Maison Law can help with a Workers’ Compensation case involving a serious burn injury. If you have suffered a burn injury while working in Visalia or Tulare County, contact a Visalia Workers’ Compensation Lawyer for a free consultation.
Finding Out If You Need a Workers’ Compensation Lawyer
A minor first or second-degree burn may not require the help of a lawyer. If you will heal quickly, and you only miss a week or less of work, you are probably all right filing a claim yourself.
But if your injuries will cause you to miss significant time at work and your recovery will take a long time, there’s more support at stake, and a lawyer’s help may be very beneficial. If you have a third or fourth-degree burn, or even a serious second-degree burn, a lawyer can often help you find bigger benefit checks in your mailbox.
You have the right to handle your case yourself, but workers with serious injuries don’t always take home the same amount of support. In fact, some get much less because they didn’t provide the proper evidence, the proper medical documentation, and didn’t know they could demand more.
These are a few of the circumstances that could indicate you need a Workers’ Compensation Lawyer:
- Your case will require a lot of investigation and evidence gathering at your place of work
- You feel Workers’ Comp administrators didn’t offer you enough for your injury
- Your Workers’ Comp benefits will run out before you are fully healed and can pay all of your bills
- Workers’ Comp rejected your claim unjustly, and you need to file a strong appeal
- Your employer has threatened you over your Workers’ Comp claim
- Your company brings in lawyers for your case
It’s also a good idea to contact a lawyer if you’re in the middle of the Worker’s Comp claims and find they aren’t offering you enough. If you find they aren’t offering support that will last through your recovery, reach out to a lawyer. If your claim has already been unfairly rejected, an attorney can help you file and appeal.
The guidebook provided by the California Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) explains a few other reasons you may want to trust your case to a lawyer.
Taking Advantage of a Free Workers’ Compensation Case Consultation
If you have a burn injury and still aren’t sure if filing a claim is worth it, please contact us to take advantage of a free opportunity to sort out your options.
We want to help you if you’ve been injured on the job in Visalia or anywhere in Tulare County. We offer a no-obligation case consultation that is always completely confidential. Your employer won’t know about this free case review.
Allow a Visalia Burn Injury Workers’ Compensation Lawyer to help you navigate through this difficult time, even if you find that you don’t need to hire an attorney. We’ll go over all of your legal options and help you find the best path to restoring your life back to normal.
What You Should Be Earning in a Workers’ Comp Check
Workers in Tulare County can suffer a painful burn in an office setting, they may be on a construction site, or on a farm. Victims might receive burns in a factory after touching a superheated piece of machinery. Victims can come away with serious burns from contact with steam, open flames, and even harsh chemicals.
Injured workers may have hospital bills from Kaweah Health or the Burn Center in Fresno. Surgeons’ fees may have to be paid, along with physical therapy bills. Victims may have no way to begin paying for care while their paychecks have dried up. The level of support Worker’s Comp awards is never set, and different workers can go home with very different amounts on benefit checks. The recovery time they have before the checks run out also varies widely.
These are a few of the factors that must be considered when determining the size of a settlement check:
- Medical costs paid for by your employer’s Workers’ Compensation insurer. For burn victims, this can include the costs of skin grafts, restorative surgeries, and physical therapy. The American Burn Association explains the need for expensive occupational therapy to help victims relearn daily tasks and manage scar care.
- Support for therapy to help you cope with pain from a burn injury.
- Support to pay for help with diagnosed PTSD, anxiety, and depression that an accident and difficult burn injury recovery may cause.
- A portion of your lost wages replaced every two weeks in benefits checks.
- Lifelong support if you suffer a permanent physical disability (e.g., an amputation, nerve damage, skin contractures).
- Support to help you retrain for a new career if your injury leaves you unable to perform your previous job duties.
- Death benefits for families who lose a loved one to a workplace accident.
Your attorney investigates what happened to you and makes sure administrators hear your entire story and what you’ve been through. Maison Law presents the facts and highlights just how long you may be unable to work. It’s the best way to ensure Workers’ Comp can make a fair decision on the size of your benefit checks.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need a lawyer for California Workers’ Compensation if I’m not a U.S. citizen?
Undocumented workers are fully eligible for California Workers’ Compensation support. You can always handle your claim yourself, but in some cases, you may benefit from a lawyer’s protection and negotiation skills. Maison Law can often multiply Workers’ Comp benefits, especially if a serious burn injury is involved. A lawyer is also a strong protection when employers illegally threaten you by insisting they will report you to immigration authorities. Your attorney can file lawsuits against employers. Companies can be hit with penalties and be ordered to provide full support to you.
How long can I wait to report my burn accident?
Workers have 30 days to inform their employers of an injury. Injured employees should alert their supervisors immediately after an accident if possible. California’s Division of Workers’ Compensation must also be alerted to an accident within a year of it happening. The employer should help in filing the right form.
What if I can’t afford to pay a lawyer right after suffering an injury at work?
You don’t have to worry about how you’ll pay a lawyer at such a difficult time. You can still afford strong legal representation with Maison Law. We don’t charge anything up front. We are only paid if we win your case. Then our fee is paid out of the benefits your employer’s Worker’s Comp Insurance Provider is forced to send you.
Contact a Visalia Burn Injury Workers’ Compensation Attorney
Reach out to Maison Law to set up a free, no-obligation consultation after you’ve suffered an injury while at work. It’s a no-obligation, confidential way to find out what your case may be worth and how to hold your employer responsible.
Martin Gasparian, the founder of Maison Law, continues to protect workers across Tulare County when they are hurt in unsafe working conditions. He has years of experience taking on giant insurance companies and government agencies to make sure injured people receive what they need to rebuild their lives.
