If you have been injured on the job, you know the pain it can cause – not only physically, but mentally and emotionally, as well. Medical bills begin to rack up, and if you are out of work for an extended period, you begin to worry about how you will pay both the doctors’ fees and your day-to-day expenses. Luckily, most employers offer workers’ compensation, which will give you regular financial remuneration. In exchange, you give up your option to sue your employer. Though it is not required that you hire legal counsel, utilizing the services of a workers’ compensation attorney PA can get be extremely helpful in getting you the money you deserve. It is absolutely necessary to hire a lawyer if your employer will not admit you were injured on the job, you cannot get medical treatment, your promised funds never arrive, the insurance adjuster promises medical treatment which you cannot get, your insurance agent denies care, the employer or the insurance agency wants to take a deposition, or you want to sue a third party. These are just a few instances in which you would want to hire a lawyer. It is extremely difficult to conduct your case yourself, so it is usually in your best interests to hire legal representation. A workers’ compensation attorney in PA usually works on a contingency basis, meaning that if you do not get your money, you will not be charged.
Workers’ compensation cases can involve several different hearings. The first is a pretrial hearing. Usually, the injured worker does not go to this hearing; instead, the lawyers for both the employer and the employee go before a judge, discuss the issues in question, and set a date and time for the trial. Another type of hearing is a motion hearing, in which disputed questions are discussed with a judge. These hearings usually occur before the trial when issues and disputes crop up.
Sometimes when issues arise, mediation is used, in which the employer and the injured employee try to come to an agreement outside of court. In these cases, a workers’ compensation attorney in PA is indispensible. Each side gives information to a third-party mediator, who is not allowed to disclose the facts to the other side. The mediator then tries to get both parties to come to a mutually agreeable settlement. If they cannot reach an agreement, the case proceeds to court, and none of the information used in the mediation is revealed to the judge.
Once in court, the services of a workers’ compensation attorney in PA become even more essential as you give your deposition and the court hears testimonies from both sides. Don’t put your financial future at risk. Though legal counsel might cost you money now, in the long run, it is the best way to insure that you get the money you deserve.