First, you should report your injury to your employer and complete a form known as a First Report of Injury. Your employer should be able to provide you with this form. Next, you should seek immediate medical attention. Your employer is obligated to provide you with this immediate medical attention at its company medical facility, a walk-in-clinic or a hospital. Finally, contact a workers' compensation lawyer right away so that an official claim for benefits can be filed.

For an accidental injury, like falling off a ladder, you have one year from the date of the injury to file a claim. Most workers' compensation injuries fall within this one year time limitation. For an occupational disease claim, like getting sick from an exposure to a chemical, you have three years from the first manifestation of your symptoms to file a claim.

Yes. Many of our cases involve claims that are already started. The client is either handling the claim themself or a prior lawyer is involved in the claim.

Yes. You have the right to choose your own doctor after you receive the initial medical treatment from your employer immediately after your injury. Some employers have established medical care plans which have been approved by the workers' compensation commission. If your employer has an approved medical care plan you can still choose your own doctor, but you must choose one off the medical care plan.

You can switch your doctor in one of two ways. First, we can try and reach an agreement with the insurance company so that you can see a different doctor. Second, you can ask the workers' compensation commissioner to change your doctor. Generally, you must have a good reason to change your doctor. The longer you wait, the harder it is to switch doctors, so notify us immediately if you are unhappy with your care.

If your claim is denied you should hire a workers' compensation lawyer right away, if you do not already have one. Next, your lawyer should request an informal hearing before the workers' compensation commission. Sometimes this can be done on an emergency basis.

All the benefits that you collect while on workers' compensation are paid to you at your compensation rate. Your compensation rate will likely be 75% of your weekly net pay.

The most common workers' compensation benefits are:

Temporary total disability benefits ("TT benefits") — TT benefits are paid to you when you cannot do any type of work as a result of your work related injury.

Temporary partial disability benefits ("TP benefits") — TP benefits are paid to you when your doctor releases you to light duty work and your employer cannot accommodate your work restrictions. You will likely be required to perform a weekly job search to be eligible for these benefits.

If your injury results in you getting a lower paying job, you can be paid TP benefits for a portion of the difference between your old wages and your new wages.

Permanent partial disability benefits ("ppd benefits") — ppd benefits are paid to when your doctor says that you are at a point of maximum medical improvement. At that time he can assign to you a percentage disability rating to the part of your body that was injured. You will then be eligible to collect ppd benefits for a specific period of time based on how high your rating is and what body part was injured.

Wage differential benefits ("308a benefits") — 308a benefits are paid to you when you have an impairment to your earning capacity. These benefits are limited to the same amount of time that you collected ppd benefits.

If your injury results in you getting a lower paying job, you can be paid 308a benefits for a portion of the difference between your old wages and your new wages

If you have a permanent restriction as a result of your work injury that is making it difficult for you to find a new job, you can be paid 308a benefits at a rate up to your full compensation rate. You will likely be required to perform weekly job searches in order to be eligible for these benefits and they are subject to the discretion of the workers' compensation commissioner.

In most cases you can settle your claim. Neither you nor the insurance company is required to settle a case. However, in most cases, it makes sense for an insurance company to settle your case.

Generally, no. However, there are some circumstances when it makes sense to use your health insurance to pay for your injury related medical treatment. We can tell you when it is a good idea to use your health insurance.

Generally, no. If you quit your job or get fired for cause you may not be able to collect certain types of workers' compensation benefits.

Generally, yes. However, there are circumstances when your retirement can affect your workers' compensation benefits or make you ineligible for certain benefits. We can tell you what impact your retirement may have on your benefits.

You can collect most other types of benefits while you collect workers' compensation benefits. However, other benefits you collect may be reduced by your receipt of workers' compensation benefits or your workers' compensation benefits may be reduced by your receipt of other types of benefits. We can tell you how all the benefits you may be eligible for affect each other.

Generally, yes. However, if you are totally disabled from work you cannot collect unemployment benefits. Also, unemployment may get a credit for certain workers' compensation benefits that you are collecting. We can tell you how collecting unemployment benefits affects your workers' compensation benefits.

Most jobs in Connecticut are considered employment at-will situations. This means that your employer can fire you for any reason or no reason as long as the basis for your firing is not illegal (like discrimination). There are certain federal and state laws that require most employers to hold your job for a certain period of time if you are disabled from a work related injury. Your employer does not need to hold your job for you indefinitely. If you have a written employment contract or you are in a union you may have even more protections.

However, your employer cannot fire you or otherwise discriminate against you for exercising your rights under the workers' compensation act.

In most cases you have two years from the date of your accident to file a lawsuit. However, some types of personal injury claims have shorter time periods. Also, some types of claims have special notice requirements requiring written notices to be filed in very short periods of time. You should contact us immediately after your accident so that you do not miss any important deadlines.

The majority of personal injury cases do not go to trial. However, there is no way of knowing if your particular case will go to trial.

The value of your case depends on many things, like the extent of your injuries, how long you were out of work, the amount of your medical bills and how your injury has affected you. Therefore, there is no way to tell you what your case is worth without fully evaluating it.

We will try to settle your case before we have to file a lawsuit for you, which in most cases is two years from the date of your injury. Usually, we have to wait for you to finish with your medical treatment before we try and settle your case.

In Connecticut you are required to purchase insurance to protect yourself if an uninsured driver hits you. This is known as uninsured motorist coverage. If you are hit by an uninsured driver we can bring a claim against your own insurance company to recover your damages.  

Yes.

You should apply for disability benefits as soon as you become disabled. Generally, you are considered disabled when you cannot work because you have a medical condition that is expected to last at least one year or result in death. It can take a number of months to get a decision from the Social Security Administration on your application, so the sooner you apply, the better.

If your claim gets denied you should contact us immediately so that we can file an appeal. You have a limited amount of time to appeal, usually 60 days from notification of an adverse decision, so act right away whenever you get a letter from the Social Security Administration about your claim.

Everyone will get a different amount. Your monthly Social Security disability benefit is based on your average lifetime earnings.

You will get medicare after you have collected Social Security disability benefits for two years.

Workers' compensation benefits can reduce your Social Security disability benefits. However, there are ways around this. We can help you collect the most you can from both workers' compensation and Social Security.

Yes. You are allowed to work what is known as a "trial work period," and you can earn upwards of $780.00 per month before you lose your benefits.