How To Settle Your Worker's Compensation CaseCivil Law AttorneysUpdated on Apr 2, 2021 View more like this | Visit LOS ANGELES, CA | Contact Barsoum Law A.P.C. |
My name is Ronnie Barsoum. I am a workers compensation attorney in Los Angeles, California, and this is an episode of Work Comp Wednesdays.
Today's topic is "How do I settle my work comp case?"
There are three types of ways to settle your work comp case. The first one is what's called a stipulation with a request for awards.
A work stipulation with requests for award basically gives you your percentage of disability which is assigned by a doctor, whether it's a primary treating doctor or a state neutral doctor, and that percentage has a money value to it. For example, if a doctor determines you're 10% disabled or 10% whole person impairment, then that 10% has a money value, for example $10,000, so if you do a stipulation with requests for award that's all the money you're going to get, and that money is paid out to you and by weekly payments.
The significance of this is this: you want to choose this type of settlement if you want future medical open for the rest of your life. In a stipulation with requests for award that's what you get, you get your permanent disability value and you have future medical open to the injured body parts.
Let me repeat that. This is extremely important - you don't have future medical open for your entire body or for any ailments or illnesses, you only have future medical open for the body parts that you injured as a result of your workers compensation case.
The second type of settlement is called a compromise and release. Basically a compromise and release is the insurance companies saying we want to close your entire case, we want to close all the benefits owed to you, we want to close out your future medical, we want to close out your permanent disability, everything. Everything is closed, that's what it means.
Do you need information on how to settle your worker's compensation case?
Barsoum Law walks you through the (3) types of ways you can settle your case in this video!
Barsoum Law walks you through the (3) types of ways you can settle your case in this video!
The way you do this type of settlement is, your attorney negotiates with the insurance company, they determine what your permanent disability value is, for example, let's use that 10% at $10,000, then they look and see what future medical has been provided to you by your doctors and they put a value on your future medical, say that's $10,000 also. So they'll combine these two values which comes out to $20,000 and they'll close out your case for what's called a $20,000 compromise and release.
If you sign this document your case is entirely closed. That means if you come back later and say, hey I need additional treatment or my back hurts again, there's nothing your attorney can do for you because you settled your entire case.
The third way of settling your workers compensation case is by going to trial. Now you want to go to trial only if there's a dispute that the two attorneys cannot resolve. Now when you go to trial a lot of people think like, hey I'm gonna go to trial, the judge is gonna award me a whole bunch of money - that is not the case.
What happens when you go to trial is the judge will only award you what your permanent disability value is but he will leave future medical open. That's extremely important. It's in essence the same thing as a stipulation with requests for award, however, the only reason you would go to trial is if there is a dispute over some benefit that cannot be resolved between the parties. You would not go to trial to try to get a lump sum or award at a million dollars, that's not how it works. In workers comp the thing that also is important if you do have future medical open if you do choose to resolve your case by leaving future medical open, either by a findings an award issued by a judge or by a stipulation and request for award you can reopen that case within five years from the date of injury if a doctor finds you have increased permanent disability.
Now most attorneys do this automatically to preserve the statute.
If you have any questions please contact me at 877-299-1555. I look forward to hearing from you.
If you sign this document your case is entirely closed. That means if you come back later and say, hey I need additional treatment or my back hurts again, there's nothing your attorney can do for you because you settled your entire case.
The third way of settling your workers compensation case is by going to trial. Now you want to go to trial only if there's a dispute that the two attorneys cannot resolve. Now when you go to trial a lot of people think like, hey I'm gonna go to trial, the judge is gonna award me a whole bunch of money - that is not the case.
What happens when you go to trial is the judge will only award you what your permanent disability value is but he will leave future medical open. That's extremely important. It's in essence the same thing as a stipulation with requests for award, however, the only reason you would go to trial is if there is a dispute over some benefit that cannot be resolved between the parties. You would not go to trial to try to get a lump sum or award at a million dollars, that's not how it works. In workers comp the thing that also is important if you do have future medical open if you do choose to resolve your case by leaving future medical open, either by a findings an award issued by a judge or by a stipulation and request for award you can reopen that case within five years from the date of injury if a doctor finds you have increased permanent disability.
Now most attorneys do this automatically to preserve the statute.
If you have any questions please contact me at 877-299-1555. I look forward to hearing from you.
