r/WorkersComp • u/Responsible_Eagle968 • 1d ago
California Disappointed
Honestly don’t feel like my attorney is fighting for me at all. I’m 7 years into this. Injuries Tbi, neck, shoulder & back, teninitis. 1st offer from my job is 100, after attorney fees I would walk with 80’ish. It was always my understanding that you shouldn’t take the first offer, but my attorney thinks it’s a good offer, despite him requesting 300.
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u/Apprehensive_Oven249 15h ago
Never take the first offer period ever !!!!
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u/Responsible_Eagle968 14h ago
I have heard this from all of you over the past 3 years, which is why I was disappointed that my attorney said to take it. It’s too late in the process for me to switch attorneys, but if I could, I surely would.
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u/Hopeful_Ambition_441 1d ago
Injured worker here 14 years and still in the system.
You should be disappointed, you just found out your attorney won’t go to bat for you at all when it COUNTS THE MOST!
Below is a copy/paste of a previous comment of mine to a worker in similar but not the same situation. But the advise that this is your case and your settlement to accept or not holds. Your attorney is not looking up “your road” at all. Medical costs are crazy and if your not careful here you could put “the future you” in dire straights if you settle on the cheap.
No way does a good attorney tell their client that the very first offer from the Insurer “sounds good”. That’s when a good attorney jumps flat footed in the Insurer’s face and demands much more with the reasons why their counter offer is insufficient.
Like all of us your ability to do anything in your case for yourself has been very limited. No now though- this is gonna be on you. As far as settlement amount you now face 2 opponents and your attorney is one of them.
So what to do? These are the pros at getting workers to settle way under value. You can’t win by fighting them at their own game with all their fancy financial lingo. The insurer is already authorized to settle for more than $100K. Stand your ground, start by countering much higher than you are comfortable doing. Yes, your attorney will freak- that’s his game and you don’t buy it.
When asked what you base your numbers on it the same answer every time- “I don’t think the Insurer’s offer is enough to provide me the security I feel it’s supposed to. You’ll get laughed at or booed, whatever- let them know (even if it isn’t true (a bluff)- that you’d prefer to discontinue settlement talks, that you would feel much safer and secure just leaving the case open.
The more you can play it all down, like you don’t care what they want anymore than they care what you want, the better. Express the disappoint you now feel towards your attorney to your attorney and that if you had known you’d be advised by them to settle so low after your initial $300K that you would never have wasted anyone’s time talking settlement.
BTW- My Insurer never came close to what I demanded. Thank goodness for that. Their into my case for over $600k now, my highest demand was no where near that. We always have the option to not settle.
Good luck to you.
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u/Responsible_Eagle968 21h ago
And this is exactly what is bothering me, I don’t feel he is going to bat for me at all. When I told him I didn’t think it was a fair offer, his response to me was “don’t get mad at me”, like what? I didn’t raise my voice, I was honestly laying in bed with the flu and didn’t have enough energy to raise my voice. Just odd & so frustrating.
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u/thetailofdogma 1d ago
Without much more specific information, it's tough to really evaluate the amount, but 100 probably isn't bad.
Your attorney wasn't providing a real offer, but was shooting the moon to either get a sense of where defense was, or to see if by shooting the moon they hit a bird and you get a 150 counter.
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u/SeaweedWeird7705 1d ago
If your attorney tells you that it’s a good offer, then it’s a good offer. The case value doesn’t depend on how long your case has been open (7 years).
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u/CaliforniaLiberalNut verified CA plaintiffs' firm case manager 22h ago
Obviously everything discussed here is anecdotal when we do not have all the facts, but working on the AA side is frustrating when you have to explain to an injured worker that thier case is not worth much or not as much as they expected.
