THIRD PARTY WORK INJURIES: A PRIMER FOR SERIOUSLY INJURED WORKERS IN CALIFORNIA

The first thing you - the injured worker - must realize is the general rule: if you are seriously injured at work you are in for an uphill battle. Trite, but true. If you are a seriously injured worker in California you need to understand that California has some of the lowest workers' compensation benefits for it's workers in the United States. This is why you need a really good California workers' compensation lawyer. To ensure you get the fairest result under California law.

Here is what you can see if you are a seriously injured worker in California:

- Low temporary total disability benefits (commonly called "workers comp checks").
- Consistently late workers comp checks.
- A constant struggle to receive basic medical treatment.
- A Utilization Review procedure quagmire that provides legal cover for the California workers compensation insurance carrier, allowing them to get away with not providing vital medical treatment and leaving you out in the cold.
- Being sent to a "company doctor" that finds every worker "fit for duty."
- Having your workers comp check cut-off for no apparent reason.
- A "Paperless System" that requires twice the paper work than with the old paper system.
- A system that places "procedure" over "justice" with "justice" not even coming in a close second.
- Ridiculously low permanent disability awards. (So low that many workers receive less than $10,000 even though they are so badly injured they can't return to work at any type of job they have ever held before).

The point here - is you need the very best workers' compensation lawyer because of how unfair California workers' compensation is to seriously injured workers.

2. The Second Rule for California Workers with Serious Work Injuries:

A third party work injury lawsuit is often times the only way you can receive fair compensation for your serious work injuries.

You and your family can weather and survive economically and most importantly, as a unit, if you are able to bring a successful third party case. In most cases, a third party lawsuit is the only way you are going to receive fair compensation for your injuries. Because you aren't going to get anything close to fair from your California workers compensation case.

3. The Third Rule for California Workers with Serious Work Injuries: knowledge really helps.

You have to have the program to your law suit. Without out it all may be lost.

You can't tell the parties to a lawsuit without a program. If someone is injured while working, they are termed the "first party". The employer is the "second party."

The general rule is that an injured employee cannot bring a civil lawsuit against their employer for injuries occurring while they are in the course and scope of their employment. Instead, worker's compensation benefits are the employee's exclusive remedy against the employer. (There are some limited exceptions to this rule and these are called "Second Party" cases. For example if your employer intentionally injures you).

If someone else is legally responsible for your injuries, then you - the injured worker - can pursue civil remedies against this other person and/or entity. Any person/entity other than the employer that is legally responsible for your injuries is termed a third-party. Generally, a workers' compensation recovery does not preclude a civil suit by you against negligent third-party. An employee's civil lawsuit against persons/entities other than the employer is called a "third-party case" or a "third party work injury case."

First Party - - You /Injured Worker

Second Party - - Your Employer

Third Party - -Any person/entity (other than the employer) who is legally responsible for your/the injured worker's injuries.

4. The Fourth Rule for California Workers with Serious Work Injuries:

You need a lawyer that specializes in third party work injury cases.

A word to the wise, when you or a loved one is seriously injured at work you it is important to find a lawyer that specializes in Third Party Work Injuries. This isn't a workers compensation lawyer. If your only lawyer is a California workers compensation lawyer, then you and your family are going to be a victim of California's unfair workers compensation system. Remember, your only hope for fairness is investigating and bringing a Third Party Civil Lawsuit. There are very, very few good Third Party Work Injury Lawyers in California. The more seriously injured you are; the more you need the best Third Party Work Injury Attorney in California.