When Should I Hire a Wisconsin Workers Compensation Attorney?
If you are hurt on the job in Wisconsin, you should immediately file an Incident Report with your employer for submission to their workers compensation insurance carrier. If the injury causes you to miss time from work due to physical restrictions set by your medical doctor and the workers compensation insurance company has not paid you a lost time benefit or medical treatment expenses, within a reasonable period of time, then you should call an attorney. Once the insurance carrier raises a “dispute” or suggests that your claim will be denied then you need to look into hiring a Wisconsin attorney who concentrates their practice in workers compensation, like Attorney Lisa Pierobon Mays at Mays Law Office.
Do I Have to Meet with You at Your Office?
No, to hire Mays Law Office you do not have to step foot in our office if not convenient or desired. Mays Law Office is located in Dane County in the Madison/Middleton area. If visiting, please know that we have ample free parking with handicap accessibility. We have a first floor office so accessibility is a breeze for our clients. Moreover, our office is always open from 8am until 5pm. Often, client’s will stop in without the need for an appointment to drop off necessary documents. We are also able to conduct phone and Zoom meetings with our clients. U.S. Mail, facsimile, and E-Mail are all ways to exchange necessary documents and information too. We represent people from all over the State of Wisconsin and around the United States who often are not able to visit our office. Mays Law Office strives to litigate your claim as stress-free as possible.
If I Hire You, Will You be Handling My Workers Compensation Claim?
For almost three decades, Attorney Lisa Pierobon Mays has been representing and winning for Wisconsin’s injured worker in workers compensation claims. From your first to your last call, all questions and concerns, will be solely handled by Attorney Pierobon Mays. While we have a friendly and knowledgeable legal staff that may assist in the simple clerical matters of your claim, the strategy, timing, progress, and resolution of your workers compensation claim will be handled by Attorney Pierobon Mays. Attorney Pierobon Mays will meet with you at the initial consultation, handle all your questions and concerns throughout the litigation, communicate with you directly as to issues and updates, and appear at all hearings on your behalf. We do not believe in signing up client’s to then transfer their file to an associate attorney or paralegal. Attorney Pierobon Mays is a managing partner at Mays Law Office and the buck stops with her when it comes to representing her clients.
Can I Find Reviews from Your Former Clients?
Absolutely and we encourage you to research us because we are so proud that 100% of Mays Law Office client’s who reviewed us on Google gave a 5-Star rating as to their experience. Please know that a Google Review is highly reputable because the recipient of the Review, whether good or bad, is never allowed to review, alter, change, or delete it. Google notifies us only after the Review has been submitted. So check us out on Google and see what our past clients are saying about the lawyers at Mays Law Office.
What is Mays Law Office’s Success Rate for Getting Their Client’s Money?
Attorney Lisa Pierobon Mays has never taken on a workers compensation client that she did not feel that she could win. Keep in mind, Attorney Lisa Pierobon Mays gets paid only when her client gets paid. So, if Attorney Pierobon Mays does not perform intelligently, aggressively, and efficiently in representing her client then her work is for nothing. So, the old saying, “you eat what you kill” is appropriate when answering this question. Mays Law Office has every incentive to work hard for their workers compensation clients because they only get paid when you do.
How Much Does Mays Law Charge to Represent an Injured Worker?
In Wisconsin, injured workers are charged under a contingency fee rate that can be no higher than 20% of the amounts recovered for the injured worker. In addition, expenses (such as interoffice copies, postage, mileage, and charges incurred to get certified medical records and doctor’s reports) paid for litigating/pursuing the workers compensation claim are reimbursable if agreed to in the retainer agreement/contract.
How Do I Know If My Workers Compensation Claim is Worth Hiring An Attorney?
If you were hurt at work, reported the injury timely, sought medical treatment within a reasonable amount of time, suffered lost time from work, and the injury is serious (more than a sprain or strain lasting only a few weeks) then it is very likely that a workers compensation attorney should be hired to pursue your workers compensation benefits. An injury claim that has been factually or medically denied by the workers compensation carrier may not be an easy win but it does not mean that it should not be appealed to the State. Keep in mind, workers compensation insurance company’s hate paying out on injury claims. If they have any basis to deny a workers compensation claim, no matter how small, then they will do it. Do not be intimidated into thinking that your injury claim is not worth fighting for. A denial of workers compensation benefits raises a lot of negative emotions – anger, rejection, fear, stress, frustration. Attorney Lisa Pierobon Mays knows and understands these emotions and her goal is to ease your mind, worries, and stress from the moment you hire her to pursue your workers compensation claim.
