Should I Use a Specialist in My Workers Compensation Case?

Video Transcript

People have asked me if they should use their local general practice attorney or a friend of the family who is an attorney for their workers compensation case.

As someone who handles only workers compensation claims, I believe it is extremely important that if you are going to hire an attorney, you hire someone who knows workers compensation inside and out; someone who deals with it constantly.

The workers compensation laws change every July 1st. The laws are like the Tax Code.  They just get bigger and trickier and then, on top of that, you have the case law that changes almost daily and then you have the Commission that creates their own rules on how to file medical records, what type of medical records they want, when to file them, how to organize them etc. just to pursue a claim.

I’ve heard of so many mistakes by attorneys who have started handling a workers comp claim and then realize that they’re in over their head. You want an attorney who deals with the Commission daily, who knows which Deputy Commissioners rule a certain way and who has the experience that would give you the best results.

So how do you find the right attorney?

One way to find a qualified workers’ comp attorney would be to visit a rating sight such as https://www.avvo.com/ and see what other attorneys and clients are saying about the attorney you’re interested in.

You could also get a referral from someone who’s been injured on the job or from another attorney that you do know who might know someone who only practices workers compensation law.

This is one of the topics that I’ve written about in my book, the Ultimate Guide to Workers’ Compensation in Virginia. You can request this book for free at https://www.injuredworkerslawfirm.com/ultimate-guide-to-workers-compensation-virginia/.