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The Role of a Legal Assistant at a Workers’ Compensation Law Firm

When you think of a law firm, you might imagine a team of lawyers working tirelessly to defend their clients’ rights. However, behind every successful attorney is a team of legal assistants who work diligently to ensure that cases are properly prepared and managed. In a workers’ compensation law firm, legal assistants play a crucial role in helping injured workers obtain the compensation they need to recover from their injuries. In this blog post, we’ll take a closer look at the role of a legal assistant at a workers’ compensation law firm including items like: organizing medical records, indexing medical evidence, scheduling depositions, and communicating with clients.

 

Organizing Medical Records 

One of the most important tasks of a legal assistant in a workers’ compensation law firm is organizing medical records. When a worker is injured on the job, their medical records become a critical piece of evidence in their workers’ compensation case. Legal assistants are responsible for gathering and organizing these records so that they are easily accessible to the attorneys working on the case. This can include requesting medical records from doctors and hospitals, organizing the records in a logical order, and ensuring that they are properly labeled and indexed.

 

Indexing Medical Evidence  

Legal assistants are also responsible for indexing documents for the worker’s attorney and opposing counsel. In a workers’ compensation case, each party will want to review the medical records and other evidence presented by the injured worker’s legal team. Legal assistants must ensure that all the documents are properly organized and labeled so that they can be easily reviewed by the worker’s attorney and opposing counsel. This is an important part of the legal process, as it helps ensure that both sides have access to the same information and can make informed decisions about the case.

 

Scheduling Depositions  

Legal assistants also play an important role in scheduling depositions. In a workers’ compensation case, there may be many different events that must be attended. Legal assistants are responsible for scheduling the events, such as depositions, and ensuring that all the necessary parties are notified. They may also be responsible for scheduling depositions with medical experts, vocational experts, and other professionals who may be involved in the case.

 

Communicating with Clients

Legal assistants may also be responsible for communicating with clients in a workers’ compensation law firm. This can include answering phone calls and emails, scheduling appointments, and providing updates on the progress of the case. Legal assistants must be able to communicate effectively with clients, providing them with the information they need and addressing any concerns they may have.

In conclusion, legal assistants play a vital role in the success of a workers’ compensation law firm. From organizing medical records to managing case files, legal assistants are responsible for a wide range of tasks that help ensure that injured workers receive the compensation they need to recover from their injuries.

 

If you or a loved one has been hurt at work, call Stern & Cohen at (215) 999-1443 or fill out a contact form below to get in contact with a Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Attorney. 

Will a Pre-Existing Condition Prevent Me From Getting Workers’ Compensation in PA?

By Katy Luchansky on May 12, 2023 • 2 minutes to read

A common question we hear is, “Will a pre-existing condition prevent me from getting Workers’ Compensation benefits in Pennsylvania?”

In short, no! In fact, many injured workers have pre-existing conditions. Sometimes, the pre-existing conditions may be due to the years of physical labor the employee has done. Other times, the pre-existing condition has nothing to do with the job, but nevertheless has an impact on the subsequent work injury. Either way, a pre-existing condition does not prevent an injured worker from being entitled to workers’ compensation benefits in Pennsylvania if they suffer a work injury.

Pre-Existing Conditions

Many people have pre-existing conditions that they manage every day, such as diabetes or asthma. However, they are able to work despite these pre-existing conditions. The pre-existing condition, nevertheless, may have an impact on a work injury. For example, if an employee is working in a warehouse and lacerates his foot, that may be a relatively simple injury for some people. For a diabetic, though, it can complicate and can even prolong the healing time of wounds, and the injured worker may have to be out of work longer than if an employee without diabetes got cut. The fact that the injured worker has a pre-existing condition – diabetes in this case – does not prevent them from being able to collect workers’ compensation benefits for the time they missed from work and medical bills related to this wound. In other words, the employer cannot say the injured worker missed time from work because they are diabetic. The injured worker missed time from work because of the injury itself. The injured worker just so happens to also have diabetes, complicating the injury.

This is because of the legal concept of the eggshell plaintiff doctrine. An employer takes an employee as he/she comes. In the example above, the employee had been working without any problems with diabetes. Then, the employee was injured and unable to work for a prolonged period of time due to a pre-existing condition, diabetes. The fact that the employee has diabetes is not a defense or a valid reason to deny the injured worker workers’ compensation benefits.

What is an “aggravation” under the law? 

Under the Act, an aggravation of a pre-existing condition is also considered a work injury. A common example of this is a worker who has arthritis. For example, a carpenter may have had knee arthritis for years and even would periodically treat for the knee arthritis. There is no dispute that it existed before the work injury being claimed. However, let’s say the worker twists his knee one day while getting up, and the knee pain becomes unbearable, preventing him from being able to work. The MRI may even only show arthritis. The insurance company will likely try to deny the claim, indicating that you have had arthritis all along. This is obviously true. But, that should not prevent you from being able to recover workers’ compensation benefits. This is because the twist clearly aggravated and worsened the knee condition to the point where the injured worker could no longer work. The injured worker had been able to work with this pre-existing condition before the injury at work aggravated it to the point where he could no longer tolerate the work.

If you or a loved one has been injured at work, call Stern & Cohen, We can assist you with any type of Workers’ Compensation claim.  The consultation is always free.
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