Legal Process

Step 1 – Report, Call, and Hire

Report

The first part of the legal process is often times the most important. As soon as you get hurt on the job, it is extremely important that you report the injury to your supervisor and/or your Human Resources Department. We strongly recommend that you make this statement/report in writing and keep a copy.

Call

After reporting the injury, it is essential that you call Hickey & Turim, S.C. or fill out the submission form immediately. Unlike the Workers Compensation insurance company, you are most likely unfamiliar with the system. For this exact reason, they will most likely look to take advantage of you at this point in the process. Give us a call and speak to one of our experienced attorneys for FREE. We can assure you that after speaking with one of us, you will know if you are getting the best offer.

Hire

Assuming that you need our help, we will schedule a FREE evaluation at the most convenient location for you. During this consultation, we will get a chance to meet you, discuss your case, and get you moving in the right direction. Once we are hired, we promise to do everything we can to get you the benefits you deserve!

Step 2 – The Healing Period

The healing period is the stretch of time that you are in treatment. More specifically, this is the period of time where you are following the recommendations of YOUR doctor and doing everything you can to get better.

The healing period ends once you have exhausted all of your treatment options and YOUR doctor says that you are as good as you are going to be. This does not necessarily mean that you are healed; it just means that there is nothing else that can be done. Once you get to this point, YOUR doctor will determine if you have suffered a permanent disability due to the work injury. At this point, you are “ready” for hearing. This means that we are ready to talk about a settlement with the other side and/or go in front of a judge for a formal hearing.

Step 3 – Settlement or Court

This is the final stage in the process. Once you have reached an end of healing, both sides may begin to talk about a possible settlement. However, it is important to keep in mind that the two sides may not come to an agreement. If this occurs, we will go to court and fight for the benefits you deserve.

When people think of court, they often think of a large room that is intimidating and filled with lots of people. In Workers Compensation, “court” is actually referred to as an administrative law hearing. More often than not, this room consists of the judge, his or her court reporter, the attorney for the insurance company, your attorney, and you. It is a relatively small room and there is no jury.

This scenario is much less intimidating than most people expect, and our attorneys will be handling the majority of the talking so you can sit back and let us do the work for you.  Anything that you’ll have to do while in court will be gone over with you ahead of time so you know exactly what to expect.  We do everything we can to make the entire experience as simple and stress free as possible for you.

We always fight as hard as possible to get you the maximum amount of money possible in your situation.  If we can’t get that in a settlement we will recommend going in front of a judge to make our case.  It is always, of course, your decision on whether or not to accept any settlement offer or to go to court.   We will be with you every step of the way through the workers compensation settlement process to help you make the best decision possible.

Rest assured that the attorneys at Hickey & Turim, S.C. are extremely experienced when it comes to settlement offers and court. We promise to do all that we can to get you everything that you deserve!