Category: Workers Compensation

In order to establish a right to compensation, the Workers’ Compensation Act requires:

1. 1. An employment relationship
2. 2. During which an accident or injury arises
3. 3. In the course of employment 
4. 4. And is related to the employment

However, it is not always clear-cut whether an individual has “an employment relationship”. How do you know if there is an employment relationship? This comes down to whether you are considered an “employee”. 

Who Is An Employee Under The Workers’ Compensation Act

The determination of an employment relationship under the Workers’ Compensation Act requires a review of the relationship on a case-by-case basis. Four key elements must be analyzed:

• The right to select the employee
• The right and power to remove the employee
• The power to direct the manner of performance
• The potential power to control the employee

Generally speaking, an employee is defined as a servant and includes persons who perform services for another for a valuable consideration. Valuable consideration is typically money but can be other benefits. On the flip side, employers are considered masters, because they control what an employee does. As such, an employment relationship requires a master/servant relationship between the employer and employee. 

Many times, the existence of an employment relationship is obvious in nature. For example, you may have an employment contract or job offer letter that clearly outlines your employment. It is clear who controls your schedule, sets your wages, defines your job duties, etc. 

However, oftentimes determining whether an employment relationship exists can be complex. This could be because even though you are injured while working, you are labeled as an “independent contractor”. It is important to understand what effect, if any, that classification has on your rights. 

What is an Independent Contractor?

It is important to understand the difference between an employee and an independent contractor. Independent contractors do not have the right to workers’ compensation benefits because there is not an “employment relationship”, which, as noted above, the Act requires. However, simply being labeled an independent contractor does not mean you are legally an independent contractor under the Act. You should contact us to help determine whether you are actually an employee. 

What do we mean by this? An independent contractor is not an employee because of the absence of a master/servant relationship. That means an independent contractor is free of control from the alleged employer. However, many times, even though a person has a contract that states they are an independent contractor, their relationship with the alleged employer qualifies them as an employee under the Act. I.e., their work for the alleged employer is more like a master/servant relationship. Even if you are labeled as an independent contractor, there are fact-specific considerations used to determine whether you are an independent contractor. As such, a workers’ compensation attorney should look at the facts of your case. 

The primary factor looked at is the alleged employer’s right to control either the work to be done or the manner in which the work is to be performed. For example, if the alleged employer is telling you when to work and what to do, that tips the scales in favor of an employment relationship. Other considerations include the terms of the agreement between the parties, the nature of the work/occupation, the skill required for performance, whether the one employed is engaged in the distinct occupation or business, which party supplied the tools, whether payment is by the time or by the job, whether work is part of the regular business of the alleged employer, and the right to terminate the employment at any time. 

As noted above, much of the analysis is placed on how much direction and control the alleged employer has. It is whether the alleged employer had the right to control the individual’s activities and not the actual exercise of that right that is determinative of the employment issue. When the alleged employer has the right to control an individual’s activities, an employment relationship is found, even when an individual is allowed to decline work whenever she/he chooses to. Control exists where an alleged employer possesses the right to select the employee, the right and power to discharge the employee, the power to direct the manner of performance, and the power to control the employee. 

An agreement describing a relationship as an independent contractual relationship is not enough to prove you are an independent contractor if the facts surrounding your employment qualify as an employment relationship. Further, even your tax form is not enough, on its own, to prove the employment status in the context of workers’ compensation.

Construction Workplace Misclassification Act

Additionally, all individuals employed in the area of construction are subject to the Construction Workplace Misclassification Act (“CWMA”). To qualify under the CWMA, the employer must be in the construction industry. An individual who performs services in the construction industry for money is an independent contractor ONLY if all three of the following criteria are satisfied: (1) the individual has a written contract to perform such services, (2) the individual is free from control or direction over performance of such services both under the contract of service and in fact, and (3) as to such services, the individual is customarily engaged in an independently established trade, occupation, profession, or business. 

