The Nomberg Law Firm
Birmingham Workers' Compensation & Personal Injury Lawyers
Bernard talks with Lisa Bor, Clinic Director / PT, Board Certified Orthopedic Clinical Specialist with AccelAbility Physical Therapy – Homewood. Lisa discusses the various medical conditions they treat at their locations around the Birmingham metro area.
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 talks with Allen Arnold, attorney and partner with 5 Points Law Group, about employment issues. Allen discusses unemployment claims, whether you can record meetings with managers and supervisors, and how claims of discrimination are handled with the EEOC. Very informative and useful information.
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.
These hearings take place after the claimant has appealed an unfavorable decision from their initial application for Social Security Disability (SSDI) benefits. These hearings typically take place several months after the appeal. The hearing does not last very long but it is a crucial part of the process.
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
Hello, it’s Bernard Nomberg with the Nomberg Law Firm here in Birmingham. I wanted to take a few minutes to talk with you about an intricate area of the law that most folks don’t understand but typically will be part of their claim. It’s called subrogation and I want to read to you a little bit.
Subrogation is the right of a third party – usually a health insurance company, a disability provider or an auto insurance company – to recover money paid to, or on behalf of an injured person, from the amount the injured person receives from the responsible party.
Meaning if you get into a car accident and you recover from the tortfeasor, the guy who caused your accident and caused your injuries, then Blue Cross, or whoever your health insurance company is, they typically will send what is called a subrogation notice. Meaning they’re asking to be reimbursed or to be paid back from the monies that you recover from the tortfeasor in this case.
Subrogation is based on equitable principles and consideration that an injured person should not recover twice for a single injury and that the insurer should be reimbursed for payments it has made. Most insurance contracts that you have will address this.
If you suffer personal injuries and receive medical care that’s paid by your health insurance company, they’ll often send a notice of subrogation. This could be in workers’ comp cases where the claim is denied or disputed, but you’ve had your health insurance company pay for it. We deal with it quite a bit and when it comes to actually reimbursing your provider for medical bills they’ve paid your attorney, we should be able to negotiate down the amounts that are owed.
If at any point in time you do receive a letter, whether you’re put on notice of the lien, immediately turn it over to your attorney. It’s not something we can hide from, it’s not something we can ignore. We really do have to address this. Each case is a little bit different and specific to that case so if it comes up in your situation, we’ll deal with it. But I just wanted to make you aware of what it is. If you have questions or concerns about that, of course you may reach us at the Nomberg Law Firm. (205) 930-6900 is our number. www.nomberglaw.com on the web. As well as Facebook and Twitter/X.
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Pursuant to Alabama law, subrogation is the right of a third party – usually a health insurance company – to recover money paid to or on behalf of an injured person from the amount the injured person receives from a responsible party. This is based on the principle that an injured person should not recover twice for a single injury and that the insurer should be reimbursed for payments it made by the wrongdoer. Most insurance contracts include claims for reimbursement. Subrogation claims are often found in personal injury claims and in workers’ compensation claims that are being disputed.
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 talks with attorney Chip Nation with Warren & Associates in Jasper, Alabama. Chip discusses black lung cases that affect so many coal miners and other employees who work around dust particles. As part of his practice, Chip handles state black lung cases, which are handled through the Alabama workers’ compensation laws.
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 talks with Shannon Gober, owner and proprietor of John’s City Diner in downtown Birmingham. Shannon is also a Board of Director at CAP – City Action Partnership. CAP provides may important roles for the public downtown. Shannon always has something new on the menu.
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 discusses the importance of underinsured and uninsured motorist insurance coverage with JD Lawrence, partner with Farris, Riley & Pitt LLP. Most people believe they are “fully covered” by having collision, liability and med pay coverages. Most are not informed about underinsured or uninsured insurance. JD explains why these coverages are important.
Please see our blog “WHAT IS UNDERINSURED/UNINSURED MOTORIST INSURANCE COVERAGE? IAM ‘FULLY COVERED,’ WHY DO I NEED IT?” to learn more about this important insurance coverage.
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 talks with George Whitlock, III, Founder and Pastor of True Vine International Church. Today, the Firm assisted Pastor George and volunteers with their monthly food distribution. M25Alive is a community outreach ministry of True Vine International Church. M25Alive feeds the needy, provides clothing for the poor and builds shelters for the transitional homeless.
Al.com wrote an article recently about the good work the church is doing in our community: https://www.al.com/living/2017/08/church_hosts_free_food_giveawa.html
We were glad to play a small role in helping the church and look forward to assisting next month. For more information about True Vine International’s M25Alive Program, go to https://thevinebham.org/.
Video Transcript
Hey, it’s Bernard Nomberg with the Nomberg Law Firm. I have another area of the law that affects our business and practice every day with our clients that I wanted to take a few minutes to talk about. And that is when clients consider taking out loans with these companies that will offer money against any settlements or against any claims that the client may have, due to injuries.
These loans are dangerous. We do not condone the use of these loans. There are many reasons why that I’ll get to in a minute.
But it really creates more stress than the problems that they offer to solve.
A real case example is when we have a worker who’s injured and is in the middle of a workers’ compensation claim and they have reached maximum medical improvement and by operation of law, and Alabama work compact, their weekly compensation checks stop.
But it will now be a matter of weeks or months before we can get the claim into a posture where it can be settled and resolved and paid out to the client.
So during these two or three weeks, or even months, what is the client supposed to do to pay bills?
Well, that’s when the clients typically try to consider these predatory loans and when I say predatory, it’s because if you read the fine print, those contracts that you sign – the client signs for a loan over a couple thousand dollars or it could be much more than that – the interest rates are just ridiculous. They’re astronomical. Sometimes, they’re compounding.
And at the end of the situation where the client has received the money and spent it on bills and paid for food or whatever it may have been – and they truly needed the money at the time – it creates a huge communication problem, expectations problem, for the client when dealing with us, the attorneys, in trying to get the case settled.
Because that’s another factor that we have to deal with. Because now the client has to not only pay whatever regular bills that they’re normally used to paying, but now they also have to pay back – by contract that they signed – these loans.
So a $2,000 loan could turn out to be a $3,000 or $4,000 payback.
There are many of these companies that advertise on the Internet that may even contact the injured folks directly. Somehow, they get their name, number, etc., or they may see them on TV.
It is our practice at our firm to always advise our clients against the use of these predatory loans and these loan companies.
I don’t have any great answers where the client is supposed to get their money to pay the bills in the interim. Hopefully, there’s some savings. Hopefully, there are some loved ones.
There’s really no great answer here, but we do our best—once the client reaches maximum improvement, we know that their checks have been cut off—to try to put the case in the best posture we can to get it resolved.
If you have any questions or concerns or if this is an issue for you, please give us a call here at the Nomberg Law Firm (205) 930-6900. We can also be found at NombergLaw.com and we have a Twitter/X feed as well as Facebook. Thanks.
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Once a client reaches maximum medical improvement, by operation of Alabama law, the weekly checks will stop. During the interim, before we can get the client’s claim settled and paid, clients sometime look to take out a loan to pay the bills. This is not a good idea by any means because Alabama law states that these loans are most likely illegal. Please consider getting a loan from some other source. It is very important to know that once you sign the contract for the loan even if your case does not result in a settlement where you get money, you will still have to repay that loan plus the interest!
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. Our website is www.nomberglaw.com.