David Alan Karas’s Answers

You should consult with an attorney. Even if you have no assets at the current time, in Florida the statute of limitation to enforce a judgments is 20 years total and is a lien on any real property. You want the case settled within your policy limits and an attorney can put pressure on your insurance company Thus, if you will the Power Lotto 19 years from now, you do not have to deal with an old judgment.

You should always retain the services of a workers' compensation attorney. Since most workers' compensation cases are done on contingency, it does not cost you anything. Remember your employer has the workers compensation carrier, nurse case managers, investigators, adjusters, supervisors, in house counsel and maybe even the physicians looking out for their interests. Even with an attorney the deck is stacked in favor of the employer/carrier and their unlimited resources.

It is common practice in medium and large firms who have associates working under a senior or partner attorney to have an attorney who is unknown to the client attend a deposition. If the attorney is from an entirely different law firm or a solo attorney, the attorney may have been hired on a contact basis for overflow work or in the alternative the unknown attorney may have been contracted based upon his/her specific expertise in trademark/IP law. So long as the unknown attorney does not...

In California, the Unemployment Insurance Program, commonly referred to as UI, provides weekly unemployment insurance payments for workers who lose their job through no fault of their own. UI benefits are not based on assets or income. California State Disability Insurance (SDI) is a partial wage-replacement insurance plan for California workers. SDI provides short-term benefits to eligible workers. You cannot receive UI/SDI for the same periods you are paid TTD (lost wages paid by workers...

You should always retain the services of a workers' compensation attorney. Since most workers' compensation cases are done on contingency, it does not cost you anything. Remember your employer has the workers compensation carrier, nurse case managers, investigators, adjusters, supervisors, in house counsel and maybe even the physicians looking out for their interests. Even with an attorney the deck is stacked in favor of the employer/carrier and their unlimited resources. This is self...

Workers Compensation is state specific. As such, the ultimate answer is based upon the state you were injured. In Florida, if you have been treating with an authorized workers' compensation physician who has given you work restrictions and your employer has no position available within your restrictions, then you are eligible for temporary partcial disability (TPD). You are paid a percentage of what you earned before the accident. As this is less than what you normally earn, you have a...

Unfortunately you did not state exactly what type of disability your are receiving (SSI, SSI,VA Benefits or pursuant to a private short term or longer term disability policy) The type of disability and the program paying the disability may affect the answer to your question. If you are receiving disability based upon a medical opinion that you are unable to work, then generally you would be disqualified from unemployment compensation benefits. Unemployment compensation benefits require...

If you were injured on the job, workers compensation is normally the only viable claim. If your injury was caused by someone else, not connected with your employment (for example if a UPS driver was rear ended by driver not connected with UPS, you the UPD driver may have a third party claim. That is, the UPS driver may sue the non UPS driver for negligence and damages. If the UPS driver received money from the non UPS driver, then the employer would be entitled to some of the third party...

Return to work programs and compliance with FMLA, WC and the ADA are very, very complicated issues. that cannot be adequately answered in this type of forum. Each statute is independent of each other and must be complied with, yet they are seemingly co-dependent. I highly suggest that you read a recent press release posted by the EEOC (http://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/newsroom/release/9-29-09.cfm) and summarized in the Workers Compensation Gazette posted 10/05/2009 (http://workerscompgazette.com/6-2-...

Workers' Compensation law is based upon each individual state statute. In Michigan, under statute 418.833(2) When an employer or carrier takes action to recover overpayment of benefits, no recoupmentof money shall be allowed for a period which is more than 1 year prior to the date of taking such action. Various cases in Michigan indicate that a 50% reduction is normal and customary. See Everden v. Leaseway Motorcar Transport Company, No. 244260 (Mich. App. 11/20/2003) (Mich. App., 2003),...