Because Pennsylvania employers are required to carry workers’ compensation insurance for employees, but not independent contractors, the CWMA was put in place to protect workers from being intentionally misclassified as independent contractors. For example, if a construction company had mostly “independent contractors”, they would not have to pay as much for workers’ compensation insurance. Thus, companies can save money by labeling employees as independent contractors. As such, the criteria for being classified as an independent contractor is harder to meet in the context of construction. 

If you have been injured in a construction accident contact us today!

What Should You Do?

As you can see, there are many things to consider in making an employment relationship determination, not all of which was discussed in this blog. If you are unsure of whether you qualify as an “employee” under the Act, you should contact an attorney. Our attorneys understand how to analyze whether you are owed benefits under the Act. Do not let an employer use the term “independent contractor” to prohibit you from receiving benefits you deserve when you are, in fact, an employee. If there is a dispute regarding your work status, our attorneys are equipped to handle testimony and present evidence to prove an employment relationship. Furthermore, under the Act, certain miscellaneous occupations are considered employees, such as volunteer firefighters or even “Good Samaritans”. 

The most important thing to remember is that no one fact is determinative on its own. Every case is unique. Many factors are analyzed in determining an employment relationship, and it is important to find out if you are an employee. It could mean the difference between receiving the benefits you are owed or being wrongly denied. 

Contact Us – the consultation is always free. 

TERMINATION PETITION

You are injured on the job and your Employer accepts the work injury by issuing a Notice of Compensation Payable (“NCP”).  You are going to physical therapy and seeing an orthopedist to treat the work injury.  During that time, you are being paid wage loss benefits and your medical bills are being taken care of by the employer’s Workers’ Compensation insurance company.  Then one day, the Employer sends you to a random doctor for an Independent Medical Examination (“IME”).  That doctor says, “Vwaa-laa”, you are fully recovered and ready to return to your pre-injury job without any restrictions. You receive in the mail a Termination Petition based on that doctor’s one report.  The employer is suddenly trying to stop paying you wage loss benefits or cover your medical bills. You, on the other hand, know that you cannot physically return to work because you are still having ongoing symptoms from the work injury.  Do not panic! Seek representation so you can effectively rebut the IME doctor’s opinion that you are able to return to work.

THE EMPLOYER WANTS TO TERMINATE YOUR BENEFITS

You should know that the IME doctor is retained, and paid by, the employer’s Workers’ Compensation insurance company.  More likely than not, they will concoct some medical basis for finding you fully recovered from your work injury.  We see this on a daily basis. Once a Termination Petition is filed, the employer bears the burden to prove that your disability has ceased, or that any current disability arises from a cause that is unrelated to your work injury. The burden always stays with the Employer; it will never shift to you as the injured worker.  Therefore, you do not have to prove your case, the employer must prove theirs.  Not only does the burden stay with the employer, but it is a difficult one to overcome.  The employer must demonstrate by “substantial medical evidence that all disability has ceased.”  This is a considerable burden because, under the Workers’ Compensation Act, disability is presumed to continue until demonstrated otherwise.

The employer may also file a Termination Petition if they learn you suffered an intervening trauma or other medical condition after the employer accepted the work injury, alleging that your ongoing disability is no longer work-related.  In that case, the employer must demonstrate that there is an independent cause for the disability that arose after filing the NCP.  This is also a high burden for the employer to meet.

One term that you may hear with the filing of a Termination Petitions is “supersedeas.”  Supersedeas means your Employer is trying to stop your wage loss benefits immediately while your case is litigated.  Like the Termination Petition, the employer has the burden to prove they are entitled to supersedeas.

What does this look like?

