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 FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONSWhat is your legal fee?Our legal fee for PERSONAL INJURY CASES is one-third of the money we obtain on your behalf. If we do not obtain money for you, you owe us nothing. For your protection, you will have a written fee agreement with our office that sets this out.Our legal fee for WORKERS' COMPENSATION CASES is twenty percent of all awards, and/or the settlement, we obtain on your behalf. We do not charge a fee for obtaining Lost Wage Benefits or Medical Benefits on your behalf. If we do not obtain money for you, you owe us nothing. For your protection, you will have a written fee agreement with our office that sets this out. How are litigation expenses handled?We advance all the costs of prosecuting your case. These costs are reimbursed to us from the money we obtain on your behalf. If we do not obtain money for you, you owe us nothing. For your protection, you will have a written fee agreement with our office that sets this out if you retain our law firm to represent you.How long will my case take?We prosecute all cases diligently and in the most expeditious manner possible. However, the speed with which most cases resolve depends a lot on the venue where the particular case must be brought.PERSONAL INJURY CASES. Cases for injuries that take place off-the-job need to be brought in civil court. The dockets for this venue are usually crowded and trial dates are usually set several years away. However, in the meantime we make every effort at alternative dispute resolutions through informal settlement negotiations, mediation, and arbitration. WORKERS' COMPENSATION CASES. Cases for injuries that take place on-the-job need to be brought in the Workers' Compensation Commission for the District where the employee was injured. The dockets for this venue usually allow an initial hearing to be schedluled within 2 months. We are usually able to obtain Medical Benefits and Lost Wage Benefits for our Workers' Compensation clients within this time frame. We can usually attend these hearings without our clients having to be present. Obtaining monetary awards and/or a final settlement usually takes approximately 1 year, and requires our clients to have first reached maximum medical improvement. COMPANION CASES. Some of our clients have combination Workers' Compensation and Personal Injury cases. For example, a client might work for a store making deliveries when he or she is injured in a motor vehicle collision that was the other driver's fault. In the event of a companion case such as this, each case would resolve separately within its own timeframe. (It is interesting to note in the example of the collision, that even if the collision were his/her fault this client would still have a valid Workers' Compensation claim. However, in that event he/she would not have a valid personal injury case against the other driver.) Will my case settle before trial?PERSONAL INJURY CASES. The odds are good that your case will settle before trial. In most cases we are able to obtain favorable settlements outside of the courtroom, making the experience less stressful for our clients.WORKERS' COMPENSATION CASES. The "Formal Hearing" is the Workers' Compensation equivalent of a civil trial in the context of a personal injury case. Formal Hearings are always decided by Workers' Compensation Commissioners. They are the equivalent of Judges in the context of the civil trial of a personal injury case. They are never decided by juries. Most Workers' Compensation Cases do not require Formal Hearings; however, they are not as rare as trials in the civil context. Formal Hearings are much quicker than civil trials. They usually only involve one or two pointed issues and sometimes do not require testimony. What if I have questions?We are always just a phone call away. We promptly return our clients' calls.What will I have to do?Your primary concern should be to get better. Retaining us will allow you to concentrate on that, because you will be able to rest assured that the legal aspects of your injury claim will be taken care of. We can also aid in your ability to obtain medical care by making arrangements with your doctor to pay him/her at the conclusion of your case.PERSONAL INJURY CASES. By helping you utilize all insurances that may be available; we will help you obtain medical treatment at no cost to you. If no insurance is available, we will help you obtain medical treatment from providers who will wait to be paid from the proceeds of your case. In either event, we will help you obtain treatment at no immediate cost to you. WORKERS' COMPENSATION CASES. We will help you obtain medical treatment and Lost Wage Benefits by forcing your employer's Workers' Compensation insurance company to pay. If your employer did not carry Workers' Compensation insurance coverage at the time you were injured, we will pursue these benefits for you from the State as provided for by law. We will, as appropriate: · Obtain Police Reports · Take photographs · Conduct investigations · Obtain copies of medical records and bills · Request medical reports · Draft settlement demands · Negotiate with insurance adjusters · Engage in mediations or arbitration · File lawsuits · Engage in the formal discovery process (the sharing of relevant information between us and our adversaries) and all other litigation procedures required · Take your case to trial Injury claims are most favorably resolved when we can work with our clients as a team. It will be important for you to keep us up-to-date with any significant changes in your treatment or condition, your address, or telephone number. If you need to appear at a deposition, at court, or at a hearing of any kind, we will meet with you several days in advance to prepare you for what to expect. We will review the facts of your case with you so they are fresh in your mind and suggest the best ways to answer questions that you might be asked. Wherever you are in the State, The Kaufmann Law Offices can assist you. |
