Tom McCutcheon – Attorney at Law
We got another case this week from a former client on the “in a wreck need a check” guy that presents an interesting and valuable lesson.
I think everyone who reads this article knows that I do accident and injury law and if someone gets hurt, I want the case. Nonetheless, whether you choose my firm or not, there are very good lawyers in the quad cities who handle on-the-job injury and automobile accident cases and they are passionate about seeking justice for their clients like we are. If I named names I would leave out someone and that wouldn’t be fair. In every article I have ever written I have always advised every person who writes to make sure that they hire a lawyer who has knowledge and experience about the type of case they have.
The facts of this case are that a man on the job was injured in a car accident not his fault. His employer informed him that their workers comp was not for that type of case which is exactly wrong. The man had no health insurance but had lost feeling and grip strength in both hands. This would indicate that he has a herniated disc in his neck and needs to see the type of doctor who can fix that. That is what workers compensation is for. You can’t settle a case like this without making sure your client gets the medical care that they need. When they have workers compensation to pay for that medical care it becomes very possible to do that.
There are plenty of cases where we pay for a visit or two to the doctor and even an occasional MRI if the doctor orders it to confirm a diagnosis of a serious injury. We then have to ask the doctor to estimate what the future costs of that surgery will be and then we ask a jury to award that amount for future medical expenses among other types of damages that we ask a jury to award like pain and suffering.
In cases where a third party causes an injury to someone on the job covered by workers comp, we file a workers’ compensation case to get the injured worker the medical care that they need to recover. These cases are a little tricky and the sequence of who you settle with first needs to be carefully thought out in such a way to benefit your client the most. In a case like this the employer provides the money for medical treatment but is paid back when we recover in the automobile accident case.
There are plenty of cases where the accident and injury lawyer needs to know how social security, workers compensation and other accident and injury law all fit together.
Buckle up and drive safely.
McCutcheon & Hamner
2210 Helton Drive
Florence, AL 35630
256 764-0112
