When you have been injured at work, you may have no idea where to begin in the process of filing a claim against your employer. You should be aware that your employer may be liable for the injuries that you have suffered at work. Accident lawyers can help you begin the process of filing a worker’s compensation claim.
You should meet with a lawyer soon after your injury has occurred. Some people make the mistake of waiting until years after the accident has occurred to get in touch with a lawyer. If you do this, you may miss the deadline for the filing of your case. You only have a limited number of years to file your case after you have been injured. If you wait too long to file your case, then your case may be automatically dismissed by the court for violating the statute of limitations. Because courts are so bogged down with legal cases, many courts have no problem in simply dismissing a case to clear out the docket.
Meeting with an accident lawyer will help you decide how much money you will be able to receive for your injuries. You may want to know what the total amount of compensation will be before you choose to participate in physical therapy or other treatments that may not be wholly necessary for the treatment of your injury. A accident lawyer can analyze your case and determine a basic amount that your claim can be settled for in the future. Knowing this amount, you may feel more comfortable in immediately beginning physical therapy treatments to rehabilitate yourself.
When you are injured at work, it is also essential to gather as much documentation as possible. If you are able to file an accident report with the human resources department for your company, then you should go ahead and do this. You want to be sure that there is a record of your injury happening in the workplace. Also, you should try to take photos of your injury to make sure that you can collect damages for your injury.
Depending on the severity of your injury, you may also want to call an ambulance to take you to the hospital. This way, your injuries will also have a medical record. Even if you are not sure whether the injury was entirely your employer’s fault, you should still consider calling an ambulance so that you can fill out the medical report. If you do decide to file a lawsuit against your employer in the upcoming months, then you will be able to access the medical report and provide it to your lawyer. Your lawyer will be able to admit the medical report into evidence at trial, and the jury will be able to better understand the extent of your injuries at the time of the accident.
You should never wait to get in touch with a lawyer. Most initial consultations are free, and you will not have to pay anything to a personal injury law firm until after your case has been settled.
