One of the most important aspects of pursuing your workers' compensation benefits involves participating in various administrative hearings designed to help you and your employer come to an agreement on the benefits you are owed.
The most important lesson about workers' comp hearings is this: don't go it alone — get an attorney to help you. In many cases where people attempt to handle these claims on their own, considerable time and effort must be spent by an attorney to undo the mistakes that the individual has made.
At the West Hartford, Connecticut Law Offices of Kenneth B. Katz, we can help you prepare for these critical hearings and represent you during them. We've been strong advocates for injured workers since 1985 and have helped hundreds of people obtain the workers' compensation benefits to which they are entitled.
Contact us today if you've been hurt on the job and you need help dealing with the workers' comp system and your employer. Connecticut workers' compensation attorney Kenneth B. Katz offers a free initial consultation to all prospective clients. In addition, we handle all of our work on a contingency basis — you pay no attorney's fees unless we recover for you.
In any workers' comp case, there may be three different types hearings required before an agreement is reached or a decision rendered about your benefits:
The first hearing, or informal hearing, is basically a mediation session in which a commissioner works with you and your employer in an attempt to come to terms regarding the level of medical treatment, benefits or compensation to which you are entitled. Though not required, many companies often insist on informal hearings.
If agreement cannot be reached in a timely manner through an informal hearing, a pre-formal hearing is conducted. At this stage, we try to narrow down the issues and make another attempt to reach agreement.
A pre-formal hearing is similar to a pre-trial hearing. During this hearing preparations are made for your formal hearing or trial, including figuring out who your witnesses will be, obtaining necessary subpoenas, and handling other administrative matters.
Finally, if agreement still cannot be reached, you move forward with a formal hearing/trial. Witnesses and experts are called to testify under oath and legal arguments are made about witnesses, past work and health history, and other issues.
During these proceedings, a commissioner sits as judge and jury. Upon completion of the formal hearing, the commissioner has up to 120 days to issue a finding or dismiss the case.
If you lose, workers' compensation appeals can be made, but you need to know how to do it right. The bottom line is this: your workers' compensation benefits are too important to not give yourself the best chance of prevailing. That means hiring an experienced attorney.
Contact us today to put our firm's knowledge and experience to work for you.
The information you obtain at this site is not, nor is it intended to be, legal advice. You should consult an attorney for individual advice regarding your own situation.
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