Who needs an attorney?

If you are reading this blog, then we are already further along than I ever envisioned. What’s the old saying about old dogs and new tricks? I think the parallel here would be attorneys making websites from scratch and “blogging”, whatever that is.

As a brief introduction, I am a defense attorney with Markow Walker in Ridgeland, MS. I solely practice defense work, exclusively MS workers’ compensation. My firm has offices in Ridgeland, Oxford and Ocean Springs, and many of our lawyers also exclusively represent employers and carriers in workers’ compensation claims.

The question you may be asking yourself is: Who needs an attorney with respect to workers’ compensation claims?

Who could possibly sum up the need for an attorney better than Jerry Seinfeld?

While we do not necessarily just scream “OBJECTION!” at one another, there are times that you may need defense counsel.

First off, when a claimant files a Petition to Controvert with the MS Workers’ Compensation Commission, as an employer, make sure that is forwarded along to your insurance carrier. As an insurance adjuster, you need to IMMEDIATELY retain legal counsel. You cannot file the Answer as an adjuster and will be forced to hire counsel. Your attorney will have 23 days in which to file the Answer from the date the Petition to Controvert has been filed. The sooner you obtain counsel, the more time they will have to acquire additional information before filing the Answer on your behalf.

Do you ever have claims that are so convoluted that it seems like someone is messing with you? The one that you go home to your spouse and start your conversation with, “you will never believe what happened on this claim today.”

If that has happened to you before, you may simply need an attorney to give you a formal opinion. Hopefully, your attorney read the inside cover of the top of the box. If a case is more complex than you are prepared to handle, or if you just want to confirm your thoughts, send the file to your attorney to get a formal opinion on the claim. Getting the answer correct on the front end is much easier than cleaning it up on the back.

What if you have a claimant who is hurt, treats and is medically cleared? You can either file your B-31 and hope (s)he does not treat for one year....or you can settle the claim. In the event that you wish to settle the claim, you can send your file to an attorney to draft the settlement documents for you and have it presented to the MS Workers’ Compensation Commission. You will need an attorney to do that for you and this will give you closure of the file rather than hoping and praying the claimant does not treat for one year. It is certainly the cleaner option.

There certainly are other times an attorney may be needed in a workers’ compensation claim, but I hope this was a brief introduction to what we can do for you. I hope you take a few minutes to browse the website. I have included several links for your pleasure, as well as our contact information. Please do not hesitate to contact me at any point with questions or concerns you may have.

I sincerely appreciate you taking the time to read my blog and I hope you find it to be beneficial. I hope this grows organically in time, and that will be done with feedback from you. Please let me know if you have certain topics you would like for me to address, or general questions/concerns.

P.S. Our Firm is hosting a one day seminar on February 9, 2017 at the Embassy Suites in Ridgeland, MS. I have linked the website to sign up, which also has all of the information you may need. I will personally be speaking on evaluating disability for the body as a whole, so I would love to have as many people attend as possible. Please take a look at the website and attend if you can.