Georgia Workers' Compensation Lawyer

I'm frequently asked to spell my name over the telephone with new workers' compensation clients, opposing attorneys, and insurance adjusters.

Because of my 14-year military background, this question normally leads me into my default method of phonetic spelling:  Mike, Oscar, Echo, Bravo, Echo, Sierra.

However, the letters are often lost on the listener, either from a lack of experience with general aviation or a failure to serve in the armed forces.

So, I've created a new phonetic alphabet for spelling my last name that's more befitting my proud profession:

M as in Major Surgery
O as in Occupational Illness
E as in Exemplary Damages
B as in Burns over 25% of the Body
E as in Emotional Distress
S as in Severe Sciatica

Now that you can spell Moebes Law, feel free to refer us to your friends and neighbors who have been injured at work in Georgia. 

The below is a good video to show some of the negative effects that may come from proposed tort reform:



Have questions about a possible medical malpractice claim?  Contact us at the following:
Moebes Law, LLC
3535 Piedmont Road NE
Building 14, Suite 410
Atlanta, GA 30305
(404)354-5432

Apparently, we can learn a lesson from attaching accelerometers to ice hockey players' helmets, according to a study conducted at UNC-Chapel Hill and referenced in a fairly recent study in the journal Pediatrics.

Representing injured workers in car accidents throughout Atlanta and Georgia, our firm regularly learns of the dangers inherent in driving on our interstates.  However, there are sometimes ways to mitigate the injuries sustained.

According to the study referenced above, if a would-be motor vehicle accident victim can tense his neck muscles, he may be able to minimize the "whiplash" effect on the head and reduce the likelihood of getting a concussion.

Our office's Atlanta car accident lawyers work with car accident victims suffering from post concussive syndrome frequently and can often assist not only with legal issues that arise from car wrecks, but also can recommend quality medical practitioners for the treatment needed afterward.  For your brain's sake, contact Moebes Law, LLC after a serious automobile or trucking accident in Georgia.

One can be awarded attorney's fees--in addition to the amount awarded, as opposed to as a percentage of the amount awarded--in a few instances under the Georgia Workers' Compensation Act. Basically, the insurance company needs to have behaved "unreasonably."

While getting an Administrative Law Judge to find that an insurance company or its attorney has acted unreasonable is fairly rare in Georgia, the Moebes Law firm has received such an Award three times in the past couple of months. In all of these instances, the Judge found that the insurance company, under OCGA 34-9-108(b)(1), defended my clients' claims without reasonable grounds. 

Some of the actions that led to such rulings have included:  failure to pay a workers' comp settlement within the required 20 days, failing to carry workers' compensation insurance on the date of accident, and improper suspension of TTD (temporary total benefits) for an injured worker (e.g., when the claimant hasn't seen her doctor within 60 days of the suspension for a supposed normal duty work release).

In each of these instances, the claimant did not need to pay Moebes Law, LLC 25% of her benefits; the Judge ordered the employer and insurance company to pay an extra 25% of the awarded benefits "on top of" the award.  

So, when an insurance company is arbitrarily cancelling your workers' compensation check or is refusing to pay you in a timely manner after a workers' comp settlement, take some comfort in knowing that, eventually, you may actually benefit financially from its actions against you!

Questions?  Please contact us at the contact information below:

Moebes Law, LLC
3535 Piedmont Road NE
Building 14, Suite 410
Atlanta, GA 30305
(404)354-5432

The Georgia State Board of Workers' Compensation has, relatively recently, added a hyperlink on its website that allows searching for Administrative Law Judges' decisions from workers' compensation hearings in Georgia.

So, if you're wondering what a workers' comp decision looks like, what's important v. unimportant to an ALJ, or what issues are most frequently litigated, take a gander at the link here and do some searching.

After reading a few decisions, direct questions about workers' comp law to our Atlanta office:

Moebes Law, LLC
3535 Piedmont Road NE
Building 14, Suite 410
Atlanta, GA 30305
(404)354-5432

The Atlanta injury law firm of Moebes Law, LLC has updated its Gowalla profile to include a custom stamp.  Please feel free to check in when here for depositions and consultations by looking for the icon below:

Year Up is an intensive training program that lasts one year and provides young, urban-dwelling adults in the 18-24 age bracket with an opportunity to get technical and professional skills, college credits, an educational stipend, and corporate apprenticeship.

