ATTORNEY REPRESENTATION

  Having an attorney represent you at your hearing is crucial. The number one reason being that the employer is always represented. Except for the State Insurance Fund, which uses non-attorneys most of the time, all self-insured employers and carriers will have an attorney at your hearing whose job is to protect the employer and carrier and who may use every trick in the book to try to keep money out of your pocket. Handling comp hearings is an art. In my opinion, it takes years to get good at it. Comp attorneys who go to the Board handle multiple hearings each day. When I am “on calendar,” each of my files will be fully prepared and organized and I will be ready to present, and discuss, each case in the space of ten minutes:

• What needs to be decided moving forward

• Pay stubs and proof of earnings

• Up-to-date medical reports showing disability

• Past medical reports showing disability

• Medical reports that prove new sites of injury that haven’t

yet been officially recognized in the case

• All of the diagnostic test results

• Hospital records

• Objections to bills

• Requests for treatment

• Legal documents about the attached personal injury settlement And at the same time, I need to know the law.

“The typical Workers’ Compensation hearing lasts only a few minutes.”

The best attorneys can wade through the unimportant issues and get to the heart of the matter quickly and forcefully, because the typical Workers’ Comp hearing only lasts a few minutes. If the attorney gets distracted or doesn’t hone in on the important issues quickly, the case may go in the wrong direction. There may be “missiles” flying at the attorneys in all directions during a hearing, being hurled by the judge and the carrier attorney. The s--- may really hit the fan in a confusing and rapid-fire manner. It is up to the hearing attorney to stay calm, focus on the target, defend the client from this barrage, and fight when necessary (which is most of the time). Come to think of it, a hearing is a battle. And you should go into battle fully armed.