To give you a peek into what this litigation looks like, the Employer files a Termination Petition and is seeking supersedeas.  The case is assigned to a Workers’ Compensation Judge who will hold a hearing within 21 days of the filing of the Petition to hear evidence on the request for supersedeas.  Most times, you as the Claimant will be given more time to respond to supersedeas, typically with a signed affidavit explaining why the IME doctor is wrong and your doctor’s medical reports showing your inability to work. Once you submit your evidence, the Judge will rule on the request for supersedeas within the next 14 days. If supersedeas is denied, you will continue to receive your wage loss benefits as usual.  If, on the rare occasion, supersedeas is granted, the employer will no longer pay your wage loss benefits throughout the duration of litigation. From this point forward, the timeline of your case is similar to if your claim was originally denied and you filed a “Claim Petition.”

Moving forward, the employer’s attorney will take your deposition.  A deposition is a form of testimony that is usually held away from a courthouse in an office of one of the attorneys involved in the case.  The Judge is not involved, but there would be a court reporter to take down what is said during the deposition and produce a written transcript of it, which the Judge will review at a later date.  The employer’s attorney will ask you a serious of questions regarding your injury, past medical history, current symptoms, recent medical treatment, past employment history, etc.  There is a wide latitude of topics that can be covered during a deposition.  Then, the IME doctor will be deposed. At that time, your attorney will have the opportunity to cross examine the doctor, questioning his/her basis for finding you fully recovered and able to return to work. Additionally, you will have the opportunity to produce your treating doctor to testify on your behalf.  Your treating doctor is a great witness because he/she has the ability to give detailed and sound insight on your physical condition over the course of your treatment, as opposed to the IME doctor, who only saw you once.

Once all the evidence is complete, the Workers’ Compensation Judge assigned to your case will hold a final hearing in order to finalize the evidentiary record and set deadlines for legal briefs.  The Judge may also want to hear brief testimony from you in order to get a sense of your credibility.  After the final hearing, the employer’s attorney will have 30 to 60 days to draft and submit their legal brief and your attorney will have 30 additional days to draft and submit their legal brief in opposition to the Termination Petition. Once briefs are submitted, the Judge will review the briefs in conjunction with the evidentiary record and issue a decision, usually in the next 30 days.

Keep in mind that a Workers’ Compensation lawyer will not collect a fee unless they have to go to Court to recover benefits or defend you from those benefits being terminated. So, even if you are being paid benefits, you should have an attorney in your corner so when you receive that Termination Petition in the mail, you know what to do.

Contacting An Experienced Workers’ Compensation Attorney

If you or a loved one has been injured in a work-related accident, call us at (215) 999-1443 or contact us by using the assistant or by filling out our contact form. The initial workers’ compensation consultation is free-of-charge!

You may have a Workers’ Compensation claim without even knowing it.  An injury used to be defined as “violence to the physical structure of the body.”  Now in the realm of workers compensation, an injury is no longer just an accident that results in a physical injury.  The court did away with that definition back in 1972 and broadened it, allowing for more compensable claims.  The Workers’ Compensation court focuses much less on defining an injury and more on whether the injury is related to employment.  The injury does not need to be pinpointed to a specific event or definable incident, as long as the injury arises in the course of employment and is related to the employment, regardless of the employee’s previous physical condition.  Also, the definition of an injury includes aggravation, reactivation, acceleration, or death resulting from the injury.

Time and time again a client comes to see us with a new injury, but they are unsure if they have a claim because of their medical history.  Let’s take, for example, a nurse who injured her right shoulder while transporting her patient from a wheelchair to a hospital bed.  However, two years ago, she was involved in a motor vehicle accident that resulted in an injury to the same shoulder.  The insurance company denied the nurse’s claim, citing a pre-existing condition.  We see this far too often.  On one hand, the nurse may have had some treatment and fully recovered from the motor vehicle injury.  If that is the case, we will handle the matter like any other traumatic injury.

