Do you need a lawyer for workers' comp?
Question
Do you need a lawyer to get a workers comp settlement?
Answer
In Rhode Island, if you do not have a workers’ comp lawyer and the insurance company offers you a settlement, the court will appoint a lawyer for you to review the proposed settlement and advise you and the court as to whether it is fair and in your best interests.
Should I get a lawyer for workers' comp?
Our firm has been appointed in many such cases. If such a settlement is approved, the court will order the insurance company to pay a fee to your court-appointed attorney separate from the settlement. Often, we find the offers made to unrepresented injured workers to be conservative in many cases.
We’ve had situations where the once unrepresented injured worker decides to hire us (there is no cost to hire us) and we ultimately negotiate a settlement greater than what was initially offered by the insurance company.
Even though our fee in such cases is 20%, the client ultimately does better.