Here is the website for more information: www.yearup.org  The program asks for a one year commitment between the hours of 8:30am and 5pm, and it's free!  Atlanta is one of only six metropolitan areas to offer this training and instruction.

Here are some of the program's results:

- 100% placement of qualified students into apprenticeships
- 83% student retention
- 90% of apprentices meet or exceed apprenticeship partner expectations
- 87% of graduates placed in full or part-time positions within 4 months of graduation     

If you fit the criteria, sign up today! 

Questions for an injury attorney in Atlanta? Contact us at the following:

Moebes Law, LLC
3535 Piedmont Road NE
Building 14, Suite 410
Atlanta, GA 30305
(404)354-5432

Two days ago, filming began in Sarasota, Florida on an independent comedy pilot featuring a family-owned insurance company that "handles all kinds of weird claims."  Morgan Fairchild stars. 

One can assume that the rarely-seen outliers of workers' compensation claims will be staples of this show:  the malingering claimant who doesn't want to work, the drug-seeking person who hops between doctors in search of narcotics, or the man receiving disability checks while being videotaped spreading concrete every morning before daylight.  Such is the fodder of insurance adjusters' urban legends.

However, in the hundreds of claims I've handled in just the past two years, I've yet to see any of these scenarios.  I have, however, seen insurance adjusters stop paying completely disabled workers for no apparent reason, refuse surgery two days before its scheduling (and after agreeing to cover it verbally) to "force a settlement" (his words), and/or lie to their attorneys about why they can't be available for a deposition.  

I don't watch TV anyway, but even if I did, I certainly wouldn't watch "Workers' Comp" when it airs.  If my assumptions about its content are correct, I hope no one else watches it, either.

Recently, a workers' compensation client of mine whose authorized treating physician ordered surgery went into the doctor's office for the "pre op," got mentally and physically ready for the surgery, showed up for the procedure, and then learned that the insurance adjuster had called her doctor's office to cancel it.  No reason was given; the adjuster just didn't want to pay for her to get better.

Then, the insurance company ordered an IME:  an "independent" medical examination. The reason "independent" is in quotes is because these evaluations are hardly independent at all, but are usually the insurance company's attempt to pay for a doctor to write that the injured worker is lying and has nothing wrong with her. However, since the client is receiving TTD (temporary total disability) benefits, she has to attend the appointment.

Below is a video that humorously shows what can be expected at an IME:



If your workers' comp adjuster has sent you notice that you are to attend an IME with a doctor of their choosing, attend the appointment, bring any x-rays, MRIs, and other films you have, and be polite and honest during the evaluation.  Just don't expect it to bring anything good to your medical health or your claim. 

For help with learning the reputations of doctors frequently used for accident claims insurance company IMEs, contact my office via the below contact information:
 
Moebes Law, LLC
3535 Piedmont Road NE
Building 14, Suite 410
Atlanta, GA 30305
(404)354-5432

Under O.C.G.A. § 24-10-24, if you receive a subpoena to testify in court in Georgia, whether for a workers' compensation hearing or other civil action here, your witness fee is $25 per day and $.20 per mile (roundtrip) for traveling expenses.  This is required for service to be valid if your residence is outside the county where the proceeding is to take place.

The payment may be cash, cashier's check, postal money order, certified check, or attorney/law firm check.

For other answers to questions about civil litigation, personal injury claims, and workers' compensation law issues, please contact our office via the following:

Moebes Law, LLC
3535 Piedmont Road NE
Building 14, Suite 410
Atlanta, GA 30305
(404)354-5432

Unless your workers' compensation payment reduces your Social Security benefits, the amount paid pursuant to a settlement or other judicial award are NOT taxable income, per IRS Publication 525. If your Social Security benefits have been reduced because of your workers' compensation benefits, only that portion of your workers' comp benefits is taxable.

In addition to settlements, TTD (temporary total disability), TPD (temporary partial disability, and PPD (permanent partial disability benefits are all workers' compensation benefits that are not taxable, subject to the exception mentioned above.   

Feel free to ask additional questions to my Atlanta law office:

Moebes Law, LLC
3535 Piedmont Road NE
Building 14, Suite 410
Atlanta, GA 30305
(404)354-5432

Additionally, we recommend consulting our local Atlanta tax, bookkeeping, and accounting service provider, Fusion CPA, for further information at 404-955-7338. 