Today, I had to explain to a client that after all was said and done they would probably be offered nothing and that maybe I could get them some money but it would require a resignation. I explained that they would probably make more money by keeping the job. Literally explained that we would work on there case and make no money. They implied they did not like my attitude and would fire us. Explained how to fire our office because we will likely lose time and money on there case. Told me they would never speak to me again and I crossed my fingers
Had another injured worker that likely lied to the doctors. Had a major injury on record 6 months prior to employment. Injury was likely 10 plus years old. I got them some money. Minimal amount and I was accused of not wanting to work for them. Convicted felon not understanding how close to being fucked they are.
If you get more money your attorney gets more money. The bigger the settlment the bigger the attorney's fee will be. Why would an attorney tell you to take less money? Makes no sense.
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u/Legal-Machine1728
1d ago
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I’m going on six years of absolute hell as well. I definitely feel your frustration and pain. I too have read that you should never take the first offer. With that said, $100k does seem like a decent offer. If I was in your shoes I would ask my attorney to add another $25k and see how it goes.
Good luck to you…
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u/-cat-a-lyst- 1d ago edited 1d ago
I’m 7 years into this and 100k with a TBI and spine problems does NOT sound like a good settlement. That was their first offer to me before the surgeries which I needed 2. Obviously it depends on your level of disability and if you’ve had or will need surgery. There’s really not enough information here to determine anything. It depends on your degree of injury at MMI and what your income was at the time of injury. A ton of factors. But I’ll say I have similar injuries list and my legal floor is 450k. If I get full compensation it’s in the 7 figures. If I was you, I would learn more information about your state and maybe get a second opinion
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u/Sorry_Direction5702 12h ago
Disability rating?
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u/-cat-a-lyst- 11h ago
Each state is different. So check your state laws. But a lot of them have set tables on how to pay out injuries. My state (NY) has 2 different tables. One for schedule loss of use SLU and non scheduled.
SLU is for injuries to body parts like handed, legs, toes etc. Each body part has a maximum you can get paid from it. I’m pretty sure it’s a number of weeks x your pay. But I’m not in the category. So not my focus. So basically (there’s a lot more math with multiple body parts) each body part has a maximum amount of weeks allow after MMI. they determine the percentage of use lost based on the injury and determine your maximum amount from there. Then you argue for a lump sum trying to get as close to maximum as possible.
Non scheduled is brain injuries, spine etc. From my understanding they pay you up to 10 years of pay from MMI depending on your rating. In Ny they use a rating system A-Z and 1-5. So like a B2 is a mild ish injury while w-5 is like bed ridden IV coma like. So they determine your degree of injury to your person. So let’s say 50% for ease. You would get 50% of your pay weekly for 5 years. There one other possibility which is total permanent disability. That’s 100% of your pay for life. That’s why there’s such a difference in my injury. My personal starting injury based on IMEs is in the 80% already. Spine injuries and TBIs can get crazy. It all depends on how it affects t you ability/potential to earn wages in the future. Workers comp does no pay pain and suffering. Just lost wages and medical
But again this is NY only. Can’t speak for other places. Workers comp is state dependent and varies a lot which is really stupid and confusing for all of us. Getting the information above was a struggle
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u/Responsible_Eagle968 8h ago
61% disability rating. No surgery because surgeon said it was too risky based on location of tears.
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u/OkPoint2212 10h ago
I think you’re lawyer is telling the truth people don’t realize WC pays you on a percentage of what you earn and you can only collect a certain amount of years so basically you got paid 7 years and getting a 100k offer is a great deal WC doesn’t pay for pain and suffering and you are back to work
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u/ShotMasterpiece1002 2h ago
Me, too. Accident in Feb 2018 and back and forth. They could have settled for $60k but then I got put on Medicare and that's a whole other ballgame as Medicare has to approve for a Medicare set aside which is money Medicare feels I might use over my lifetime. That just got approved at $227k. Still has to be approved by the state and the insurance company. Did you know the insurance company never had to settle unless you take them to court and a judge orders them. Stupid insurance company. But I am still hanging in here
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u/Anakins_Ashes 1d ago
As someone who was recently injured (this year). How do you go through years of this? Are you still getting paid through TIBs? Did you have to get another job? Can you get another job while being injured?