We have helped to secure more than $80 billion in jury verdicts and settlements since 1955.
Every year, approximately 10,000 workers are killed in work-related accidents; 60,000 workers are permanently disabled; six million are injured; and 100,000 die. After suffering such a tragedy, the workers and their families, at the very least, should not have to worry about medical bills, lost wages, and other expenses.
Levin Papantonio workers compensation attorneys are committed to helping injured workers obtain monetary and rehabilitative relief. Our firm handles a caseload of more than 200 workers’ compensation lawsuits at any given time and is active in lobbying before the Florida legislature for changes in and additions to the laws protecting the rights of the injured worker.
In Florida, if an employer employs four or more employees on a regular basis, it must obtain a workers’ compensation insurance policy. These employers have a legal obligation to provide their employees with a safe workplace, and must purchase insurance to provide compensation to workers who are injured in the course of their employment.
If you are injured on the job, you are entitled to compensation, regardless of who is at fault. Worker’s compensation laws require your employer compensate you if you are injured in the course of your employment. Unlike other personal injury situations, you will not have to prove your employer did anything wrong in causing your injury. Instead, you simply must prove that you were an employee (not an independent contractor) at the time you were injured, and that your injury occurred during the course of your employment.
Filing a workers’ compensation claim is easy. The employee must report the incident to the employer within thirty (30) days of the incident, and the employer then notifies its carrier.
The Florida Division of Workers’ Compensation also will make a report to your employer’s insurance carrier. The carrier then has 120 days within which to decide whether to accept your claim as valid. If accepted, the doctor’s fees and any disability payments are paid according to a fee schedule set by the state of Florida. If you are temporarily unable to work due to the injury, you’ll receive checks to cover your wage loss, usually starting three weeks from your injury and after your claim has been approved. Your employer will notify the insurance company to discontinue the wage-replacement checks as soon as you recover and return to work.
If you are injured on the job, your employer’s insurance carrier will be responsible to pay the following:
In exchange for the above guaranteed payments you will not be able to sue your employer. You may, however, still sue any third party who may have negligently contributed to, or caused, your injury. For example, if an employee of ABC Company is injured at work while using a machine, the employee is automatically eligible for worker’s compensation benefits. However, the employee generally would not be able to sue ABC Company for any additional money even if ABC was negligent in maintaining the machine. On the other hand, the employee might be able to sue the manufacturer of the machine if the machine was defective.
As mentioned before, you must report your loss to your employer within thirty days of it occurring. Next, you must file a workers compensation claim within two years of the incident, and after the two year period must seek authorized medical treatment or receive reimbursement for your injury at minimum once per year.
The most important thing is that you immediately seek legal advice when you become aware of a potential workers compensation injury, even if you decide not to hire a lawyer. We will provide you a confidential and free consult, even if you decide not to hire us. This way you at least can determine your rights, and how long you have to pursue those rights.
First, determine whether the attorneys you are considering focus their practice on handling workers compensation claims, and whether they have a record of successfully litigating these type cases. Our firm has been handling workers compensation and personal injury claims for almost sixty years. We have won more than 100 jury verdicts for more than $1 million each, totaling more than $2 billion; and have been named “One of America’s Most Winning Law Firms” by the National Law Journal, and are listed in Best Lawyers in America; Super Lawyers, and Trial Lawyers Hall of Fame.
For a detailed discussion of our history, credentials, accomplishments, and results, please visit our About Us section.
Our workers compensation lawyers provide absolutely free confidential consultation, and if we are fortunate enough for you to hire us, we never will charge you any fees or costs unless you first recover. This type of fee is known as a contingency fee.
The fee we charge ranges from 20% on the first $5,000 in benefits you obtain; 15% on the next $5,000, and 10% on all amounts above $10,000. This fee should be similar to, if not exactly the same, as to what other Florida lawyers are charging, as the amount is controlled by The Florida Bar. This is true whether your lawyer has never handled a workers compensation case or whether it has been the focus of their practice for more than 50 years, as with our law firm.
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