This generally would leave the costs of the medical treatment resting on the employer where the worker was employed at the time of the injury. However, the employers, who genuinely thought they had competent coverage, may end up forced into bankruptcy if they have to take over the costs of these medical claims. This leaves those injured on the job without many viable or even understandable options.

The Department of Insurance and John W. Oxendine, the insurance commissioner, are investigating SEUS and the owner/executive M. Clark Fain III. It remains to be seen if any charges will be filed but even if Mr. Fain or any of the other executives at SEUS are criminally prosecuted, the company is bankrupt so that can’t help the injured workers.

If SEUS was the insurance company for your claim, you probably have a lot of questions and have received very little answers. This situation is rather unique and you will be best served by contacting an attorney immediately to help guide you through this process.

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You can avoid any complications from your social networking by following your doctor’s orders regarding your restrictions, telling the truth and perhaps by not sharing personal and private thoughts on these sites.  You can be assured that everything you say and do, can and will be held against you.  You must be cautious.

Shannon Rolen, Esq.
J. Franklin Burns, P.C.
(404) 303-7770
Fax (404) 255-0183
www.frankburnslaw.com
www.jfblaw.com
Follow us on Facebook (Frank Burns Law) and Twitter (@frankburnslaw)

Normally, this is not a problem.  You tell the doctor about your physical problems and the doctor finds the solution.  However, it is what you tell your doctor about how you got your injuries and the extent of your injuries that can cause you problems. Let me first and foremost tell you to always and without question tell the doctor the truth. Telling your doctor the truth about how you got your injuries and the extent of your injuries is the most important thing that you can possibly do on your claim. Sometimes though people can exaggerate the extent of their injuries wrongfully believing that this will get them more help and possibly more money down the road.  The discrepancies in what you tell the doctors and what you testified to in your deposition can call into question your credibility as a witness, which is detrimental to your case.

For example, the doctors will ask how you got hurt.  If you tell the doctor you don’t know what caused your injuries, then it looks as if you are not telling the truth when you try to blame your on-the-job accident for the problems that you have. I cannot tell you how many times my clients have got into trouble by telling their doctors one thing and testifying to something totally different.  Consistency and truthfulness are very important.

The only way that you can get the doctor to help you is to be truthful by telling the doctor the pain that you’re feeling, the true extent of your limitations, what activities increase your pain and what activities decrease your pain. If you tell the doctor you cannot do anything due to the pain, then this needs to be the absolute truth. Many times the employer and insurer will send surveillance out to watch a client to see what activities they are doing outside of their home. If you claim you cannot do anything but they catch you washing your car in your driveway or mowing your grass, it makes you look dishonest. You won’t be able to get the real help you need from the doctors if they believe you’re not telling them truthfully about what is going on with you.

In summary, you must remember that anything you tell the doctor can and will be put in his medical reports for everyone to see. We absolutely recommend that you tell the truth to the doctor and if you do that, you should not have any problems.  If you have any questions about conversations with your doctor, please contact your attorney.

Shannon Rolen, Esq.
J. Franklin Burns, P.C.
(404) 303-7770
www.frankburnslaw.com
www.jfblaw.com
Please note our new fax number (404) 255-0183

But let’s start at the beginning of the claim.  When you hire a workers’ compensation attorney like our law firm, we file the appropriate paperwork at the State Board of Workers’ Compensation electronically.  We either file a notice of claim or a request for hearing.  We also formulate a strategy on how to proceed depending on the issues at hand, the options available and the desires of the client.  When we file a notice of claim, we also serve a WC-102 request for documents.  The WC-102 form allows the Employer/Insurer 30 days to respond to our document request.  If we request a hearing, we generally serve written discovery requests on the Employer/Insurer.  The law allows the Employer/Insurer 45 days to respond to this discovery.  Though some Employer/Insurers respond immediately to the requests for information, they can take the full 30-45 days to respond.

In general, the first 30-45 days of representing a client involves waiting on the exchange of documents.  Though it appears that the first 30-45 days of representing a client involves little work, as the documents come in, we review the paperwork and sometimes amend our strategy.  You may not be hearing from your lawyer a lot during this time period until the documents come in.

