Irvine Workers’ Compensation Lawyer

Irvine, California, has numerous development projects going on at any given time, including high-rise hotel buildings, condominiums, offices, and apartments. These development projects employ numerous laborers, contractors, and other workers who are around heavy and dangerous equipment every day. Consequently, it is no surprise that construction workers frequently become injured in on-site workplace accidents.

However, office workers, hotel workers, restaurant workers, and store clerks can equally suffer injuries and illnesses while they are on the job. There are injury risks in any type of job environment.

Individuals who suffer a medical condition or injury in a workplace accident may be eligible to file a claim for various workers’ compensation benefits. Moreover, in some circumstances, they can assert a personal injury claim or lawsuit against a responsible third party.

If you suffered an injury or illness while on the job, you should fully understand your legal rights and that you take prompt legal action in your case. Otherwise, you may become ineligible to recover the monetary benefits and damages you deserve.

The Irvine workers’ compensation lawyers at Bentley & More LLP can meet with you to discuss your claim-filing eligibility and help you pursue the monetary benefits you deserve for your workplace accidents and injuries. We can file a claim with your employer’s insurance company on your behalf and, if appropriate, with a third party’s insurance company. We will do everything possible to maximize the monetary benefits and damages you receive in your case, ensuring that you become whole again as much as possible.

Our legal team has recovered millions of dollars worth of compensation on behalf of accident victims, including victims of severe workplace and construction-site accidents. Let us help you pursue the fair monetary recovery you deserve in your case.

For a free case evaluation and legal consultation with an Irvine workers’ comp lawyer, please call us or contact us online for more information.

Special note for other law firms: Our team primarily handles personal injury and workers’ compensation claims involving catastrophic injuries and illnesses. We regularly accept referrals from other law firms when they face tough cases. Please feel free to call us and learn how we can assist with a severe injury claim.

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What Are Some Common Workplace Injuries and Illnesses in Irvine?

Construction workers, office workers, teachers, medical personnel, and others may suffer severe injuries and illnesses while they are on the job. The medical complications that a worker suffers depend primarily upon their line of work, their job duties, and the circumstances they encounter on a daily basis.

Common workplace injuries and illnesses include:

• Bone breaks and rib fractures
• Traumatic head and brain injuries
• Spinal cord injuries
• Full and partial paralysis
• Internal organ damage
• Crush injuries
• Burn injuries from electrocution
• Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS)
• Asthma
• Irreparable lung and sinus damage

If you suffered an injury or illness in a workplace accident, your first priority should be to receive the medical treatment that you need. Failing to seek prompt medical treatment after a workplace accident may jeopardize your case and prevent you from recovering the total amount of monetary benefits you can receive. This is because insurance companies often become skeptical when workers fail to seek prompt medical treatment after a workplace accident.

While you focus on recovering fully from your workplace injuries, the Irvine workers’ comp lawyers at Bentley & More LLP can start advocating for you. Our legal team will begin gathering your medical records, investigation documents, and other potential evidence to submit as part of your workers’ compensation or personal injury claim.

After you complete your medical treatment, we can then formally begin the claims-filing process for you and work towards maximizing your total monetary benefits.

What Are Some Workplace Accidents that Occur in Irvine?

Some workplace accidents happen because other workers and supervisors are negligent. At other times, however, these accidents are simply freak occurrences that occur on job sites.

Some of the most common workplace accidents that lead to severe injuries and illnesses include:

• Motor vehicle accidents, where the injured person is operating a work vehicle
• Slip and fall accidents that occur on work premises
• Explosions that lead to burn injuries or eye injuries
• Electrocution resulting from defective wiring
• Accidents where a heavy piece of machinery or work equipment crushes a worker by running them over
• Accidents that result from defective work equipment or machinery
• Accidents when job site personnel fail to keep the site safe and properly maintained for workers
• Dangerous chemicals used on a work site cause a worker to become ill
• Asbestos in the work environment that leads to various severe and life-threatening health problems

If you suffered a workplace injury or illness in one of these occurrences, you should seek the legal help that you need right away.

The Irvine workers’ comp attorneys at Bentley & More LLP can help you pursue a workers’ compensation claim with your employer’s insurance company and work to maximize the benefits you receive through your claim. If the insurance company denies your claim or raises other disputes while your claim is pending, we can represent you at a hearing and aggressively fight for your legal interests at all times.

Can I File a Workers’ Compensation Claim?

To be eligible for workers’ compensation benefits, you must satisfy several requirements. First, you must have suffered an injury or illness while working at your job—and while working within the scope of your employment. This latter requirement typically means that you were performing a job duty at the time you suffered your injury or illness.

Workers’ compensation claims are no-fault claims. Therefore, an injured worker may be eligible to pursue these benefits without regard to liability or fault for the occurrence.

In addition, an injured worker typically cannot pursue workers’ compensation benefits if they suffer an injury while going to or coming from their workplace.

