Practice Areas

• Workers' Compensation
• Personal Injury
• Social Security Disability
• Employment Law

Firm News

• When the injured worker returned to work he was immediately fired...
  
• Workers' Compensation: The IC ruled that the employer, who willingly paid the medical claim and workers comp for the employee's foot injury, must also pay for pain management because this injury aggravated the employee's pre-existing fibromyalgia and hypertension and was now considered a chronic condition. Although it is tough to win these claims we can usually do it if we the treating physician will agree that the pre-existing condition is worse now than it was and that this change is due to the worker's comp accident....
  
• Workers' Compensation: The Industrial Commission denied the employee's claim for temporary partial disability compensation. The Commission ruled that the reduction in wages that our client received was because of problems with the company's workload due to the economy. It was determined that he didn't receive less pay because of his injury or from the less-paying job within the company that he had to take because of the injury....
  
• Workers' Compensation: The NC Industrial Commission determined that the employer was required to pay our client's medical bills and also continue workers' compensation payments until our client could find a job with his limited physical capabilities. The employer was unable to find work for him at the company and he was fired, which was unacceptable, although it was explained by the employer as happening because of excessive absences....
  
• Workers' Compensation: The North Carolina Industrial Commission threatened to hold CNA in contempt of court because they refused to authorize the medical tests which would prove that the plaintiff was unable to do his job. This was a classic example of an adjuster getting an opinion from a reliable doctor and then refusing any other evaluation which could help the injured worker....
  
• Workers Compensation: The North Carolina Industrial Commission held that National Benefits Association had wrongfully denied this claim for more than a year...but only when the Industrial Commission finally heard all the evidence -- that the employer admitted that they knew the plaintiff was hurt, that they had sent him to a doctor but didn't follow his direction, and that there was no way our client could do his job with his severely-injured back....
  
• Workers' Compensation: North Carolina Industrial Commission says Liberty Mutual must provide yardcare and housecleaning to an injured brickmason....
  
• Workers' Compensation: North Carolina Industrial Commission rules that a restaurant dishwasher who slipped and fell, and was taken straight to an emergency room has proven that he was injured on the job....
  
• Workers' Compensation: North Carolina Industrial Commission finds that Diebold and Broadspire MUST pay weekly benefits even after they fired the injured worker from her "light duty" job....
  
• Workers' Compensation: North Carolina Industrial Commission rules against The Hartford Insurance Company and holds that a nurse who was still on her employer's property when she was hit by a car is within the course and scope of her employment and entitled to workers' compensation benefits....
  

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Library

Workers' Compensation

• Psssst! Who's that following you?
• NCIC Form 25T: Mileage Reimbursement form
• Form 28T: Notice of Termination of Compensation by Reason of Trial Return to Work
• Form 33R: Response to Request that Claim Be Assigned for Hearing
• 10 Things Your Insurance Adjuster Won't Tell You (download)

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Testimonials

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"We were nervous at first, but you put us at ease."

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"Being injured turned into a life-changing event, but it was comforting to know that you understood me and were only a phone call away."

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"I researched law firms on the internet, and I could not have asked for a better attorney."

"Whenever I called I got answers."

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What is "Maximum Medical Improvement" and what happens at that point?

A:

Maximum Medical Improvement, or MMI, is the point where the doctor says you are as good as you are going to get. That's not really true though. That's what it is supposed to be. In truth, the doctor will put you at MMI when he doesn't think you need to come back and see him anymore. At that point you may only be 85 or 90% recovered but you simply don't require the attention of a doctor. The doctor, if he does a lot of workers' comp, knows that he's going to be asked about MMI so he will probably go ahead and address it in his final note. The reality is that in many instances you will continue to improve over the next year or so. One reason is that your body continues to heal whether or not you are actively in medical treatment. Another reason is that you learn to adapt to what you can and cannot do.

What happens at MMI? Medically, three things should happen.

First, the doctor will give you a permanent partial impairment rating to your injured body part. Your toes, feet, legs, back, arms, hands, and fingers are all assigned a number of weeks worth of benefits. For instance your thumb is worth 75 weeks of your weekly checks. If you have a 10% rating you get 7.5 weeks, a 33% rating gets 25 weeks, etc.

Second, the doctor will give you permanent work restrictions. These are critical because they explain what you can and cannot physically do if you must look for a new job.

Third, the doctor should outline what your future medical treatment will be and who will be in charge of it. For example you may need to be on medication for another year or two. The orthopedic surgeon may not see any need to be the one to prescribe this and so he should say he expects you to be on medication but that your family doctor can handle this.

Legally, MMI is a decision point in your case as well. If you are near, or at MMI, you and your attorney should talk candidly about your case. Can you return to your old job? What other employment options do you have? What kind of retraining is in your best interest? What are the details of the next stage of your case?

You should know that insurance adjusters get pretty aggressive to close a claim out once a person reaches MMI. That isn't necessarily a bad thing... you can do a little legal judo and let their aggression work to your advantage. But it is not something to do without a thoughtful discussion with your attorney.