Let Us Evaluate Your Case to Get You the Compensation You Deserve
You take your health and well-being seriously. When at work, you follow the safety rules and guidelines. Your safety and that of your colleagues is your first priority. Your employer also has a role to play in minimizing the risk of a workplace accident. Even if your employer has taken the right measures to keep you safe, they must still be held accountable if you are injured while on the job.
What to do After a Workplace Accident
A workplace accident can throw you into a cloud of confusion. The pain and distress of your accident may make it hard for you to make decisions. If your accident was minor, you will want to report it to the supervisor and then seek medical attention. In the event of a more serious accident, you will want to call 911 straight away and have others alert your supervisor.
The most important thing is to save your life and prevent further injury. The only way to do this is to get yourself in front of medical professionals. The more severe your injury the more extensive the treatment that you will require. If your accident was so bad that it knocked you unconscious, you may not be aware of all that was done to stabilize and heal your body. If you suffered a serious injury, you may need to spend a great deal of time in the hospital, and this will be followed up by a longer rehabilitation period.
In the worst instance, your injury will lead to a permanent disability. This will require you to seek long-term care and financial support. You may be unable to return to work, and you may lose your ability to earn a living.
When to Seek Legal Representation
As you recover and regain your strength, you should retain a Los Angeles personal injury attorney. Seeking legal representation allows you to work with a trusted lawyer who will look after your rights and interests. No matter what you are promised by your employer, you should be able to refer to someone with knowledge of workplace injuries and experience winning related cases.
Your workplace injury attorney in Los Angeles will sit down with you and have you recall the events that led to your accident. You need not remember everything, only enough to enable your lawyer to establish a legal strategy.
The Damages You Deserve
Your employer’s insurance company is responsible for paying you damages. But this is not a straightforward process. You should never deal with the insurance adjustor directly. You should refer all requests and inquiries by them to your lawyer. The insurance company may try to settle the matter of your compensation early. This is always a bad sign. It means they believe you will take whatever low-dollar package that is offered to you. Though such an offer may be tempting, you should never take it without consulting about the legalities.
It is much better to go through a conventional process. This will involve the insurance adjustor making a good faith effort to figure out how much money you are entitled to and making you an offer based on that figure.
Damages Formula
Insurance companies that are liable for an accident tend to use a damage formula. Once your attorney understands the formula used by the insurers, they will be able to negotiate a fair personal injury settlement.
If you have been injured on the job, you have the right to claim the following in damages:
-Medical bills
-Lost wages
-Pain and suffering
-Permanent disability and disfigurement
-Loss of family and consortium
-Emotional distress
In implementing the formula, the insurance adjuster will multiply by one-and-a-half to three times your medical bills and related expenses if the injury was minor. In the event of a major injury, the figure will be multiplied by five. The adjuster will add to this the income you have lost as a result of your accident.
This is the starting point for the insurance company. However, the insurance adjustor is unlikely to reveal how they arrived at their offer number.
Getting to a Counter-Offer
Your attorney will come at your injuries from a different perspective. Their first priority will be to establish the value of the case. To do so, your attorney will need to gather all the evidence related to your case. They will employ a private investigations team to look deep into the company, the work conditions, and the events that led to your accident. The investigators will interview people who witnessed the accident and colleagues who may be able to give insight into what happened. This can often reinforce the responsibility of your employer for the accident, which can further strengthen your case.
Your attorney will also speak to your physician and review your medical records. They will bring in an independent medical professional who can assess the severity of your injuries, the debilitation they have caused you, and the chances of you making a full recovery. Your attorney will also speak to your family to get a sense of how the accident and your injuries have impacted them.
All these facts will be combined to determine the value of the case. And this figure will be your starting point in the negotiations.
You need not be too concerned if your starting point and that of the insurance company diverge significantly. This happens all the time. It will be the job of your attorney to bring the insurance company closer to the figure they have come up with. The more painful, disfiguring, and debilitating your injuries, the more expensive your treatment, and the greater your medical expenses and loss of revenue, the easier it will be for your attorney to compel the other side to make an offer closer to their figure.
Your personal injury case need not go to court, but this cannot be ruled out. Going to trial will be the last thing the insurance company wants, as juries are unpredictable and people with serious injuries make good plaintiffs. This will make the insurance company eager to settle the case.
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