Injured workers who are eligible can recover various types of benefits, depending upon the circumstances surrounding the occurrence. First, injured workers can recover reimbursement for any accident-related medical expenses they incur. In addition, they may recover a portion of their lost income.

If injured workers cannot return to the same job due to their injuries, they may be eligible to receive vocational rehabilitation benefits.

Finally, if an injured worker suffers a permanent injury (such as a head/brain, spinal cord, or paralysis injury), as determined by a qualified medical provider, they can receive various permanency benefits. A permanent injury or illness is a medical condition that will not get better and will likely cause a worker to experience symptoms for the rest of their life.

To obtain permanency benefits in your workers’ compensation claim, we can send you to a qualified medical provider who can physically examine you and prepare a rating report. In this report, the provider will typically assign a percentage impairment to your injured body part(s). This percentage will then translate into a certain amount of monetary compensation.

If accident victims and their employers cannot agree on a percentage of impairment, they can go to a hearing and allow the Division of Workers’ Compensation to make that determination. Alternatively, they may agree to a specific percentage and effectively settle the permanency aspect of their workers’ compensation claim.

At other times, the parties may agree to a lump sum settlement. However, in this scenario, the injured worker will be unable to reopen their claim if their medical condition becomes worse or they need to seek additional medical treatment.

Our experienced workers’ compensation attorneys can help you make intelligent decisions throughout your case, including whether or not to accept a settlement offer from your employer’s insurance company. We can also represent you at all legal proceedings and zealously advocate for your legal interests during those hearings.

Who Has the Legal Burden of Proof in a Personal Injury Claim or Lawsuit?

In a lawsuit arising from a workplace accident, the accident victim has the sole legal burden of proof. Therefore, they must satisfy several legal elements to recover additional monetary damages for their injuries. First, they must establish that the responsible party owed them a legal duty of care they subsequently violated.

Next, the injured worker must show that as a result of the other party’s duty-of-care violation, the workplace accident and injuries occurred.

When victims of workplace accidents and their lawyers negotiate with insurance company adjusters, adjusters frequently lowball these claims. Low offers are especially common if the accident victim already received significant monetary benefits through the workers’ comp portion of their case. Our legal team can aggressively advocate for you during settlement negotiations and help you pursue additional benefits beyond what you recovered in your workers’ compensation case.

If you can prove the legal elements of your personal injury claim or lawsuit, you can recover monetary damages for your anticipated medical costs, inconvenience, loss of the ability to use a body part, pain and suffering, emotional distress, loss of life enjoyment, and loss of spousal companionship and consortium.

If the insurance company does not compensate you fairly for your injuries, we can threaten them with litigation and, if necessary, file a lawsuit on your behalf.

During litigation, we can assist you with every step of the process, including:

• Retaining medical experts and others to testify in support of your case should the matter go to a jury trial
• Answering written interrogatories from the defense attorney in your case
• Preparing you for a discovery deposition and the questions that the defense lawyer may ask
• Attending court proceedings with you, including mediation sessions and settlement conferences
• Representing you at all courtroom proceedings, introducing evidence on your behalf, and aggressively fighting for your right to the monetary damages you need

Speak to Our Irvine Workers’ Comp Lawyers About Your Workplace Injury Today

Greg Bentley &  Keith More, Worker’s Compensation Lawyers

Recovering monetary benefits in a workers’ compensation claim or personal injury claim is often an uphill battle. Insurance companies will do everything they possibly can to undermine your case and offer you the smallest monetary award possible.

In fact, it is not in the insurance company’s best interests to settle your case favorably. The more money that they pay out to satisfy a workers’ compensation claim or personal injury lawsuit, the less money they have to keep in-house for themselves.

Representing yourself in a workers’ comp or companion personal injury case is also a serious mistake. Insurance companies routinely take advantage of unrepresented accident victims and will likely make lowball settlement offers in those cases. Insurance companies and their adjusters often believe that unrepresented accident victims lack the necessary legal knowledge and skills to engage in effective settlement negotiations or successfully take their case to a litigation proceeding, such as a jury trial. Reach out to a Irvine personal injury lawyer.

At Bentley & More LLP, our team understands the ongoing medical treatment, significant pain, and lost income that often come with severe workplace injuries. Our team is on your side and will zealously advocate for you every step of the way. Our primary goal is to maximize your workers’ compensation award and personal injury damages to the greatest extent possible. You should remember that claimants who don’t have legal representation nearly always receive less compensation than claimants that do.

For a free case evaluation and legal consultation with an Irvine workers’ comp attorney, please call us at (949) 870-3800 or contact us online to learn more.

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“I’ve had the pleasure of working with Bentley & More for the past 5-6 years. Their drive and compassion to earn great results for their clients is obvious to everyone who works with them.
I’m grateful for the opportunity to partner with the firm to help serve their clients.” – Nicole S. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

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Bentley & More LLP – Irvine Office

Phone: (949) 870-3800