Getting Compensated for A Snow and Ice-Related Accident at Work
February was an epic month for bad weather in Arkansas, and around the Nation. A significant number of workers’ compensation claims each year are the result of slips and falls on ice and snow. Many of these accidents cause serious injury, a lengthy period of lost time from work, and/or substantial permanent impairment. These claims are also routinely denied by insurance companies, using the defense that the employee wasn’t technically “working” at the time his accident occurred. Falling on ice in a parking lot at work probably tops the denial list; however, these types of work injuries may very well be compensable workers’ compensation claims, i.e. the insurance company is just trying to rip you off.
If you’ve had an injury at work related to snow and ice, you may need help from an experienced workers’ compensation law firm. We’d be glad to visit with you to discuss your options, free of charge, any time.
Neal L. Hart, Attorney at Law
Many Thanks To Our Clients
At Hart Law, we really like our clients. They’re good, hard working folks who we genuinely enjoy getting to know as we’re helping to guide them through their workers’ compensation claims. Without our clients, there would be no Hart Law. We go the extra mile because we’re privileged to have such great people to represent, and we’re eternally grateful for their business and support. Thanks for being a part of the Hart Law family.
Neal L. Hart, Attorney at Law
Most of the time, a employee injured at work has only one path to recovery – our Workers’ Compensation Act. Unfortunately, our Exclusive Remedy Doctrine bars injured workers from suing their employers for negligence. If you’re hurt at work, then workers’ comp is what you get. Unless there is a negligent third party involved in the scenario. One of the most common examples of this is when an injured worker is involved in a car or truck wreck while on the job. If the wreck was caused by the negligence of another driver, then the injured employee potentially has a workers’ compensation claim and a personal injury case, both arising out of the same accident. A skilled workers’ compensation lawyer, working alongside a skilled personal injury lawyer like Terry Dugger, Of Counsel to Hart Law, can use the workers’ compensation case to build the personal injury case, and ultimately maximize the value of both.
If you think your workers’ compensation claim may also involve a personal injury case, feel free to give us a call to discuss your options, anytime.
Neal L. Hart, Attorney at Law
Arkansas Rule Of Professional Conduct 1.4 states that lawyers shall “reasonably consult with the client” and “keep the client reasonably informed” about the status of his or her case. It goes on to require that lawyers “promptly reply to reasonable requests for information” from their clients and to “explain a matter to the extent reasonably necessary to permit the client to make informed decisions regarding the representation.”
In other words, visiting with your clients about their workers’ compensation cases and letting them know what’s going on. Giving them timely and sound legal advice. Patiently discussing their options, with an understanding of the temporary strain that our workers’ compensation system puts on injured workers’ lives, and on the lives of their family members. Explaining complicated legal issues in a way that folks who don’t have a law degree can understand. Taking an interest in clients and conversing with them like a person, and not like a cash cow.
At Hart Law, we take a great interest in our clients and their cases. We consider ourselves privileged to be able to represent folks involved in workers’ compensation claims, and we really like what we do. We don’t talk to our clients a bunch just because the Rules Of Professional Conduct make us do it; we actually enjoy visiting with working folks, and we always speak in a language that makes sense. When clients call us about their claims, we know who they are and what’s going on with their case. We know this, because we work on our cases frequently and with relentless attention to detail. When our clients ask us to do something related to their case, we do it; usually immediately. At the end of the day, we’re just normal, hard working, down-to-earth people, just like the folks we represent.
Lawyers should actually want to do all of this, but, unfortunately, some of them don’t do it very well. If you’ve been injured at work and think you might like some help from a law firm that spends a lot of time communicating with its clients and enjoys doing it, we’d be glad to visit with your about your case, any time.
Neal L. Hart, Attorney at Law
We hear this question from injured workers all the time, and the correct answer is “probably not.” Under the Arkansas Workers’ Compensation Act, employers have a duty to return an injured employee to work if suitable employment is available within the employee’s physical and mental limitations. Employers often either ignore this duty completely, or they provide “suitable employment” to an injured worker temporarily, and then suddenly (and without good reason) take the job away. This may very well violate State Law, and it could also lead to the employer and its insurance company owing an injured worker a substantial amount of additional workers’ compensation benefits in a claim.
Getting the insurance company to admit it’s wrong and pay this additional cash is, unfortunately, a big problem for injured folks. The insurance carrier almost never voluntarily pays any additional money in this scenario, and many injured Arkansans who suspect they’ve been swindled out of a job end up simply convincing themselves that since Arkansas is an “at will” employment state, the employer can basically give or take away any job as it pleases.
The bad news for employers and the insurance folks is that Hart Law knows how important having the ability to earn a living is to working Arkansans, and we have been fighting the insurance companies over taking jobs away from our injured clients for years. In this case https://caselaw.findlaw.com/ar-court-of-appeals/1416671.html, for example, we went all the way to the Arkansas Court of Appeals to obtain additional benefits for a client who was provided with a light-duty position that was later withdrawn. His job was yanked for no good reason, and we made them pay.
If you have a claim and something about your job situation doesn’t seem quite right, it may not be. Call or e-mail us and we’d be glad to visit with you about your claim and your options, anytime.
Neal L. Hart, Attorney at Law
At Hart Law, practicing Workers’ Compensation Law is really important to us, because it’s really important to our clients. Workers’ compensation is what we do, and we work our files 7 days a week, because our clients deserve it.
When we agree to take your case, we’re not taking it hoping that you also have some other, better case for us to handle. We take your workers’ compensation case, because we really want to handle your workers’ compensation case. We value working folks, highly, and when they become our clients, we treat them like they’re a part of our family.
When we look around the Internet, it’s pretty obvious that other law firms that dabble in Workers’ Compensation Law come to our website for information, and sometimes even copy it as their own; and we’re flattered by this, frankly. It means that we’re educating the public, including other lawyers, and really doing something right. Any time we can help other firms with a workers’ compensation section learn something about the craft of handling workers’ compensation cases so that they can do their jobs better, it’s a win-win for all working Arkansans.
Keep working hard, Arkansas; but if you get injured and you can’t, we’d be honored to talk to you about how we may be able to help.
Neal L. Hart, Attorney at Law
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