Once the first 45 days are over, if a hearing is requested, your deposition will be scheduled.  Once the deposition has taken place, things tend to move faster.  Further documents, including medical records, are requested.  Sometimes we schedule additional depositions of the witnesses, doctors or schedule independent medical examinations with doctors to address the medical issues relevant in the claim.  All of this activity is designed to prepare the case for trial or possibly settlement.  Sometimes you will hear from us daily, weekly or monthly depending on how fast the case is moving along.  We also provide written updates to our clients via emails or letters in addition to the telephone conversations.

Where problems arise is with unrealistic expectations of how often calls should take place and how quickly calls should be returned.  Remember you hired a lawyer who is good at what they do and who is also busy.  Don’t call your lawyer every 5 minutes and expect them to be happy to hear from you.  You certainly would not want us to call you so frequently without any update to provide.  If the attorney is in the office, in general your call may be returned the same day.  There will be days where your call cannot be returned the same day it is made, but don’t be upset.  If your lawyer is in depositions all day, he or she will have a long list of calls to be returned and you will want your lawyer to devote the proper time and attention to your conversation and not rush you through the call.  This is another situation where speaking to the paralegals about your concerns helps speed up the process of your concerns being addressed.  When the attorney communicates with the paralegal, he or she can start working on the problem before returning your call.

The most important thing you can do as a client is keep our firm up to date about your address, home and cell phone numbers.  If we cannot reach you, we cannot tell you what is going on with your claim.  When we cannot reach you, any hearing must be postponed or canceled because the Court demands that your address with the State Board be kept current.  We can’t do that if we don’t know where you are living so please give us your most up to date information.

If your attorney is out of the office in court, meetings, or depositions, it is very important that you communicate with the attorney’s paralegal about your concerns.  Sometimes, the court appearance keeps us out of the office all day, which limits how quickly a response can be given.  If you tell the paralegal what is going on, then the team efforts of the paralegal and your attorney can provide a quicker response to your question or concern.  Our office works together as a team, so don’t be afraid to speak to the paralegal if the attorney is unavailable.  Many clients don’t like communicating with secretaries or paralegals.  Though the secretaries and paralegals are valuable and important members of our law firm, if the client prefers to communicate with the attorney then that is fine and we are more than glad to help.  If the attorney is out of the office in court or depositions and you do not want to communicate with the paralegal, then you will need to wait until the attorney returns to the office for your particular situation to be addressed.

Email is also a valuable communication tool that most clients don’t think to use.  All of the attorneys in our office use a blackberry device where we can see the emails while we are out of the office.  Don’t hesitate to send your attorney an email when he or she is out of the office.  Even if we are in depositions or in Court, when there is a break we might be able to send a quick response to your question.  In general, it is difficult to make a call during a break but an email is easy to respond to and doesn’t distract from the work we are doing.  But don’t just use email when we are out of the office.  When we are at work, we respond to hundreds of emails all day long.  Even when the volume of calls keeps us on the phone all day, we can still respond to questions or concerns submitted via email.

Finally, setting up a face to face meeting with your lawyer is an important communication tool.  Never show up unannounced and expect that your attorney will be available to meet with you without notice.  Always schedule an appointment!  The appointment guarantees that your attorney has cleared a particular block of time for communicating with you and you alone.  We use these meetings with clients to prepare them for depositions and hearings and also to talk about settlement possibilities.  Don’t schedule a meeting with your lawyer without a particular goal in mind though.  If you have questions or concerns, write them down so you don’t forget.  If you are prepared with the questions you have in mind, the meeting can be more productive.

In general, if you are concerned that you are not hearing from your lawyer enough, then call us, email us or write us.  We want to make sure we are meeting your expectations and that we are all on the same page of what you want out of your claim.

“We are going to provide a mechanism for those claims to be investigated and if the people turn out to be unauthorized there will be no coverage. We will try to wring costs out of the system,” said Seitz. (Source: Atlanta Journal Constitution)

The situation raises a number of questions that are very interesting, and anyone who has an interest in workers compensation in Atlanta and elsewhere throughout the country would do well to take a look at this proposed legislation. On the surface it would seem like a good thing to many people who are legal citizens of the United States. There are those who feel as though a law is a law, and nobody should be above the law. “Illegal” means just that. But there are other individuals who contend that most undocumented immigrants are doing labor that legal citizens would not be willing to do, and that everyone deserves a chance to better themselves through hard work. There is clearly some legitimacy to both arguments.

