Under state laws in Georgia, workers’ compensation is mandatory for all employers with three or more employees in Atlanta, GA. This compensation serves to take care of your hospitalization, medication, and income losses in case you become injured while working. Since workers’ compensation claims can be complex, you will need the help of an Atlanta workers’ compensation lawyer. Rejection of a claim may only be later approved after having gone through an appeals process. If you need legal assistance with your claim in Georgia, you should work with personal injury attorneys.
From Workers’ Compensation Lawyers in Atlanta: Claims, Statistics, and Pertinent Laws
According to Social Security, in 2015, workers’ compensation laws were covering up to 135.6 million workers in the country. For the same year, employees received a total of $7.2 trillion in wages.
OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) statistics showed that as many as 5,190 workers were killed on duty in 2016. The majority of these deaths occurred in the construction industry. The top causes of these work-related deaths involved falling, moving objects, and electrocution. Furthermore, there were as many as 2.9 million non-fatal illnesses and injuries reported for 2016, according to the BLS.
Georgia laws have strict workers’ compensation laws, which all employers that have at least three workers must abide by. The law mandates coverage for full-time and part-time regular workers. Employers in Atlanta, GA that do not carry workers’ compensation coverage for their workers may face sanctions in Georgia.
What Are the Types of Compensation Atlanta Workers’ Compensation Attorneys Can Help With?
Workers’ compensation benefits often come in various types. Essentially, the compensation you will receive is meant to take care of income losses and medical expenses. To compute your benefits in a claim, it may be necessary to consider the nature of your injuries or disability. Additionally, the liability of your employer can serve as a defining factor.
Workers’ compensation lawyers in Atlanta can help you claim the following types of benefits:
Regardless of the severity of your injury, you will need medical attention. Your workers’ compensation benefit can factor in necessary expenses for hospitalization, medication, and outpatient care. These medical expenses benefits can take care of both present needs and future treatment requirements.
Some injuries result in temporary or partial disability for which rehabilitation may be necessary. If your treatments require that you obtain rehabilitation for several months, your compensation may factor this in as well.
- Permanent Total Disability
If your injuries have resulted in permanent total disability even after medical care, you have an entitlement to receive corresponding benefits. If the disability involves partial impairments, however, you will receive partial disability benefits as a result.
Death and funeral benefits are generally provided to workers who lost their lives while on the job. Employees who have developed illnesses and died due to the nature of their work are given this benefit as well. Beneficiaries who are usually the immediate family of the deceased employee may receive this benefit.
Benefits covering income losses are generally paid to the beneficiaries of a deceased worker. This is to help family members, especially dependents, who used to rely on the wages of the deceased employee. The amount entitled to the dependents or beneficiaries is computed as a specific percentage from the worker’s full wages.
Should Workers’ Comp Attorneys in Atlanta Go for Settlement or a Lawsuit?
An attorney can help you to either settle your claim or fight for your full benefits in court. The decision to go for settlement or litigation is often a complex one. Workers’ comp attorneys in Atlanta have to fully understand how your case benefits one against the other.
Most workers’ compensation claims can reach a conclusion through a mutual arrangement, or a settlement. The advantages to a settlement are many, and Atlanta Workers’ Compensation Attorneys may easily advocate for this. This is an efficient way for both parties to get what they want without having to go to trial. The employer evades possible charges in Atlanta, GA, while the employee obtains what s/he needs as compensation or benefit.
In some cases, however, workers’ comp attorneys in Atlanta may bring the case to court. One reason is that no settlement is there in the first place. Other times, an offered settlement may not truly compensate for the workers’ expenses and income losses. It may also be necessary to file a lawsuit against an employer for being grossly negligent.
While you may handle such claims on your own, there are benefits in hiring workers’ compensation lawyers in Atlanta. You may need a staunch advocate who can work on your behalf as you recover from your illness or injury.
The Complexities of a Workers’ Compensation Claim in Atlanta, GA: Why You Need a Workers Comp Lawyer in Atlanta
There are many reasons why you may choose to work on your own compensation claims in Atlanta, GA. For many employees, hiring a workers’ compensation lawyers in Atlanta can be expensive. Others may also view the hiring of a workers’ comp lawyer in Atlanta as a complicated move. It may involve countless consultations and meetings, to say the least.
Contrary to this notion, however, hiring workers’ comp attorneys in Atlanta can benefit your case in more ways than one. Your legal representative ensures that your workers’ rights are being upheld. A lawyer can remind you dutifully of the need to file before crucial deadlines. Finally, workers’ compensation lawyers in Atlanta can also help you with an appeal.
Listed below are some of the many ways that a workers’ comp lawyer in Atlanta can help:
It’s typically rare for claimants to hire a workers’ comp lawyer in Atlanta as a very first step in their claim. Nonetheless, doing so comes with an advantage. When you have a legal counsel with you, you are essentially communicating to your employer that you know your rights. Your employer may think twice in denying your rights when you have workers’ comp lawyer in Atlanta with you.
