After suffering from an injury, illness or a disability that prevents one from continuing with their employment, that individual must suffer through the further difficulty of securing an alternative source of income payments. If one is lucky enough to enjoy long term disability insurance coverage, then they are in luck and should (emphasis on should) enjoy access to that source of an alternative source of income.
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Unfortunately, a high number of those who enjoy this form of insurance and who are required to make a claim on their disability policy are denied those benefits for which they or their employers may have paid dearly for years.
It is at this point, and upon this realization that one will seek the advice of an experienced long term disability lawyer. Here are 4 tips in choosing one:
1) Location, Location, Location
Choose a lawyer that practices in your jurisdiction, province or state. Before calling a lawyer, or upon doing so, the first thing you should check is that the lawyer you are looking to for assistance practices in the right jurisdiction. The best help that a lawyer may be able to provide to you if they do not is pointing you in the direction of another lawyer.
2) Focus of Practice - expert or amateur
One of the next questions that should be posed to your prospective disability lawyer is "what is your area of expertise?". Does the lawyer that you are speaking to practice in the area that you require assistance?
The area of law which a lawyer practices can by any area in which they bear a competency and a client. Unfortunately, this manner of regulating lawyers - allowing them to practice any area in which they bear competency - is a difficult one to impose.
For that reason you should ensure that the lawyer you are looking to hire has real experience in long term disability law. Read through their website, see what they have written, does it focus on disability law or on some other area with disability law only as an aside if it even makes an appearance at all.
3) Method of Billing - hourly vs. contingency
Most long term disability recipients are not in the position to pay hourly legal fees or retainers up front. Ensure that the lawyer you are speaking to offer contingency fee billing, meaning that you are paid before any legal fees are paying and only as a portion of what you receive. This eliminates much of the risk of a lawsuit for many clients.
4) Relationship & Chemistry
Finally, and possibly most importantly, speak to your prospective lawyer to see if you have chemistry. This will be the person that guides you in your disability claim, which can take some time, even years. Ensure that it is someone you feel comfortable calling and speaking to when you're in your hour of need.
Happy lawyer hunting.
In most cases, your work related injuries won't be serious enough to cause more than a short term loss of income, and the companies that you work for will be helping you to cope with the loss of income and the loss of work.
Unfortunately, it may sometimes turn out differently. There are times when a work related injury may be long-term disability, or even permanent disability. In those cases, how do you handle the loss of your primary income and what recourse do you have to make sure that you survive financially and that you achieve a fair and equitable settlement for the things that you've lost? What are your rights and how long will you receive workers compensation? Is it forever?
Most companies will want to make sure that you are well cared for and that you're able to survive the injury. You will need treatment, medical care, sometimes ongoing medical care and often you're going to require an income aside from that to be sure that the bills are paid and there is food on the table. How do you make sure that you have all that you need.
It shocks people sometimes that a company they've been loyal to for years will literally balk at making sure that they can live after an injury at work. They are depressed not only about the injury but also about the treatment that they may see as disloyal on the part of the corporation where they were injured.
The first thing that you need to do when you are injured at work is to report that injury Long-Term Disability Lawyers as rapidly as possible. While it may sound harsh and perhaps grasping, the second thing that you should do as soon as it becomes known that you' have a significant injury is to seek out competent legal assistance. Your company has attorneys who are working on their behalf. For you to do otherwise would be shortsighted. While most companies will want to assist you in making sure you have all the treatment and the funding that you need, rest assured that they are going to minimize that as far as they are able.
Making sure that you have all that you need is essentially up to you. You may be called upon to fight for your own rights as an injured party in New Jersey. Workers compensation will often pay short term benefits. However the more serious the injury the less likely it is that you will be able to rely on you employer or the workers compensation carrier to teat you fairly. In addition if you suffer a permanent injury even if you are able to return to work you are eligible for benefits. In the vast majority of cases these benefits will not be given to you unless you obtain legal representation
Navigating the New Jersey workers compensation laws isn't an easy task for even a trained attorney. Get help for your long-term disability. You can find legal representation that is well versed in the workers compensation laws of New Jersey and it is in your best interests to do so.