The most interesting twist is this: those who support the “get tough” stance precluding illegal immigrants from receiving workers compensation benefits may in fact be doing more to encourage the hiring of illegals than to prevent it. When you consider the ramifications of the bill, it does nothing to stem the tide of illegal immigration at its source (not to say that a state senator from Ohio has any ability to propose legislation that would do so). All it does is excuse the employers from the responsibility of protecting the safety of workers who are in the country illegally. At the risk of sounding cynical, this bill provides an incentive for employers to hire illegal aliens, knowing that they don’t have to worry about any workers compensation claims if one of them gets sick or injured on the job.

In this tough economy, many working people have little tolerance for illegal immigrants competing for available jobs, so they may support such a bill as a knee-jerk reaction. But when you read between the lines, it may in fact make the hiring of illegals even more attractive to employers. Time will tell if the bill becomes law, and it will be interesting to monitor the results if it is in fact passed.

For Atlanta workers compensation and personal injury information, contact the law offices of J. Franklin Burns at (404) 303-7770.

When you are in the field of workers compensation law, you learn about some employer practices that are quite disturbing, and a recent case here in Georgia underscores the need that we have for a watchful legal system when it comes to workers’ rights. Crespac, Inc., a Tucker, Georgia based company, is facing proposed penalties from the United States Department of Labor’s OSHA branch (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) in excess of a quarter of a million dollars because of two recent employee amputations.

This is two separate individuals suffering amputation injuries within a 30 day period. OSHA conducted an investigation, and they found a number violations, including three that are termed “willful” and 19 that are considered to be “serious.” Aside from the safety violations, the company has also been cited for health violations and a $17,200 penalty has been proposed for those.

These citations are shocking, and the “willful” nature of the violations is extremely appalling. This designation is used when an employer knows that they are violating safety regulations and willfully continues to do so. Machinery at the company was not equipped with the proper safety guards and emergency stop cords.

OSHA representative Gei-Thae Breezley had this to say on the matter:

“OSHA began its comprehensive safety and health inspection after learning of two separate incidents resulting in amputations within a 30-day period. In both instances, management knew of deficiencies but acted with plain indifference by failing to correct the problems in a timely manner that could have prevented these amputations.”

What really gets your attention when you hear this report is that even after the first amputation occurred, according to OSHA, nothing was done to correct the safety deficiencies. When workers recognize an unsafe situation, they need to make their supervisor aware of it immediately, and if nothing is done, it would be advisable for them to speak with a qualified workers compensation attorney who is apprised of workplace safety law. When you consider the severity of the damage that can result from employer neglect, you can plainly see that the stakes are high, and your standing with your company is certainly not as important as your life and limbs.

For Atlanta workers compensation and workplace injury advice, contact the law offices of J. Franklin Burns at (404) 303-7770.

Your on-line information is not personal and private like you would think.  Hackers could attack this information.  However, I want you to imagine your private personal thoughts and pictures on display in a courtroom.  Would you be embarrassed?  Humiliated?  Angered?  I am sure that we would not want everything we post onto Facebook broadcast and scrutinized by the public or a judge.  Well, this is the direction some defense attorneys are heading into.  The defense attorneys want this information because it may show you having more physical abilities than what you tell the doctors or show to the workers’ compensation doctors.  If you claim you cannot return to work but your personal life shows that you probably could actually do more than you claim, it can call into question your credibility as a witness.  If the judge doesn’t feel you are credible, then he or she won’t believe your testimony and you can lose your case.

We are not advocating that you close out your connections on these sites.  Please feel free to continue your legal on-line activities, but let’s proceed with caution.  Here are some suggestions:

1)      Do not perform activities that are contrary to your injuries or the restrictions placed on you by the doctors.  This is foolish for you to do for many reasons as it can worsen your injuries and can also drastically reduce the value of your case.  Do what the doctor tells you and don’t stray from that advice.

2)      When you are posting your status updates, be mindful of the language you use.  Cursing, racially charged statements and crude sexual language is just not appropriate anyway and in hindsight, with attorneys and judges looking at it, the inappropriate nature of these comments could harm you.

3)      Don’t mention your case online.  Don’t mention the lawyers, the judge, the delay or anything like this.  If you want to talk about the pain you are in or the medical plan, that is fine.  Otherwise, I would keep the workers’ compensation claim out of your posting.

4)      Don’t spend all day logged into these websites posting information and status updates.  If you can twitter all day, the defense will believe you can work.

5)      When it comes to pictures, please think these through before you post them.  If you post pictures showing your all night drinking binge at a strip club just last week, don’t be shocked if these photos are then shown to your doctor and you are released to return to work without restrictions and your check is cut off.