On the other hand, let’s say the nurse developed some arthritis in the right shoulder as a result of the motor vehicle accident, or just from general aging or degeneration.  Her shoulder did not bother her, also known as “asymptomatic”, following the motor vehicle accident.  The nurse went back to work and was able to perform her job duties without any issues.  She then moves her patient and feels pain in her right shoulder.  Now, she is unable to perform her usual job duties.  Her doctors believe she aggravated her pre-existing right shoulder arthritis.  The nurse can, and should, seek Workers’ Compensation benefits because her work injury caused her current disability.

Additionally, you do not need to suffer a specific injury to be entitled to Workers’ Compensation benefits.  The court acknowledged that “work-related disability may be shown to result from the cumulative effect of the recurring trauma of the work duties.”  Therefore, Workers’ Compensation includes injuries resulting from cumulative or repetitive movements.  This is very common, and we effectively litigate these types of cases on a regular basis. An example of this is a warehouse worker who constantly bends down to pick up and move boxes who starts to experience pain in his lower back.  He cannot point to a specific event that caused his pain, but the repetitive act of bending over throughout the day certainly caused the pain in his lower back.  Eventually, the warehouse worker can no longer perform his job duties because the pain in his lower back.  Under the Workers’ Compensation Act, this type of injury is compensable.

You should also know that the Act covers specific loss benefits.  These benefits relate to loss (amputation) or permanent loss of use of member of the body, hearing impairment greater than 10%, loss of vision in one or both eyes and disfigurement.  Disfigurement must be to the head, neck or face area and must be serious, permanent and unsightly.  Specific loss benefits are an exclusive remedy that precludes consideration of any disability that normally flows from that injury.  In other words, it does not matter if, or how long, an employee is out of work.  He or she will receive benefits corresponding to a pre-determined amount of weeks spelled out in the Workers’ Compensation Act.  For instance, you are entitled to 335 weeks of benefits if you lose your hand; 250 weeks for a foot; or 40 weeks for a big toe, etc., regardless of how long you are out of work.  Let’s use a mechanic as an example here. One day, the mechanic severely cuts his left thumb while working on a car. He goes to the hospital and they have to amputate most of the thumb. The mechanic misses some work but is back to full duty shortly thereafter.  Despite the fact he is back to work, the mechanic is entitled to 100 weeks of benefits. The mechanic may also be entitled to additional weeks known as a “healing period.” Like specific loss benefits, the healing period corresponds to an already set amount of weeks.  The difference with the healing period is that it ceases if the employee returns to work without impairment in earnings before the expiration of the healing period.

In sum, Workers’ Compensation injuries come in all different shapes and sizes.  The examples above are only a small sample of the injuries covered by the Workers’ Compensation Act.  You may have suffered a psychological injury or occupational disease; these are also compensable under the Act.  It is important to know your rights and what you are entitled to if you suffer an injury in the course of your employment.

Contacting An Experienced Workers’ Compensation Attorney

If you or a loved one has been injured in a work-related accident, call us at (215) 999-1443 or contact us by using the assistant or by filling out our contact form. The initial workers’ compensation consultation is free-of-charge!

Many people who receive medical treatment under the Workers’ Compensation Act, regardless of whether their employer initially accepted their claim or if your case has gone through a round of litigation, may at some point receive a notice of Utilization Review (“UR”). 

Utilization Review Explained

The Workers’ Compensation Act provides for a utilization review process by which all treatment provided by a health-care provider under the Act may be subject to prospective, concurrent, or retrospective utilization review at the request of an employee, and employer, or an insurer. The most common reason an Employer files a Utilization Review Request is for cost containment. In other words, your employer is trying to establish whether your medical treatment is still medically necessary because if it is not, they no longer have to pay the bills. 

Once an employer has received medical bills referable to your work injury, they are entitled to file a UR request within 30 days of receipt of the medical bill. When a UR request is filed, payment for the treatment in question is under dispute. During the time it is in dispute, those bills will not be paid under the Act until the dispute is resolved.  DO NOT WORRY – most providers are still willing to provide you treatment even with this pending.  If not, the lawyers at Stern & Cohen will have a solution for you.  We will not let this get in the way of you obtaining the necessary care for your work injury!

