The Nomberg Law Firm
Birmingham Workers' Compensation & Personal Injury Lawyers
Erik Heninger, with Heninger, Garrison & Davis, discusses medical malpractice cases and what he looks for when evaluating cases.
If you have any questions or concerns about this issue or other issues on the law, please call the Nomberg Law Firm at 205-417-4825.
Video Transcript
Hi, it’s Bernard Nomberg with the Nomberg Law Firm in Birmingham. I wanted to talk with you for a moment about something that occurs in most of our cases in the workers’ comp setting.
It’s that time in the case when an injured worker has been released by the doctor with some restrictions to go back into the workplace, but the employer cannot accommodate those restrictions. So effectively, it leaves the injured worker unemployed with the original employer.
But there’s no income coming in because once you reach maximum medical improvement by law, the weekly compensation checks stop.
So, the injured employee or injured worker typically doesn’t have any money coming in.
What do they do?
Oftentimes, I get the phone call about, “why’s my case settled? What’s going on? Where’s the money?” Sometimes that takes weeks, if not months, to get the case properly resolved whether it’s through settlement or trial.
In the meantime, bills keep coming in. Food has to be put on the table. Lights still need to be kept on at the home of the injured worker.
That leaves the injured worker with two choices – one, to take out a loan against their case, which we never advise. We don’t assist clients. We think that they are just shy of being criminal due to the interest that’s put on those loans.
Or the alternative—and this is what the injured employee really should consider—is new employment.
Those restrictions that the doctor gives in returning to work sometimes can be too restrictive in that the injured employee, when he’s going to interview, the potential new employer can’t accommodate.
The question becomes, “Should the employee go back to the doctor to have the restrictions lifted?” Well, I can’t answer that question.
That has to come from the worker him or herself. But it’s not really advisable to have those restrictions lifted. They’re there for a reason.
You’ve gone to the doctor. The doctor has given professional advice and opinions as to what the worker can and cannot do at this point. But it does become a real struggle for the worker who needs to work, but can’t find work within their areas of expertise or training. So, it does become a real quandary for the injured worker.
It’s something that we deal with every time. Every case is different – different scenarios, different facts, but if you find yourself in this position, please give us a call. We’ll be glad to talk with you about it. (205) 930-6900 in downtown Birmingham. Nomberglaw.com. We’re also on Facebook and Twitter (X).
Again, just give us a call, and we’ll be able to talk you through it.
Resources:
When the injured worker is released by the authorized treating doctor but the employer cannot accommodate the return to work restrictions or limitations, the employee is stuck in a tough spot. No income is coming in because you are not working and the weekly compensation checks have stopped because the doctor placed the employee at maximum medical improvement. Bernard discusses the choices the employee is faced with at this time.
We have several other videos that go along with this topic:
Bernard addresses frequent issues injured workers face when returning to work following an on the job accident in Alabama.
Weekly checks are paid in compensable workers’ compensation claims in Alabama. However, there are situations when those checks are stopped.
Maximum medical improvement (also known as MMI) is when the authorized treating physician believes that no more medical care would improve the injured worker’s medical disability.
Once a client reaches maximum medical improvement, by operation of Alabama law, the weekly checks will stop.
Workers’ compensation claims can lead down many paths before they are resolved. There are many factors that are involved that will determine which path(s).
Wanted to talk to with you for a moment about something that occurs in most of our cases in the work comp setting. It’s that time in the case when an injured worker has been released by the doctor with some restrictions to go back into the workplace but the employer cannot accommodate those restrictions so effectively it leaves the injured worker unemployed with the original employer. There’s no income coming in because once you reach maximum medical improvement by law, the weekly compensation checks stop so the injured employee or injured worker typically doesn’t have any money coming in. What do they do? Well, often times I get the phone call about why’s my case settled? What’s going on? Where’s the money?
