What Good is An Attorney in a Workers Comp Case?...

“Workers comp attorney” may be a counter-intuitive concept for someone at least peripherally familiar with workers comp laws and their purpose and history. Workers comp laws were first enacted in Europe and then the United States in the 19th century in order to ensure that workers who had been injured or disabled on the job were appropriately compensated and to reduce the need for litigation, which at the time was an expensive, acrimonious, and socially disruptive process. What then, the average American employee might reasonably ask, is the role of a Georgia workers comp attorney? The answer to this question is somewhat complex and involves multiple considerations. Fundamentally, though, the fact of the matter is that the average human resources department may not be familiar enough with workers comp laws to avoid violating the rights of workers, and retaining the services of a workers comp attorney may be the only way for an injured worker to receive their legally mandated reparations. The sheer number of resources on the Internet for human resources workers confused about workers comp laws attests to the need for workers comp attorneys representing the interests of injured workers. One website presents a section of frequently asked questions, one of which is “in the case of a non-serious injury can we make a one-time payment instead of having the employee fill out a workers comp form?” That this is a frequently asked question shows very broad ignorance on the part of some human resources departments, those departments in most firms primarily responsible for employee relations and workers comp claims, that attests to the systemic problems of workers comp and the need for a competent Georgia workers comp attorney. There are a number of reasons for this confusion on the part of...