Although workplaces try hard to prevent injury, sometimes accidents do happen on the job. If you have been injured or have developed a work-related illness, you may be eligible to receive workers compensation benefits that can be used to stay in your home and pay other bills.
Other than healing, the hardest part of your ordeal may be knowing where to start when selecting an attorney. You don't want to try to take on a complicated system yourself: here are some tips that will help you choose just the right lawyer.
-- You will want to choose an attorney who specializes in settling workers comp claims. Although it may be tempting to use your own family law attorney whom you already know and trust, chances are he or she has little to no expertise in this particular area. In fact, because this is a highly specialized field, most lawyers are really not qualified to handle your case. So look for one who advertizes specifically for "workers compensation."
-- You will want to select an attorney who has years of experience behind him. This is just simple common sense. Hiring a lawyer who "has seen it all" means that he has probably seen or handled a case similar to yours before and will know how to best approach it legally.
-- A best case scenario would be to find an attorney who has extensive experience with handling claims for injuries similar to yours that occurred in similar work environments. For example, if you work in the building industry, you will want to look for a lawyer who has litigated cases of construction injury in the past. He will be familiar with your work setting, standards for industry-wide safety rules, and any state statutes that may exist regarding construction.
-- You can enlist the help of coworkers and friends to give you recommendations if they have filed a worker's comp claim themselves. If someone you know and trust has had a good experience with someone, that's a real bonus in that it will help you narrow your search considerably. Don't let a recommendation be your only guide however: you should still research the attorney's qualifications on your own.
-- Trust your gut. If you contact an attorney's office for a consultation, they should be able to schedule you in a timely manner. Pay attention to whether or not they are really listening to you and to the particulars of your case. They should explain the law thoroughly so that you are clear about what's going on, and they should respect you by returning calls promptly.
Finally, if your personality doesn't jibe with an attorney, keep looking. It doesn't mean that either of you are "bad" people; it just means that your styles are not compatible. Your attorney should be someone you can trust: there are financial stakes involved. So choose wisely.
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