Hiring Missouri Work Comp Lawyer Resulted in Much Larger Settlement

We recently settled a Missouri Workers Compensation Claim for ten times over what the treating doctor recommended. Please note that this is an extreme example and all cases depend on the specific facts.This is not a typical result.

In Missouri, the employer (and the employer’s insurance company) get to choose your treating doctor.  You are free to choose you own doctor, but you have to pay for it and most health care insurance policies will specifically exclude work comp injuries.

In this particular case, the client had a back injury and the treating doctor was incredibly proud of his work and felt our client had almost no permanent disability related to her back injury. So this is where the employer’s insurance company started their settlement offer.

After gathering the medical records and reviewing the medical documents, we were able to send this client out for an  examination by a doctor we hired. Our office fronts the cost and this expense came out of her final settlement.

The defense lawyer hired by the employer’s insurance company wasn’t budging on their offer much, so we requested a mediation before a Missouri Workers Compensation Administrative Law Judge.

The judge reviewed the reports prepared by both our doctor and the insurance company’s hired treating doctor. The judge was in total agreement that the employer’s argument was frivolous and told the insurance company lawyer that the insurance company needed to significantly raise their cash offer to our client.

After much back and forth, many phone calls to the insurance company and moving up the hierarchy of insurance company adjusters, a settlement was finally reached at ten times what was originally offered .

The key here for this client was hiring a Missouri Workers Compensation lawyer early in the process. We were able to gather the records and in this case send the client out for an exam and present this to the judge. The judge can make a determination of value with this information. Unfortunately Missouri Work Comp judges cannot help you.  At one time they could, but the law was changed.

Contrast this with cases where we see people dealing with the insurance company on their own. We see these cases and cringe.

It costs nothing to see if we can help. If you have had a severe Missouri Work Comp injury, call our office today.