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Top Washington, DC Workers' Compensation Lawyers Near You

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Washington Workers' Compensation Information

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Lead Counsel independently verifies Workers' Compensation attorneys in Washington by conferring with District of Columbia bar associations and conducting annual reviews to confirm that an attorney practices in their advertised practice areas and possesses a valid bar license for the appropriate jurisdictions.

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Were You Injured at Work?

If you were injured while at work, this can be a stressful and overwhelming time. First, you need to report your injury to your employer and seek out proper medical attention. Then you need to seek out an experienced Washington workers’ compensation attorney to ensure your rights are protected.

Workers’ Compensation Assistance

Unfortunately, workplace accidents are not unusual. Work injuries can be sudden, such as a slip and fall accident. Repetitive stress can also lead to pain and suffering.

Workers’ compensation benefits are available to most injured employees to help them get their lives back on track; however, the process of collecting these benefits is highly complex. Being injured is hard enough, you do not want to enter into battle over your workers’ compensation claim.

What is workers’ comp., and how does it work?

Workers’ compensation benefits help account for medical care and lost wages whenever you are hurt or get sick while on the job. In most workers’ comp. cases, fault does not matter. For example, if you work in construction, and are hurt by a power tool and have to miss months of work while you recover, workers’ compensation benefits will cover the losses from your time when you are unable to work. When you are hurt, you will file a claim for workers’ comp. and typically visit a doctor to evaluate the extent of your injuries and whether you are eligible for benefits.

How is workers’ comp. calculated?

In every state, your workers’ compensation benefits will cover a specific percentage of your average weekly wage. Whether your injury is ruled a total or partial injury, whether you are a temporary or seasonal worker, and how long you’ve been on the job will also affect the amount that you receive.

What does workers’ comp. cover?

Workers’ comp. benefits cover medical expenses, lost wages, lost wages, any ongoing care costs, and funeral expenses related to workplace injury or illness. In some cases, a surviving spouse may be entitled to survivors’ benefits as well. In other cases, such as if your injuries are so severe you will never be able to return to your job, there may be benefits available to retrain you for another position.

How long can you stay on workers’ comp.?

Most states have limits for how long workers’ compensation benefits can last, many times less than five years. If your injuries are so severe that you cannot return to work, you will likely want to explore your eligibility for disability benefits, such as Social Security Disability Insurance, for when your workers’ comp. benefits expire.

Top Questions to Ask When Hiring an Attorney

  • How many years have you been practicing law? How long have you practiced law in the local area?
  • How many cases similar to mine have you handled in the past?
  • What is the likely outcome for my case?

In legal practice, experience matters. An experienced attorney will likely have handled issues similar to yours many, many times. Therefore, after listening to your situation, the attorney should have a reasonable idea of the time line for a case like yours and the likely resolution.

Top Questions to Ask a Lawyer

  • What is the usual process to resolve my case? How long will it take to resolve this?
  • What are likely outcomes of a case like mine? What should I expect?

An experienced lawyer should be able to communicate a basic “road map” on how to proceed. The lawyer should be able to walk you through the anticipated process, key considerations, and potential pitfalls to avoid. Once you’ve laid out the facts of your situation to the lawyer, he/she should be able to frame expectations and likely scenarios to help you understand your legal issue.

Types of legal fees:

Bill by the hour: Many attorneys bill by the hour. How much an attorney bills you per hour will vary based on a number of factors. For instance, an attorney’s hourly fee may fluctuate based on whether that hour is spent representing you in court or doing research on your case. Attorneys in one practice area may bill you more than attorneys in a different practice area.

Contingent fee: Some lawyers will accept payment via contingent fee. In this arrangement, the lawyer receives a percentage of the total monetary recovery if you win your lawsuit. In sum, the lawyer only gets paid if you win. Contingent fee agreements are limited to specific practice areas in civil law.

Flat fee: For “routine” legal work where the attorney generally knows the amount of time and resources necessary to complete the task, he/she may be willing to bill you a flat fee for services performed.

Common legal terms explained

Pro se – This Latin term refers to representing yourself in court instead of hiring professional legal counsel. Pro se representation can occur in either criminal or civil cases.

Statute – Refers to a law created by a legislative body. For example, the laws enacted by Congress are statutes.

Subject matter jurisdiction – Requirement that a particular court have authority to hear the claim based on the specific type of issue brought to the court. For example, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court only has subject matter jurisdiction over bankruptcy filings, therefore it does not have the authority to render binding judgment over other types of cases, such as divorce.

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