Well, sometimes that takes weeks, if not months, to get the case properly resolved whether it’s through settlement or trial. In the meantime, bills keep coming in. Food has to be put on the table. Lights still need to be kept on at the home of the injured worker. Well, that leaves the injured worker with two choices. One, to take out a loan against their case which we never advise. We don’t assist clients. We think that they are just shy of being criminal due to the interest that’s put on those loans or the alternative, and this is what the injured employee really should be looking at is new employment. Well, those restrictions that the doctor gives in returning to work sometimes can be too restrictive in that the injured employee when he’s going to interview, the potential new employer can’t accommodate.
The question becomes should the employee go back to the doctor to have the restrictions lifted? Well, I can’t answer that question. That has to come from the worker him or herself but it’s not really advisable to have those restrictions lifted. They’re there for a reason. You’ve gone to the doctor. The doctor has given professional advice and opinions as to what the worker can and cannot do at this point, but it does become a real struggle for the worker who needs to work but can’t find work within their areas of expertise or training so it does become a real quandary for the injured worker. It’s something that we deal with every time, every case is different. Different scenario, different facts but if you find yourself in this position, please give us a call.
If you have any questions or concerns about this issue or other issues on the law, please call the Nomberg Law Firm at (205) 930-6900.
Video Transcript
Hey, it’s Bernard Nomberg with the Nomberg Law Firm. I wanted to talk to you about an important situation that comes up in almost every case that we have when someone is employed, they’re under a doctor’s care, and they have the paperwork from the doctor called the “return to work notice” or “return to work status.”
Why is that paper important and what do you do with it? That paper is supposed to go from your hands to your employer’s hands and it also should go to your lawyer. That paper should be the snapshot of what’s going on with your medical care and the doctor’s opinions about what you can and cannot be doing in the workplace.
Hopefully before the doctors fill that paperwork out, you’ve explained to him or her what type of job you do, the physical requirements of it and you’ve discussed with the doctor while you’re in there being evaluated and treated and examined your concerns about those things, how you’re feeling now, where you are in your medical care and whether you can do those things at the workplace.
One handy thing might be for you to write down all your questions before you go see the doctor because some people get nervous, so they forget about those things, but that paper is a very important document.
That paper needs to go to your lawyer so your lawyer will know how to protect your rights. That paper also goes to the employer so you stay in compliance with the requirements that the employer needs and that paper will end up with the workers’ comp adjuster as well because if you’re taking off of work or if the company cannot accommodate the return to work restrictions limitations, then weekly comp benefits may be due to you while you’re not at work.
If you have questions or concerns about those things, please give us a call. David and I can be reached at (205) 930-6900. nomberglaw.com is our website. We’re also on Facebook as well as Twitter (X). Thanks.
Resources:
When an injured person is undergoing medical care, it is very important to discuss with the doctor the current treatment plan and the doctor’s opinions about returning to work. The paperwork the doctor fills out addressing these issues must be taken from the appointment by the patient. The employer, your attorney and the insurance adjuster need this paper as it tells everyone currently what’s going on with medical care and employment status.
We have two other videos that go along with this topic:
If you have any questions or concerns about this issue or other issues on the law, please call the Nomberg Law Firm at 205-930-6900.
Bernard interviews Timothy B. Clay, President of Accounting & Business Consultants, Inc. in Birmingham. Tim discusses important tax considerations and planning for the end of the year.
If you have any questions or concerns about this issue or other issues on the law, please call the Nomberg Law Firm at 205-930-6900.
What happens when you decide to appeal an unfavorable decision regarding a claim for Social Security Disability benefits?
When you receive the Notice of Unfavorable Decision letter you will have approximately 60 days to file an appeal with the Social Security Administration. If you miss the deadline you may lose rights to disability benefits. After you meet with the attorney to discuss your situation the appeal will then be filed. It typically takes several months to receive an appeal hearing date. During this time, we will further interview you and gather the relevant medical evidence that will be attached as exhibits to the appeal. As we approach the hearing date, we will meet to prepare for the meeting.
