Law Office of John J. Sheehan, LLC

We work on a contingency fee for all our workers comp and personal injury cases. That means that we don't get paid unless we settle the case or win the case in court. For workers comp cases, there are fees and reimbursement of our legal costs paid by the workers comp insurance company if we resolve a claim by an agreement to pay or a workers comp judge issues a Conference Order. For workers comp settlements, the fee is 20% plus expenses if the cases settles with liability or $15% plus expenses if the case settles without liability. For personal injury cases including car accident claims and third-party claims in a work accident, the fee is 1/3 plus expenses.

If you're injured in a car accident and require immediate medical treatment, you should go to the nearest emergency room. If you are offered to be taken to the hospital by ambulance, you should do so. Better to be safe. You should follow-up with your primary care physician for additional treatment which often includes physical therapy and, in some cases, diagnostic testing such as an MRI or CT Scan. If you're injured in a work accident and require immediately medical treatment, you should go to the nearest emergency room. You should also follow-up with your primary care physician. Under workers comp, however, all non-emergency medical treatment must go through Utilization Review (UR) which is, basically, a managed care system where the injured worker's medical providers must get approval from the workers compensation insurer. Because of the UR requirement, injured workers often find it difficult to get treatment approved without a lawyer.

If you're injured in a car accident and require immediate medical treatment, you should go to the nearest emergency room. If you have private health insurance through your employer or spouse or parents, in most cases you will need to see your primary care physician for follow-up treatment and will have to get a referral for additional treatment such as physical therapy or a consultation with a specialist. If you're injured in a work accident, your employer may require you to see their doctor. However, after the initial appointment with your employer's doctor, you can treat with any doctor of your choosing. It is best to get your own doctor who is independent and only concerned with your care and treatment. Many injured workers have a hard time finding a doctor who will accept workers' comp rates and go through the Utilization Review process. An experienced workers comp lawyer can help an injured worker find a specialist such as an orthopedic surgeon or neurologist.

In a workers compensation claim, an injured worker will be required to attend an Independent Medical Exam (also called an IME). If you fail to attend the IME, the insurance company can stop your workers comp checks until you attend a rescheduled IME. In a car accident case, a person making a claim for Personal Injury Protection Benefits (also called PIP or No-Fault Benefits), will be required to attend an IME. Failure to attend a PIP IME could result in a Denial of the PIP Claim.

You should not talk with your employer or co-workers about your workers compensation claim. Whether it’s a workers comp claim or a car accident personal injury claim, you should not post about your claim to social media.

If you have been injured at work or in a car accident, you should contact a lawyer as soon as possible to get information about your legal rights.

Once the work accident as been reported to the workers comp insurance company, the insurer has 14 days to begin paying benefits or deny the claim.

Whether it is a workers compensation claim or a car accident personal injury claim, the amount of time it takes to settle your case is determined, in large part, by how long your medical treatment lasts.