitations for workers' compensation claims in Massachusetts is four years. 

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Those who have been injured by the negligence of someone else often lose time from work, rack up medical bills, and suffer a host of other problems.  Getting a damaged car fixed, going to medical appointments, dealing with insurance companies, all take time and aggravation.  That is the bad news.  The good news is that nearly every personal injury lawyer in America works on contingency. 

First, contingency agreements allows everyone, no matter where they stand financially, access to a personal injury lawyer.  This means you get to have equal footing with an insurance company, without having to pay an hourly legal rate.  In fact, you pay nothing unless your personal injury attorney is successful in securing compensation for you.

Secondly, the contingency agreement also deters the filing of frivolous lawsuits.  It would make little sense for an attorney to take on a bad case that has no shot of settling or winning at trial.  Frivolous lawsuits and the contingency agreement are like oil and water.  Lawyers, like everyone else, don't like to work for free.  Taking on a frivolous case is the same thing as working for free.  It makes no sense.

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Here is an informative article I found over at insure.com on when, and when not to, hire a personal injury lawyer.  The article does a good job of dealing with this issue that concerns injury victims each and every day.  If someone carelessly injured you and you are unsure whether or not to get a lawyer, at least consult with a lawyer (nearly every personal injury lawyer offers free initial consultations) before you handle any legal process on your own.  Here is the article:

When to hire a personal injury lawyer

By Insure.com

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Some cases settle relatively quickly, while some take years to settle.  Oftentimes, there is no settlement at all after years of litigation and the case must be decided in court by either a judge or jury.  The bottom line: there is no way to predict how long your case will take to resolve, assuming it even does resolve. 

Here is a great article on why, and how, there are so many delays with personal injury cases, from the National Association of Personal Injury Lawyers wesbite:

"In this article, I will attempt to pin down the inherent causes of the anxiety and impatience some people feel when their personal injury case seems to drag on forever, with no clear resolution in site. Personal injury litigation can sometimes take years, with little hope in sight, at times, of seeing any substantial reward. But that's no reason to lose hope, as with a little perseverence and the law (and a good personal injury lawyer) on your side, justice isn' so far-fetched an idea after all.

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I found this informative post over at lawfirms.com that contains some crucial information you need to know if you were injured on the job in Massachusetts:

Workers Compensation Laws in Massachusetts

 
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-   Get the names, telephone numbers and addresses of all parties;

-   Get the names, telephone and addresses of all witnesses;

-   Call an ambulance and the police, if necessary;

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Many of my clients, at the end of their case, often tell me that they were not going to pursue their case initially.  They tell me that once they realized the insurance company did not care about them, as their medical bills soared, and their injuries just got worse, is when they decided to contact my office.

Here are a few success stories from my firm, in representing people who initially thought their case was not worth pursuing:

-Woman goes to restaurant where she sustains very bad knee injuries, requiring surgery.  Case settles for $150,000.00;

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Yes.  If you were hurt in an accident outside of Massachusetts, you can hire a Massachusetts personal injury lawyer if you live in Massachusets to help you.  Many times, the law of the state where your accident occurred controls which state's laws will apply to your case.

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