Michael R. Brown

I was desperate to have an attorney represent me in a Worker's compensation case that was both challenging and convoluted. I found him to be very patient and meticulous paying attention to details. This helped us have several breakthroughs in the case. I never knew that the odds against me were so ...numerous and mountainous. He painstakingly went through the paperwork, looked for discrepancies, underhandedness and downright forgery from the very people who were supposed to be helping me recover from my injuries. The opposing side manufactured documents, refused to pay for my treatments, falsified records and employed intimidating tactics to deprive me of my benefits, silence me when I needed treatments and even went as far as intimidating my caregivers to truncate my care. I found out the hard way that Workman's compensation (WC), to a large extent inflict additional emotional injuries to patients when claims are made. My injuries resulted in Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and my involvement with WC in itself was enough to give me PTSD. There is a culture and network that is put in place by the system to frustrate patients under the WC laws that must be seriously visited by the powers that be to address the injustices meted out by the system. Some of the out of this world tactics employed by WC are so outlandish that they are criminal, in violation of the constitution, strip the patients of their basic sense of decency and sometimes their very desire to continue fighting for their rights. My attorney fastidiously went through the process of educating me on how to follow the trails, keep precise records of all events and to develop survival strategies. One of the most frustrating things I had to endure was listen to my attorney tell me that there was nothing I could do because that was how the system is. However, the most comforting aspect of dealing with this attorney is the fact that his experience with the system enables him to represent the patient's interests without the patient falling apart. His focus all through the case has been for the patient to get well first rather than to settle and get his share of the proceeds and run. My case has been dragging for over six years now, but he still waits patiently to make sure that I reached my maximum medical improvement before moving on. He is well versed with WC laws and has a very keen knowledge of how an unresolved issue could come back to haunt the patient. To a large extent, I see his representation more as a labor of love than any other thing. As far as the WC laws and practices continue the way they are, attorneys like this will be needed. Which invariably begs the question: How many attorneys out there are willing to punctiliously go through what he has gone through for a complete stranger in order to make sure the a client is not shortchanged into early shoddy settlement only to be left to suffer the rest of his/her life due to a broken system of administering a well-meaning program that has gone awry. Probably the most disgusting aspect of the shenanigans going on is predicated in the fact that the injustices meted out on patients are being nursed through a system that rewards the perpetrators at the expense of the suffering public. My attorney to a large extent is my hero. I wish everybody who has a WC case is lucky enough to have him represent them.