If you get injured at your workplace, you are very likely entitled to workers' compensation benefits. While these benefits are available to almost all workers and are very valuable, the claims process may not always go smoothly. Getting compensated when you are injured at work is important, but if your claim is not approved you may need to take some further action. Read on for some more information about paying the costs associated with a workers' comp attorney.
Workers' Comp Attorneys
In some cases, people in need of legal help are eligible for free (pro bono) or reduced cost legal services. When it comes to workers' comp attorneys, however, that is seldom the case. The area of law that workers' comp encompasses is very specialized, and many workers' comp attorneys must charge for that expertise. If your workplace injury has made it impossible for you to work, and you have been denied benefits, you may be facing some extreme financial issues in addition to being injured. Fortunately, there may be a solution for injured workers who cannot afford to pay costly upfront legal fees to an attorney.
Contingency Fee Agreements
You may have heard of other types of attorneys using these types of fee arrangements. Personal injury attorneys as well as Social Security attorneys also often use this type of payment form, since it allows people who otherwise would not be able to afford legal help to get compensated. In general, attorneys who accept contingency fee payments only get paid if you get some monetary compensation.
For a personal injury attorney, that fee would come from a law suit settlement, for Social Security attorney the fee would come from back pay owed to the claimant and for workers' comp the fee would come from a lump sum settlement from the workers' comp carrier. The fee amount is often a percentage, such as 20%.
Will an Attorney Take My Case?
Since they won't get paid unless they win, your case will be evaluated to ensure that you have a good, valid claim for benefits. You may encounter trouble getting an attorney to take your case if:
- The injury was minor and the amount of the benefit will be too small to make it worth the attorney's time. Relatively minor accidents that only required a doctor's visit and are now completely healed might not only have been denied by your workers' comp insurance but may fail to interest an attorney as well.
- The injury is more about paying medical bills and less about permanent injuries. A contingency fee attorney cannot make any money from a case where any money gained would be paid to the doctor or hospital only.
If your injury was more serious and you are now facing a permanent disability, speak to a workers' comp attorney at once for representation.