What Kinds of Workers Compensation Benefits Can You Get for Me?
In the State of Wisconsin, workers compensation benefits are governed by state statute, Chapter 102 (also called the Workers Compensation Act). Allowable benefits for the injured worker are dictated by this statute and very different from other types of civil damages. The injured worker can expect recovery of their lost time/wage for missed work due to being on medical restrictions. The lost time wage is based on 2/3 of their average weekly wage, subject to a statutory cap for high income earners, fixed as of the date of the injury. It is 2/3 because it is tax-free. The calculation of the average weekly wage (a/k/a AWW) can be complicated due to certain legal nuances and should be reviewed by the State of Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development for accuracy.
The injured worker is also entitled to 100% payment/reimbursement of their medical treatment related to the injury, along with medial mileage reimbursement at .51 cents for roundtrip doctor and therapy appointments, plus mileage incurred to pick up related prescription medications.
Once the injured worker reaches a “healing plateau,” meaning that moment in time when the injury has healed to the best it is going to get, a treating practitioner/doctor should be asked to consider assigning a percentage of permanent disability, called permanent partial disability or PPD rating for the worker’s functional loss. If PPD is assessed, then it is payable at a weekly rate equal to two-thirds of the employee’s average gross weekly earnings at the time of the injury, subject to a maximum rate determined by statute. The calculation is a mathematical formula that can be determined by a workers compensation attorney, such as those at Mays Law Office.
It is significant to understand if the injury and resulting PPD is deemed scheduled (pertains to limbs, eye and ears) or non-scheduled (pertains to torso/back, head, systemic and mental). The distinction is important because each are compensated differently. Scheduled injuries can lead to a vocational claim for Retraining. While non-scheduled injuries can lead to claims for Loss of Earning Capacity or Permanent Total Disability. Each claim encompasses significant and distinct monetary consequences. If an injury causing permanent disability with resulting wage loss occurs, then an analysis should be conducted by an attorney who concentrates their practice in handling Wisconsin workers compensation claims. Mays Law Office offers free consultations for such an analysis.
Another monetary benefit called Disfigurement can be awarded if scarring or a limp results from the injury. Disfigurement awards compensation for the likelihood that wage loss will arise from a negative perception that may not be justified by a functional limitation or loss. It is a quasi anti-discrimination statute to counter the potential for wage loss for unsightly scars that may cause conscious, or even unconscious, discrimination during the hiring process. The award for such a claim can be up to one year the worker’s average annual earnings, subject to a cap. Such an award is dependent on several factors and a workers compensation attorney should be consulted when considering and pursuing such a claim.
Lastly, if a Wisconsin worker dies and their death is proximately related to the work injury then death benefits are awarded to their dependents at four times the employee’s annual earnings, subject to caps. When death occurs to the Wisconsin injured worker who was permanently and totally disabled, or permanently partially disabled, but it is unrelated to the work injury, limited death benefits are also payable to dependents.
Burial expenses are also payable where a Wisconsin workers dies from a work injury.
Do I Have to Go to a Hearing or Will You Settle My Claim?
Unlike some of the bigger injury law firms in Wisconsin, Mays Law Office does not take on new clients with an eye toward just settling them out. To do so, is not truly advocating for the client. Attorney Lisa Pierobon Mays has a reputation for aggressive representation when dealing with workers compensation insurance companies. Mays Law Office never settles a workers compensation claim until every potential benefit has been pursued and a true valuation of the claim can be determined and discussed with the client and the client has a good understanding of the strengths and weakness of their claim. The client is given a full opportunity to ask questions and provide input. Sometimes a settlement cannot be reached because the workers compensation insurance carrier is not offering a fair monetary settlement. In that case, Attorney Lisa Pierobon Mays will encourage the client to proceed to a hearing to present the claim to an administrative law judge for a determination. Before any hearing, Attorney Pierobon Mays will have thoroughly prepared the client so that he/she feels confident and ready to proceed. Ultimately, it is always the client’s decision as to whether to settle their workers compensation claim or proceed to hearing.