If you read your workers' comp lawyer's fee contract carefully, there's probably a provision in there about what happens if you fire your attorney. Usually, the attorney will file a WC-108b with attached documentation outlining the number of hours spent on your claim and the administrative expenses incurred.  The fee contract should lay out an hourly fee in case of termination, and this fee will be reflected in the total requested on the WC-108b lien (after multiplied by hours spent). 

The questions I most frequently get when this happens are,
"Do I owe this money?" and, if so,
"When?"

The answer is, "It depends."

You cannot give an attorney more than 25% of your TTD, TPD, PPD, or stipulated settlement amount; that's the most the Georgia Workers' Compensation Act allows an attorney to receive for representing an injured worker.  Thus, if you get a new attorney, you're not going to owe 25% to one and the lien amount to the other.

Regarding timing:  you don't owe the total lien amount immediately after termination. 
Instead, it's to be paid when/if the case is settled by stipulated settlement.  The amount may be negotiable.  If you're already receiving your full Temporary Total Disability weekly benefits (i.e., 25% isn't going to an attorney), and the case never settles, you may not have to pay the lien at all.  

Have more questions about attorney's fees in Georgia?  Feel free to call us:

Moebes Law, LLC
3535 Piedmont Road NE
Building 14, Suite 410
Atlanta, GA 30305
(404)354-5432

There's been a proposed bill for the Georgia Legislature that would attempt to change the current law in Georgia, which allows for workers' compensation benefits regardless of citizenship status.  Is this a good idea?  Let's see.

It would give incentives to local businesses to hire illegal aliens instead of U.S. citizens, since doing so would keep workers' compensation insurance premiums down (by having fewer covered workers on the policy), and if an illegal alien were to get hurt, who cares?  Not the employer's problem--it can fire the hurt worker without recourse.

And where there are more job opportunities for illegals, guess what?  More will move to Georgia.  The goal for SB7 seems to be to drive undocumented workers away.  This mission will fail.

Unemployment rates will go up for Georgia citizens, and tax revenue to the state of Georgia will go down.  Not good in a time of economic woe.

Since the Georgia Workers' Compensation Act shields employers from tort liability (and the punitive damages and oft-requested "pain and suffering" damages that accompany such), having employees who are not covered by workers' compensation may mean one can sue his employer in tort if the employer was negligent in causing the injured worker's injuries.  I get calls every week where an injured worker's injury was arguably caused by some kind of negligence at the job site, but we can't sue for such, because of the exclusive remedy provision of the Workers' Compensation Act in Georgia.

In short, SB7 is unlikely to help Georgia businesses or Georgia workers.  Let your state legislator hear as much.

The workers' compensation insurer does not have to settle your workers' comp claim in Georgia, but it usually will at some point. Because an accepted workers' comp claim (i.e., one in which you have received disability benefits) means you are owed medical care related to your injury for the rest of your life, absent some subsequent accident or injury, most insurance adjusters want to "close out" their files at some point to avoid a change in condition for the worse popping up years in the future after you've reached maximum medical improvement (MMI).

So, while your claim doesn't have to settle, and you are not owed a settlement, and you can't force a settlement, it's normally in the best interest of all the parties to eventually settle and close an open workers' compensation claim in Georgia.

If your claim has been offered closure and a settlement by the workers' comp adjuster, and you'd like a legal opinion regarding its adequacy, feel free to contact my Atlanta workers' compensation law office:

Moebes Law, LLC
3535 Piedmont Road NE
Building 14, Suite 410
Atlanta, GA 30305
(404)354-5432

Georgia workers' compensation law provides that an aggravation of an old, pre-existing injury is treated as a new accident. Sometimes, such an aggravation does not occur in one specific incident or trauma, but rather happens over time while working at a more strenuous job.

If you aggravate an injury by working at a later job that requires, for example, more heavy lifting, more frequent bending, or more climbing than did your old job, and you have to leave the new job as a result, the last day you were able to work is labeled a "fictional new accident." This often means litigation between the injured worker and the two employer (and/or two insurance companies).

For more information and guidance on legal issues like the ones a "fictional new accident" can present, please contact my Atlanta workers' compensation law office :

Moebes Law, LLC
3535 Piedmont Road NE
Building 14, Suite 410
Atlanta, GA  30305
(404)354-5432