The UR request can cover a range of treatments. For example, if you are treating with a pain management doctor for your work-injury and the treatment is covered under the Act, your employer could be disputing the reasonableness and necessity of you seeing that specialist at all, or they could simply be stating that a certain type of treatment, such as a certain medication, or the frequency at which you see the specialist is not reasonable.  An organization called the Utilization Review Organization performs the review. What this means is that a provider licensed in the same profession and having the same or similar specialty as the treatment rendered by the health care provider under review determines the reasonableness and necessity of the treatment in question. For example, if your employer files a UR request regarding physical therapy you receive, a physical therapist from the Utilization Review Organization will review your medical records and determine if your treatment is still needed. After reviewing the medical records related to the work injury, including the treatment under review, the Utilization Review Organization will issue a report, called a Utilization Review Determination (“URD”). 

A URD is a report indicating whether the treatment under review, relating to a specific period of time, is medically reasonable and necessary. If the reviewer decides that all or part of the treatment under review is not reasonable and necessary, they must explain the basis. If the reviewer determines the treatment is not reasonable and necessary, the injured worker has a right to challenge the URD, which is called a Petition to Review Utilization Review Determination. 

By filing this Petition, the worker is indicating that they need this treatment and it helps in some way. It is important to note that even when the worker files a Petition to Review Utilization Review Determination, the Employer still has the burden of showing the treatment is not needed, because they are the ones trying to stop their obligation to pay workers’ compensation work-related medical expenses.  Our firm is very adept at litigating these issues.

How Do We Prove The Treatment is Reasonable and Necessary?

First, we will have the provider under review either testify as to the treatment in question or issue a report indicating the reasoning behind the treatment and its relation to the work injury. Further, and most importantly, the worker will be allowed to testify specifically about the treatment they receive. 

We have used the term “reasonable and necessary” several times at this point. It is very important to note what “reasonable and necessary” means under workers’ compensation laws. The following are situations that qualify as reasonable and necessary treatment: treatment that is merely palliative in nature and provides no lasting benefit, treatment designed to manage the employee’s symptoms rather than cure or permanently improve the condition, treatment for pain that does not increase the employee’s physical capacity. 

Practically speaking, if you receive any benefit from treatment that is related to your accepted work injury, you are entitled to continue that treatment. The treatment does not need to “heal” or “cure” you to be deemed reasonable and necessary.  Our lawyers have vast experience at developing and presenting this testimony from our clients.

Let’s take a look at how this might look in a real case. In this hypothetical, you are involved in a work-related accident in January 2020 and injure your back. Your employer accepts your injury and you begin treating with doctors, including a chiropractor and a pain management doctor, using the workers’ compensation insurance. Now, after a few months of treatment, your employer files a UR request relating to treatment with your pain management doctor and chiropractor from April 2020 and ongoing. This indicates your employer is not sure that they should still be treating for those specific doctors as of April. The Utilization Request Organization will have two reviewers, one chiropractor and one pain management doctor, review your medical records and determine whether you still need to be treating for your injuries with these providers starting April 1, 2020, through the present. 

In this hypothetical, a UR Determination comes back in June 2020 and indicates that the treatment with your pain management doctor is reasonable and necessary, except for one prescription during the period under review, and that no chiropractic treatment is necessary as of April 1, 2020, and ongoing. In the meantime, you had continued treating with both providers for the two months while treatment was under review, and now there are outstanding medical bills.

What Should You Do?

You should have your attorney file a Petition to Review Utilization Review Determination. It is important to note that if you do not have an attorney already, you should get one. As mentioned above, we will submit medical evidence from the providers in question that support the medical necessity of the treatment. Further, you will have the opportunity to submit an affidavit and testify, either via deposition or at a hearing in front of a Judge, regarding your treatment. 

