Workers' Compensation

Work-related accidents and injuries are devastating to families. If you have suffered a work-related injury, you may be facing many worries. These include your health, job, medical care and family’s future. Workers’ compensation benefits can be complicated. Insurance companies often delay or deny valid claims. We would be happy to discuss these issues and help you obtain benefits.

Medical care is an essential part of the workers’ compensation system in Alabama. Yet, insurance companies often cut medical costs at your expense. Insurance companies use many tactics to delay your medical care.

• Delays in approving care
• Denials of necessary procedures
• Intrusive case workers
• Administrative red tape
• Repeated requests for new and additional information
• Investigations into your personal life

You need an attorney who will fight these insurance company tactics. Under Alabama’s workers’ compensation law, your employer and its insurance company are allowed to pick your doctor. However, you do have certain rights. The insurance company cannot legally dictate your medical care. We understand the process. Our experience with doctors helps us actively advise our clients who need medical care. Unlike some attorneys, we do not believe clients should navigate a complicated medical system alone.

At the Blackwell Law Firm we have many years experience helping clients through the process. Our proactive approach involves studying medical procedures and the Alabama physicians who routinely treat injured workers.

Many lawyers fail to advise their clients during the difficult process of obtaining medical care. Other lawyers also routinely counsel their clients to give up important medical benefits for a quick settlement without considering long-term health needs. We believe this approach is wrong.

You need medical care to heal from your injuries. You need medical care to rehabilitate yourself so you can go back to work. If your injuries are permanent, you need the long-term care necessary for physical functioning and pain relief.

Most workers’ compensation claims settle. But, do they settle fairly and justly? Too many lawyers advertise for workers’ compensation cases but will not aggressively advocate for their clients or go to trial. Insurance companies are all too familiar with this practice and know which lawyers will not go to trial. Insurance companies use that knowledge to their advantage. When insurance companies treat our clients poorly, we prepare for trial.

Our approach is simple – the best results come from preparing cases for trial. We believe insurance companies offer higher settlement amounts to injured workers when their lawyer is prepared and ready for trial. If the case does not settle, that preparation makes the case better at trial. We take preparation seriously. It is the cornerstone of our approach. We have real trial experience in counties throughout Alabama.

When you look for a workers’ compensation attorney, you should ask questions.

• Does the attorney aggressively advocate for his or her clients?
• Is the attorney willing to go to trial when needed for just compensation?
• Does the attorney have real trial experience?

We routinely take workers’ compensation cases to trial throughout North Alabama. Because of our trial experience other attorneys also regularly retain us to help with their cases at trial. We have included a few examples of our workers’ compensation trial results on our Featured Cases page. We urge you to review our work and call us if you have questions.

We are dedicated to the issues facing working families dealing with a disabling or life-altering injury. We fight for our clients. We also routinely write and discuss issues outside our specific cases. Work-related injuries and disabilities are among the most frequent topics we discuss on our injury blogs. We regularly teach seminars to other lawyers on these issues. If you are researching an issue or simply seeking general information, please read our articles and posts.

Our goal in all cases is the maximum compensation for your personal injury. In workers’ compensation cases, we have an additional goal – helping you obtain necessary medical care.

Workers’ compensation benefits are limited. And, you cannot seek additional damages against your own employer for its negligence. But, you can pursue additional damage claims against others outside your employer. These claims are often referred to as third-party claims.

We investigate your accident or occupational disease. If someone else negligently caused your injury, we aggressively pursue additional third-party claims. These claims frequently involve a negligent driver or defective product that caused your injury. These claims also involve accidents on industrial or construction sites where multiple contractors are working.

Some lawyers only handle automobile accident claims or only handle workers’ compensation claims. When an attorney only handles one of your claims, it can negatively impact your overall recovery. The relationship between workers’ compensation and third-party claims is complex. Your lawyer should fully understand how the claims affect each other. Your lawyer should work all claims with the goal of obtaining the best overall result for you. We believe your attorney should work on all your claims together. If you are seeking an attorney for these issues, you should ask several questions.

• Does the attorney only handle one type of claim? If so, your other claims might be neglected.
• Will you be assigned different attorneys for different claims? If so, your attorneys may or may not work together for your overall benefit.
• Will you deal with different law firms for different claims? If so, you may incur additional costs.
• Does the attorney fully understand the relationship between claims and how it affects your overall recovery? If not, your overall recovery may suffer.

We believe in helping the client with his or her claims as a whole. Our benchmark for success is obtaining the most compensation available to you.

If you are seeking an attorney following a work-related accident, we would be happy to answer your questions. Consultations are always free and confidential.