In this video, we discuss what it is like at a Social Security Disability Appeals Hearing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1LDXPgTdUg&t=49s
If you have any questions or concerns about this issue or other issues on the law, please call the Nomberg Law Firm at 205-930-6900.
VIDEO TRANSCRIPT
Hey, it’s Bernard Nomberg, Nomberg Law Firm in Birmingham, Alabama. Wanted to take a few minutes to chat with you about what happens after you’ve decided to appeal your social security disability claim. Typically, before you get that notice of unfavorable decision, you will have applied either online or in person for disability through the Social Security Administration, and it typically takes somewhere between four and eight months for once you’ve filed your original application for a decision to be made. And the reason being is it takes several months to accumulate all of your medical records and for those records to be processed, and then for a decision maker to issue a decision.
If you get a favorable decision, whether it’s fully or partial, you’ll get a letter that explains the decision and what will happen next. But for those of you who get an unfavorable decision, you’ll also get a letter, but this letter gives you typically 60 days to make a decision to appeal your claim for social security disability benefits. And this is what I’m addressing right now. It’s during that time period of that 60 odd days for you to make a decision, and that’s when you should consult with an attorney who’s experienced in social security disability matters to get your claim appealed or to start over the entire process.
But let’s assume you decided to appeal, and we send in all of the proper paperwork. We then get a response from the Social Security Administration telling us that they’ve received the appeal. They’ll tell us if certain documents are still owed, and then they will set up a time schedule for when hopefully we will then get an appeals hearing, and during that time period we will accumulate the new medical evidence, medical records, et cetera, of your care that’s happened since the decision was issued up until the current time period, and that could be a few months or it could be several months or a couple of years.
So hopefully we will get a hearing date with an administrative law judge not too far out into the future, but it does take some time, typically a few months, to get that. We’re working toward that date, and during that time period we will meet with you to discuss the current status of your medical care, make sure that we have all of the proper medical documentation and evidence that we need, such as pharmacy records, opinions from your treating doctors. We’ll send them a form to fill out and the like, and then as we get closer to the hearing date itself, we will have a prep meeting and we’ll go over everything that is a part of the social security appeals hearing, and in a different video, I actually go over what the hearings are like.
Anyway, that should give you a quick overview of how this time period goes between appeal and hearing date. If you have questions or concerns about the process or want to get some legal advice about appealing, please give me a call at 205-930-6900. Again, this is Bernard Nomberg, Nomberg Law Firm in Birmingham. We can be reached at nomberglaw.com, as well as on social media. Thanks.
Bernard talks with Alan Lasseter, partner with Shuttlesworth Lasseter, LLC law firm in Birmingham. Alan discusses police misconduct cases and how he represents clients in these cases.
If you have any questions or concerns about this issue or other issues on the law, please call the Nomberg Law Firm at 205-930-6900.
For the past 19 years, a group of people have gotten together to do what has come to be known as “Turkeys from Heaven” in Dothan, Alabama. Each year during the third week in December a dedicated group of folks meet in Dothan to smoke turkeys, make green bean casseroles, pack rolls and cranberry sauce and deliver Christmas meals. They always have a great time getting a taste of the spirit of Christmas- GIVING TO OTHERS! To get involved, here is the Facebook link to Turkeys from Heaven: https://www.facebook.com/groups/183178679183/
If you have any questions or concerns about this issue or other issues on the law, please call the Nomberg Law Firm at 205-930-6900.
Bernard interviews James Haggerty, partner with Gloor, Strickland, & Haggerty, LLP. Jimmy discusses federal workers’ compensation claims that involve employees of the federal government who are injured on the job.
If you have any questions or concerns about this issue or other issues on the law, please call the Nomberg Law Firm at 205-930-6900.
Are the recording of conversations legal? It depends on who is involved. Eavesdropping on others and recording their conversations is not lawful. It is legal so long as you are a party to the conversation; however, you do so at your own risk. Recording a conversation with your manager or supervisor could be a tricky deal.
If you have any questions or concerns about this issue or other issues on the law, please call the Nomberg Law Firm at 205-930-6900.