A Workers’ Compensation claim is not a lawsuit in a strict sense. It is an administrative claim processed in the Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations and the Missouri Division of Workers’ Compensation. The claim is the way the employer’s Workers’ Compensation insurance company provides benefits to injured workers.
The Missouri Workers’ Compensation system was originally designed to provide a quicker and easier way for injured workers to get benefits. It used to be that an injured worker had to sue in civil court for any injury the worker suffered. Of course, that process could take years, and many workers and their families were effectively denied justice because the law suit took so long, and no compensation was paid to the worker while the law suit was going. The Workers’ Compensation Law made it so an injured worker could get medical help right away, payment for lost work, compensation for permanent injuries, and also payment for ugly, permanent scars.
Recent changes to that system have made it harder and harder for injured workers to get benefits and disability payments without a lawyer who handles workers compensation cases, especially since sweeping changes in the Workers’ Compensation Law took place in Missouri in 2005.
Workers’ Compensation cases are usually the only legal way to get compensation for someone hurt at work. This means you have to fight for your rights to make sure you get appropriate medical treatment, payment for time lost from work, payment for medical treatment, compensation in the form of lump sum disability payments, or permanent total disability.
The Hein Law Firm defends injured workers to help get them the compensation they need and deserve for work-related injuries, work accidents, sickness and to get compensation for their families if the worker dies from an accident at work. If warranted, we also send our clients to independent doctors to get independent medical examinations for injuries that workers suffer in order to make sure the client gets the most money possible for his or her injury, and also to make sure we are “keepin’ ‘em honest” – that is, making sure the company’s insurance company is paying what is should for the worker’s injury, given all the facts and the law.
No Recovery, No Fee
The Hein Law Firm accepts injury cases on a contingency basis. This means you only pay attorney's fees if we get you compensation. For a free consultation with a lawyer, call us at (314) 645-7900.