This testimony is your opportunity to explain why you need the medical treatment and what benefit you get from it. As noted above, the treatment does not have to cure you. Rather, as long as you receive some benefit, even if temporary, you are entitled to continue treatment. For example, if the prescription medication that was determined to be unreasonable and unnecessary helps you manage your pain levels, then it is reasonable and necessary. Even if you are still unable to work while on it, if there is some palliative benefit, then it should continue to be covered under the Act. Similarly, if you receive benefit from chiropractic treatment, even if only for a few hours after treatment, then the treatment should continue to be paid for. 

The most important thing to remember if you receive an unfavorable Utilization Review Determination is to not panic. If you believe you benefit from the treatment under review, keep treating with that provider and have your attorney file a Petition to Review the Utilization Review Determination. The most important thing to focus on is your recovery. 

Contact Us – the consultation is always free.

This is a question that we are often asked by our clients – and it makes sense. You are unable to work because of an injury and now, in addition to being in pain and dealing with your injury, you no longer have an income to support yourself or your family. Work injuries place financial strains on individuals and their families.

For starters, if your Workers’ Compensation claim is denied by the insurance carrier for some reason, we have to litigate a “Claim Petition.” This Petition gets your case into Workers’ Compensation court so we may pursue your lost wages and/or medical expenses. We understand that not everyone can endure being without an income for an entire year, the amount it typically takes to litigate a case (this topic was discussed in a previous blog – check it out HERE). If you fall into that category, the answer is “yes”, you should apply for other sources of income.

Under Workers’ Compensation laws, an injured worker can receive benefits, such as unemployment compensation. However, if we are successful in litigating your Claim Petition, your employer has the right to reduce your Workers’ Compensation benefits based upon the net amount of unemployment benefits you have received.

Let’s break this down. To be clear, the receipt of unemployment compensation benefits by the employee is not a bar on the receipt of Workers’ Compensation benefits. In other words, we understand that when filing for unemployment, you have to certify that you are available and able to work. How does this reconcile with the fact that you are currently litigating your claim alleging you cannot work because of your work injury and are entitled to Workers’ Compensation benefits?

The answer is fairly simple. You can be “disabled” under Workers’ Compensation and entitled to full disability benefits, meaning you are unable to perform your pre-injury job with your employer because of your work injury – but that does not mean you are not capable of performing some other type of job. If you are partially disabled and you may be able to perform light duties, then you are qualified to receive unemployment compensation benefits and for the same period, be entitled to benefits for total disability under Workers’ Compensation.

How might this look in a case? Let’s say, for example, that you are a carpenter, and you break your leg on the job. It seems fairly obvious that you will not be able to continue your job as a carpenter while you are treating your leg and waiting for it to heal. Under Workers’ Compensation laws, you are disabled because you can no longer perform your pre-injury job duties as a carpenter. However, if you were accommodated and given a sedentary customer service type job, or a work-from-home job that involved mostly being on the phone, you could maybe work, even while recovering from your work injury. If your employer has not offered you a job accommodating your injury, which is likely the case if their insurance carrier denied your claim, you are entitled to apply for and receive unemployment. Further, in many instances, like the one above, if you work for an employer and your job involves physical, manual labor, oftentimes there is no “light-duty” job to offer. In that case, you can still apply for unemployment benefits.

Here is a simple example of how this might look in a real case. Let’s say you were injured on January 1, 2019, and your claim was denied. We litigated your Claim Petition, and in the interim, you applied for and received unemployment for a while. On January 1, 2020, the Judge determines you were injured and unable to work because of your injury and you still have not recovered. In this case, you would receive Workers’ Compensation wage loss and medical benefits retroactively from the date of your injury to now, in addition to future wage loss benefits weekly. Your employer’s insurance carrier will be able to get a credit for the net amount of unemployment benefits received that were paid in a time period that is attributable to your work injury. Simply put, you cannot “double-dip” and receive unemployment benefits and Workers’ Compensation benefits for the same time in an amount greater than if you never stopped working.

