What Does It Cost to Hire a Workman’s Comp Lawyer in Atlanta GA?
Every job that a person does carries with it a particular risk. Even while just sitting in the office, employees can get hurt. They can fall from a chair or suffer a degenerative disease, for example. Read here about common office injuries.
Any injury that occurs in the workplace, which results in a person not able to work in the next period, should be adequately compensated by the employer. The employer will always be liable in case of injury or illness due to their fault. The state of Georgia is clear concerning that matter – the responsibility of every employer is to take all required preventive actions to protect their staff.
There is always the possibility of settling with the employer without interfering with legal institutions. But the amount of compensation, so as other benefits, will be much smaller than when you have a legal representative by your side. If you are going to negotiate with the employer, hiring an experienced lawyer can be a significant advantage. Learn more on how to get an experienced injury lawyer.
Benefits of Hiring a Workman Comp Lawyer
Payment of compensation to an employee who suffered an injury at the workplace is statutory-prescribed in all states. Depending on the severity of the damage, as well as other circumstances surrounding this situation, the case can be resolved in two ways – with or without legal action against the employer.
It means that the employer or the insurance company offers fair compensation directly to the damaged employee. Many people who cannot afford a lawyer agree to such a settlement without knowing how much money they actually should get. If you feel you may be fooled, consult a lawyer to represent your interests.
The advantage of a legal representative, in addition to legal aid, is the ease of obtaining evidence, documentation, medical reports, and witness statements. Experienced comp lawyers know which way to get all these. Given their knowledge of the matter, one should not doubt the efficiency of the whole process.
Costs of Hiring Comp Attorney
A fee paid to an attorney does not vary much from state to state, nor its percentage changes depending on the amount of compensation. For example, in Georgia, it makes up a quarter of the settlement the employee receives, no matter in which way.
To many, this amount sounds like a lot. But the lawyer only charges the amount received during the engagement. All that the employee obtained and received before hiring a legal representative won’t count in the attorney’s expenses.
One more thing people worry about is taxation. In general, there’s no such thing as work comp tax. Simply, it is not income earned through work, inheritance, or in any other way, that should be taxed. It is compensation for something that happened unexpectedly.
When Can You Ask Compensation?
Payment of work injury compensation is mandatory, but only under certain conditions. Even when things are apparent, it is necessary to provide evidence of how that happened, who is responsible for it, and the extent of the injury. These are proofs that will be required both in case you fill a claim or not.
The conditions for compensating damages are physical pain, emotional pain, and fear as a consequence of injuries. The amount awarded is a means of helping the injured person to make life easier and restore a disturbed mental balance resulting from an injury or occupational disease.
Emotional distress is a particular category, where the amount of compensation can be significantly higher if the employee can prove that the injury affected the quality of their life. Although this is a form of non-material damage, it is often valued more than physical wounds.
Things marked as emotional distress are fears or complexes that have developed after an injury, disability, or impaired look that makes an employee feel bad. Also, families of the deceased workers can get compensation if they died as a result of an injury at work.
How to file the claim depending on the way you suffered emotional distress, check on the following source:
https://injury.findlaw.com/torts-and-personal-injuries/suing-for-emotional-distress-at-work.html.
When the employee is guilty of causing the damage or injury, that will decrease the compensation, but only if you’re partly at fault. If the accident that resulted in injuries is your sole fault, you have no basis to fill a claim against the employer and seek benefits. In such situations, the employer may sue you if your negligence caused more considerable material damage or obstruction of the work process.
Whether you hire worker comp attorneys to represent your interest in or out of the legal institutions, they should always fight for the highest amount possible. In most cases, they’ll insist on filling the claim and going to court in order to get fair compensation. After all, their earnings depend on that.