Some people find that they can’t help but continue their normal posting habits.  If that is you, then please think about what we have said.  If you think for one second that your on-line activities can’t harm you, think again.  Be cautious!  Be careful!

Shannon Rolen, Esq.
J. Franklin Burns, P.C.
(404) 303-7770
www.jfblaw.com
Please note our new fax number (404) 255-0183

There is a common misconception that if you are injured on the job you are allowed to go to any doctor you choose. We have seen other attorneys advertise a guarantee that you can see the doctor of your choosing when you retain their services (as if they can magically make this happen). This is simply not true.

O.C.G.A. 34-9-201(b)1) requires that the Employer should have a panel of physicians posted on the wall of the Employer’s premises in an obvious place so that it can be seen by the Employees. When the valid panel of physicians is properly posted, the Employer/Insurer are legally allowed a bit of control over where you seek treatment.

If the injuries are life threatening, emergency treatment will be obtained for you at the closest emergency room or clinic. Many times emergency rooms or urgent care clinics are necessary because those facilities can provide same day evaluation and treatment. Once the emergency nature of the injuries is addressed, the panel of physicians comes into play.

The panel lists six medical providers from whom you can seek treatment. There are usually six or more physicians or groups of physicians on this list. At least one of the doctors on the panel must be an orthopedic surgeon. Not more than two industrial clinics shall be included on the panel. You get to select your preferred physician or medical group from this list. This ability to choose gives you some modicum of control, and this is important for your medical well being as well as the potential outcome of your claim. Choose wisely when making your selection, because you don’t want to select a doctor of internal medicine when your condition calls for the expertise of an orthopedic surgeon.

Once you make a selection from the panel of physicians and begin receiving treatment, you will want to maximize the care that you receive before thinking about making a change to another doctor. For example, if the doctor orders physical therapy and x-rays or MRIs, you should complete these before changing physicians. It is very important for you to cooperate with the medical treatment provided. If you fail to be cooperative with the doctor, he or she will document this in the reports that they prepare, and this could cause you to look like a “difficult patient” in the eyes of the doctors that provide subsequent treatment.

Should you decide that you need to change physicians, the law gives you an automatic right to make a one-time change to another doctor on the panel of physicians (with the approval of the insurance company). If you do decide to exercise your right to seek alternate medical attention, it is wise to consult with your attorney before making your selection. We are familiar with most of the medical professionals on the panels, and we can assist you in identifying a competent doctor or medical group who will have your best interests at heart. Because this will be your only opportunity to exercise your automatic right to change physicians, take advantage of your attorney’s knowledge and experience to help you along. After this change takes place, you can only change to another doctor by agreement of the parties or by court order.

If the list is not posted, then there is no valid panel and you will be able to make a selection of the doctor of your choosing from the start. You don’t get to keep changing at will, but the initial choice in entirely up to you. This is the Employer/Insurer’s punishment for not maintaining the panel of physicians as required by O.C.G.A. 34-9-201(b)1).

In any event, it is always a good idea to consult with your attorney before choosing your doctor or medical group, and we are always available to answer any questions that you may have and make the appropriate recommendations.

Many injured workers who are not yet collecting a workers’ compensation check can get frustrated with the time frames that the law gives to the Employer/Insurer. It seems unfair for you to have to wait without a paycheck while the Employer/Insurer gets 4-6 weeks to provide the information requested. These are legal deadlines, and as much as we’d like to, we cannot force them to respond sooner.  However, we don’t sit idly by waiting for the Employer/Insurer’s response.

We spend this time gathering medical records either from the Employer/Insurer or directly from the medical providers. We communicate with you to gather details about the circumstances surrounding the claim, the medical treatment you have received, and what your current work restrictions are. Once we get the initial information from you and send out the requests, things slow down until the responses start flowing in.

Once we start receiving medical records, discovery responses, wage records, etc., we review everything that comes in and plot a strategy for the future handling of your file. Every time something new happens with your file, i.e. surgery, releases to return to work, etc., we examine the current strategy and make adjustments as necessary. We will communicate with you, explain your options and decide on the best course of action. We do not benefit by any delay in your case and we work hard to move your case forward as quickly as possible, but we also need to make sure that we are preparing the case carefully and thoroughly to ensure the desired outcome.

If you ever have any questions or concerns about your case, do not hesitate to call your lawyer.