To sum it all up, applying for unemployment, i.e., agreeing that you are willing and able to work, does not mean that you are admitting you are not injured. Rather, you are agreeing that you could work in some capacity, but not what you used to do.

There are specific strategic decisions that should be discussed with an attorney.

Contacting An Experienced Workers’ Compensation Attorney

If you or a loved one has been injured in a work-related accident, call us at (215) 999-1443 or contact us by using the assistant or by filling out our contact form. The initial workers’ compensation consultation is free-of-charge.

Exceptions to the Rule

Third-Party Cases

Potential Wrongful Termination Cases

Contacting an Experienced Attorney

How Often Do Insurance Companies Utilize Surveillance?

Should I Be Worried About Surveillance?

Working While on Workers Compensation

Social Media

Welcome to Stern & Cohen’s blog!

We are launching this to be a valuable source of information that you can follow and hopefully be educated and entertained along the way. We hope to discuss a variety of topics related to workers’ compensation cases and the law. We are always open to addressing a topic that the consumer may be interested in. So, feel free to email us at DFSTeam@sterncohenlaw.com with any questions or topics that you would like us to cover.

Without a doubt, the most common question I get at a first client meeting is, “how long will my case take?”. This is a reasonable and fair question. In many situations, particularly if the lost wage portion of your case has been denied by the insurance company, your family will be missing your income. This can be extremely stressful. It would make perfect sense that you would want to know how long it will take to get an outcome. There is no definitive answer to this question, as there is a lot of variabilities. However, there are general timelines that hold true in most instances and we will outline that here.

If your claim has been denied, we must litigate a “Claim Petition.” This is very similar to a “Complaint” in civil cases. This Petition gets your case into workers’ compensation court so we may pursue your lost wages and/or medical expenses. After we file the Claim Petition, with recent advancements in online docketing, your case will be assigned to a Judge in the county where you reside almost immediately. That Judge will then schedule a first hearing. This hearing is typically within three to four weeks. From the first hearing, we have 90 days to complete your case. This will include taking your testimony and completing our medical evidence. Within 45 days of your testimony, the insurance company may send you to an independent medical examination (more on these in a future blog post). The insurance company must complete their defense of your case within 90 days of when our evidence is done. Thus, all evidence is commonly finished in a six-month interval. The Judge will likely schedule a hearing for submission of all the evidence. At that hearing, the Judge will give us and the insurance company’s lawyer time to write legal briefs (another good topic for a future blog). These are usually due in 60-90 days from the final hearing. Once the Judge has all evidence and briefs, it is commonly another two to three months for a Decision.

If you do the math from the above paragraph, you can see that the case takes about one year from start to finish. This is actually quite fast. Litigation in other areas of law – motor vehicle accidents, liability claims, medical malpractice, etc. often take years. There is other promising news here too. A majority of cases settle before the Judge has to render a Decision. Hence, it is more likely than not that your case will not last the full year. A settlement can often be achieved before the full year passes. Many times, the case will go to mediation after several months of litigation. Even without a formal mediation, we can often negotiate a resolution directly with the insurance company’s lawyer. We have a tremendous amount of experience in settling these claims. It should be said that we also have a track record for taking cases all the way to a Judge’s Decision if a fair offer is not made. At Stern & Cohen, we are not afraid to try a case to conclusion (shamefully, some lawyers are afraid).

In our experience, the key to making it through this process is open and honest transparency with your lawyer. We will always update you on where your case stands and what lies ahead. If you are left in the dark, the timeframe is scary. If your lawyer is always there for you to tell you what to expect and layout options, the task is not as daunting. At Stern & Cohen, we are committed to always being a phone call or email away. We will make you feel like you are involved in the case and not an outsider.