Emporia, VA Workers’ Compensation Lawyer

If you’ve been injured on the job, you should contact a workers’ compensation lawyer Emporia, VA trusts to help you and your family try and obtain the full benefits to which you are entitled under the law.  Unfortunately, the employer insurer will have a vested interest when an injury occurs to deny or minimize payment.

Did You Know?

If you’ve been injured on the job, you’re entitled to compensation even if you may have been partly at fault for your injury.  An employer cannot deny compensation by claiming that the worker was at fault.

With more than 25 years of legal practice, the Law Offices of Mark T. Hurt, a workers’ compensation lawyer Emporia VA respects, has helped injured clients get the full amount of compensation to which they are due.  In worker’s compensation claims, there are often a number of issues that arise that affect compensation, involving:

• Whether the worker was injured on the job. In some cases, the insurance company may claim that the worker was not injured on the job, but in fact was experiencing the effects of a pre-existing condition.  This condition might be a back injury, for instance, that occurred over the weekend, or an injury that occurred many years before. 

• The degree of impairment. The degree of impairment for many types of injuries, such as back, neck, and shoulder injuries, cannot be adequately reflected on x-rays or MRIs.  Physicians and other medical experts must carefully assess a patient and determine matters such as range of mobility and workplace limitations (such as lifting or standing/sitting limitations). They must also determine whether a worker is temporarily or permanently injured. 

• What treatment is medically necessary. Injured workers are only entitled to treatment for their injury for purposes of improving the injury.  In some cases, insurance companies will try to deny ongoing treatment on the basis that such additional treatment is not “medically necessary” or not likely to improve the condition of the injured worker.  

• The time at which maximum medical improvement (MMI) is reached. Under Virginia worker’s compensation law, injured workers who are temporarily disabled are entitled to receive two-thirds of their wages until they are authorized to begin working, or until they have reach MMI (meaning that their condition is not expected to improve). The insurance company will have an interest in determining that an injured employee has achieved MMI as early as possible, as this will stop their payment obligations (assuming that the worker is not permanently disabled). A workers’ compensation lawyer Emporia VA offers helps workers in seeking to have their compensation continued as long as provided under the law, and I oppose efforts of insurance companies to prematurely discontinue cash benefits. 

Legal Fees for Worker’s Compensation Cases

I am a workers’ compensation lawyer in Emporia VA that represents clients in worker’s compensation cases on a contingency fee basis. This means that you will not owe me any fee unless I am successful in recovering compensation for you.

Under Virginia law, attorney’s fees for worker’s compensation cases cannot exceed 20% of the compensation obtained for a client, regardless of the number of hours spent on a case.  In some cases, the percentage fee may be lower; once I know more about your case I can advise you of the percentage fee that may apply to your matter.  Fees for worker’s compensation cases in Virginia must be approved by the Commission.

Call Me for a Free Case Assessment

As an Emporia workers’ compensation lawyer, once I learn about your case, I can advise how I can help.  In many worker’s compensation cases, particularly those where the injury is obvious and the recovery process is clear (such as in the case of a broken arm), the initial award by the Commission may be fully appropriate, and there may not be any need for legal representation.  If your award is fair and appropriate under the law based on your injury and I cannot help you recover any additional amount, I will advise you of the same.

If, however, your award is not fair under the law, and the insurance company is seeking to deny benefits that are legally due, a workers’ compensation lawyer Emporia VA residents turn to will advise how I can help you obtain such benefits, and oppose the efforts of the insurance company to deny or withhold benefits.

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Client Review

“Mark took over my car accident case from another attorney that I fired. Mark worked hard on the case for several months to get ready for trial. Shortly before trial he got a settlement that was six times more than the offer my first lawyer tried to get me to take.“

Jerry C.