- Guidance with the Claims Process
Although the claims process will most likely be clearly outlined, your injuries may not allow you to function effortlessly. Remember, you are seeking for worker’s compensation due to possible injuries or disabilities acquired at work. These may be days when you need all the assistance you need in Atlanta, GA.
This is where the help of workers’ compensation lawyers in Atlanta becomes most important. Your workers’ comp lawyer in Atlanta can help you with the claims filing, including the compilation of medical records. This way, you can rest and recuperate knowing you have someone to rely on as regards legal concerns.
A workers’ compensation claim can involve simple bruises and injuries, but others may deal with permanent disability and even death. Complicated cases in Atlanta, GA will often involve serious damages. However, these can also involve multiple liable parties and possible denial from an insurance carrier. When there is a huge financial compensation involved, insurance agencies may find an easier way out. Workers’ comp attorneys in Atlanta can help you navigate through these intricacies. Your workers’ comp lawyer in Atlanta can help ensure that you don’t end up getting short-changed on your claim.
- Observe Deadlines on Reporting and Filing
Deadlines are crucial when it comes to getting approval for claims. Depending on current state laws, you may have to report the injury or illness to your employer within 30 days. This is especially important for accidents that occur while you were performing your job. According to Georgia laws, reporting accidents late may risk forfeiting all benefits. It won’t come as a surprise, however, if you forget such important deadlines. When you are dealing with a possibly debilitating injury, deadline requirements may be the farthest thing from your mind.
Fortunately, a team of workers’ compensation lawyers in Atlanta can help. As lawyers who have dealt with similar claims in the past, they know how important deadlines are. In legal parlance, this is the statute of limitations. Working with a lawyer increases the chances of your claim getting approval.
These are just some of the ways for which a lawyer in Atlanta, GA can help your claim. In case of a rejection, furthermore, your attorney can appeal your claim. Various requirements and attachments can further complicate each appeal process. Your legal representative will work to make sure that your claim passes through each process efficiently and successfully.
Dependable Qualities of Atlanta Workers’ Compensation Attorneys
Despite the advantages of a workers’ comp lawyer in Atlanta, not everyone who presents themselves will be worthy of note. Choosing a lawyer can be difficult, especially if you have had no experience with legal hurdles in the past. However, the most important thing to consider is the compassionate help that workers’ comp attorneys in Atlanta can offer you.
Some of the essential qualities to look for in workers’ compensation lawyers in Atlanta are:
- Sufficient Workers’ Compensation Background
Not all lawyers will be as knowledgeable in workers’ compensation as workers’ comp attorneys in Atlanta. Although this need not be a specialization, your lawyer should at least have a working knowledge of workers’ comp claims. Committed lawyers should be willing to study your case in case it’s their first time to handle such a claim. At the end of the day, they need to do what it takes to give you the benefits you deserve.
- Knowledge of Georgia State Laws on Worker’s Compensation
State laws can be entirely different from the working laws of other states. If you are filing your claim in Georgia, your lawyer should be knowledgeable with specific workers’ compensation laws in the state. Furthermore, workers’ comp attorneys in Atlanta understand how laws can be updated regularly. A trustworthy lawyer takes time and effort to study recent laws, and how they can work in your case.
- Innate Customer Service Skills
Some lawyers can act tactless and entitled simply because they know you direly need their legal expertise. This doesn’t have to be so. When choosing from available workers’ compensation lawyers in Atlanta, it pays to go for someone who treats you respectfully. If possible, they must be willing to answer your questions. As a prospective client, you deserve to know how they work in Atlanta, GA, both individually and as a team.
- Detailed Analytical skills
Reliable workers’ comp attorneys in Atlanta can determine if a case is best settled or pursued through litigation. To do this, a thorough analysis of the case is important. Although only a minimal number of workers’ compensation cases go to trial, a lawyer may still recommend it. If, under certain circumstances, court is the best way to prove your case, you need the right lawyers for it. Your workers’ compensation lawyers in Atlanta are fully-equipped for a courtroom battle.
Finally, you will need a workers’ comp lawyer in Atlanta who sincerely wants to help you. Although settlement is a typical outcome of many claims, your lawyer should not be too quick to settle. A truly concerned legal counsel should look at how you will deservedly benefit from any action. Whether in the form of settlement or court litigation, the decision should be based on what is reasonable and fair.
Need Legal Guidance and Help with your Workers’ Compensation Claim in Atlanta, GA? Let Schneider Hammers Help You
When working on your workers’ compensation claim in Georgia, the help of an Atlanta workers’ compensation lawyer will be paramount. Although your focus may be preserving your rights or making sure the Board hears your case. Whichever your goals are, you need an experienced attorney you can trust. Get in touch with us at Schneider Hammers law firm to talk to an attorney in Atlanta, GA.
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