Ghitterman, Ghitterman & Feld

Your base rate depends on your job classification. The following link describes compensation for each job classification for Santa Barbara County: https://www.countyofsb.org/hr/employment-and-workforce-planning/classification-and-compensation.sbc

Workers’ compensation does cover palliative care, but what is palliative and what is deemed necessary will vary from case to case. Ideally, you and the doctor treating you and the workers’ compensation insurance representatives will all agree, but this does not always happen and you are denied benefits. If you believe you are entitled to treatment and you are not receiving it you should speak to a workers’ compensation attorney about your case.

Possibly. Many people choose not to return to their old jobs because they are physically unable to do so because of their injury or because they would need to perform modified work duties because of their injuries and that is not an option. It is important to note that if you return to your job it could affect your claim, so you should review the specific details of your case with your attorney before making any decisions.

Yes, most lawsuits need to be filed within a certain period of time. This is known as the statute of limitations and the exact amount of time varies from state to state and from issue to issue. In California, the statute of limitations for most personal injury claims is two years. For filing a workers’ compensation claim you have one year.

We accept all workers’ compensation cases on a contingency fee basis. This means that we get paid only after we recover benefits for you. If we aren’t successful, we don’t collect attorney fees. It’s as simple as that. You pay nothing upfront and have nothing to lose.

You have the right to disagree with your doctor’s evaluation. If you dispute the medical report stating that you can safely return to work, don’t hesitate to contact an attorney and get a second medical opinion. You have a strict time limit, however, so it’s important to act promptly.

Yes, you can still seek workers’ compensation benefits even if you are not a permanent resident or U.S. citizen. Your immigration status does not matter when it comes to obtaining benefits for work-related injuries.

Yes, workers’ compensation covers health conditions that develop over time, in addition to those that occur in catastrophic accidents. For instance, farm workers often suffer back injuries caused by bending and lifting over and over for years on end. Some office workers also suffer carpal tunnel syndrome from years of typing. No matter what industry you work in, you can seek benefits for such repetitive stress injuries.

Workers’ compensation can provide many types of benefits if you suffered a work-related injury or illness. You may be entitled to: • Medical care, completely paid for by the insurance company • Regular payments to help cover your lost wages if you have a temporary or permanent disability • Vouchers to pay for job retraining or education that will allow you to change careers if you can’t go back to what you did before • Death benefits for the loss of a loved one, including burial expenses and compensation for the wages that your family member would have earned

It is helpful to bring basically any documentation regarding your workers’ compensation case. • The most recent letter from the adjuster and any denial or acceptance letter. • Panel QME (Request for a Qualified Medical Examiner) list of state doctors, if you have one. • P&S (Permanent and Stationary) report, also could be called a PR4 Report, if you have one.  Paystubs, claim forms, doctor reports, other correspondence from the adjustor

• Name, DOB, address, email and phone • Employer, WC carrier/adjustor (if known), job duties, rate of pay • date of injury, place of injury, body parts injured, how you got injured • name, address, phone of all health care providers that you have seen for treatment

Immediately provide your employer with written notice of your injury (email, text, Slack, Chat, letter, etc). Next, ask to fill out a DWC-1 Form and give it to your employer. Then, get treatment if your injury requires it. The worker’s compensation carrier must provide treatment for your injuries until it denies liability. Third, schedule a free consultation with us to discuss your rights.

Possibly. When an employee suffers a significant injury or disability, there may be many benefits that they are entitled to. The two most common longer term benefits include Workers’ Compensation and Social Security Disability benefits.  Workers’ Compensation is a State run program paid to employees through their employer’s insurance coverage. Social Security Disability is paid to employees from the Social Security Administration through coverage payments withdrawn from your paychecks. There is a saying in the law however that the law abhors a double recovery. In other words, while benefits may attempt to make you whole from your loss, you should not receive benefits that pay you twice for the same disability. Because of this, certain benefit programs will get credit for other benefits you receive.

While we do handle social security disability appeals, we do not participate in the application process as it is fairly straightforward and many people are granted an SSDI or SSI award without needing a lawyer. We created a checklist to help you in the application process. In the event your application is denied, then we can help you appeal that decision. It is important to provide us with your denial letter, and time is of the essence as you only have 60 days to appeal if your application is denied.

Your initial appointment will be scheduled for 1.5 hours. We will ask detailed questions about your claim to determine if we can help you. You should bring written questions to the meeting to help you obtain information about your rights. If we are able to help you, then we will discuss the paperwork necessary for you to retain us.

No, we work as a team. All of us can help guide you through the process and assess whether we will be able to assist you in your situation.

Yes. Our attorneys frequently travel among our four offices and sometimes into areas where we don’t have an office.

We have offices in Santa Barbara, Santa Maria, Oxnard, and Bakersfield.

If we speak Spanish. All our support staff and most of our lawyers speak Spanish. When you call us to schedule an initial appointment, let them know if you prefer to speak in Spanish.

Yes. We prefer to have an initial meeting in person, but if for some reason you are unable to come to one of our offices, we can schedule an appointment over the phone or video stream.

There is no charge to speak or meet with us. It’s free! Our fees are on a contingency, meaning we only get paid if we obtain a recovery for you that comes out of the recovery. If we don’t get you a recovery, we don’t get paid.