The competition to advance money to those injured in accidents is fierce. The reason for the fierce competition is the potentially high rate of return on the investment. Numerous companies, some large with a national presence, engage in the competition. Because their only security is the injury case itself (workers’…
Articles Posted in Workers’ Compensation
Jeffrey P. Gale, P.A. // Can a Treater be an IME Under Florida’s Workers’ Compensation Laws?
Florida’s workers’ compensation system, located in Chapter 440 of the Florida Statutes, follows its own unique set of rules and procedures. One of the more unusual and challenging is the limitation set forth in section 440.13(5)(e) regarding who may provide expert medical opinions: No medical opinion other than the opinion…
Jeffrey P. Gale, P.A. // Florida Workers’ Compensation Medical Authorization Legal Nuggets
Florida employers and their workers’ compensation insurance carriers, often referred to in combination as the “E/C,” are obligated under Florida Statute 440.13(2)(a) to “furnish to the employee such medically necessary remedial treatment, care, and attendance for such period as the nature of the injury or the process of recovery may…
Jeffrey P. Gale, P.A. // “Objective Relevant Medical Findings” Only Required in Florida Workers’ Compensation Cases to Prove Compensability
Florida’s workers’ compensation system has its own unique set of laws. One of these concerns the burden claimants bear in establishing the compensability of injuries. Per section 440.09(1), Florida Statutes, the injury “must be established to a reasonable degree of medical certainty, based on objective relevant medical findings, and the…
Jeffrey P. Gale, P.A. // Unrelated Works Exception to Workers’ Compensation Immunity Does Not Apply to Employees of a Different Subcontractor
It is the job of every injury lawyer to maximize the client’s recovery. Sometimes when a person is hurt at work, more than one remedy is available. Workers’ compensation is one remedy. Civil law is another. Florida’s workers’ compensation laws do not allow for the recovery of noneconomic damages such…
Jeffrey P. Gale, P.A. // Limiting Social Security Disability Offset After Florida Workers’ Compensation Settlement
Florida’s workers’ compensation system provides for three types of weekly indemnity benefits: 440.15(1) Permanent Total Disability 440.15(2) Temporary Total Disability 400.15(4) Temporary Partial Disability An injured worker may simultaneously be eligible for monthly Social Security Disability benefits under 42 U.S.C. s. 423. If the combined benefits exceed 80% of the…
Jeffrey P. Gale, P.A. // $2 Million Settlement Achieved by Avoiding Florida’s Workers’ Compensation Immunity Law
What began as a product liability investigation, ended in a $2,000,000 personal injury settlement against the owner of an altered riding lawnmower (pictured). Our client lost his right leg when run over by the lawnmower he was operating for his employer. Initially thinking that the mower was owned by the employer,…
Jeffrey P. Gale, P.A. // Miles Fee Is Customary And Presumptively Correct In Florida Workers’ Compensation Cases
Until six years ago, it was a crime in Florida for an attorney to accept a fee from a claimant in a workers’ compensation case that was not approved by a Judge of Compensation Claims (JCC) in accordance with the fee formula contained in section 440.34(1), Florida Statutes. Section 440.105(3)(c),…
Jeffrey P. Gale, P.A. // Proceed Cautiously With Settlement Releases
Think of an injury case like navigating a ship from one port to another. Signing up the case is the equivalent of throwing off the ropes and pulling safely away from the dock. Being at sea is analogous to litigation. Some days you will eat the bear and some days…
Jeffrey P. Gale, P.A. // Election of Remedies — Seeking Workers’ Compensation Benefits After First Pursuing Civil Remedy
Some wrongs present the aggrieved party with more than one legal remedy. A common example is when an injured person has the option of seeking a recovery under common law or workers’ compensation pursuant to Chapter 440, Florida Statutes. Once the choice is made and pursued beyond a certain point,…