What is a Re-Opener in a Workers' Compensation Claim?

final area I want to discuss with you you're all done you've got your medical benefits perhaps you filed a motion to get more medical benefits the temporary disability benefits are paid the partial total award is granted and approved by the judge which I understand every judge has to every every award has to be approved in workers comp by the judge now after all that occurs the worker still has surviving rights doesn't he yes she yes what are the term I I've heard many times is the reopener what is that that's correct there's two different types of settlements in workers comp court there's one settlement that is generally used for disputed cases called a section 20 settlement and with that settlement you get a lump sum of money both sides agree that there's difficulties in pursuing your case and the insurance company doesn't want to fight the case to a trial because even though they may be successful in limiting the value of your case they know that they're still going to end up paying something so they will pay a lump sum of money and when you get that type of settlement that forecloses any further rights that you may have against the insurance company or the employer your case will be forever closed at that point the other type of settlement which is called an order approving settlement and we always strive to get that for the injured worker and what that does with that settlement you will get your permanent disability benefits your money and it will also keep open your case for your reopen or benefits and how long that is for two years from the time you get your last benefit two years yes so now the time you get your last benefit which means when you get your check you have an additional two years that brings up some other terms of art that we use from your last check in other words sometimes the the the settlements are such that the monies continue to get paid out after you go to court depending on the level of your disability yes you may be named word and then you have to choose so you have two years from the last date of payment to file a reopener yes can anybody file reopen if I just my check stop and I want more money can I just come in call you and say I want more money I want to go back to court let's go what do you tell them be nice of the work that way but but it doesn't always work that way in theory what you have to do if you want to reopen your claim you have to prove that your condition is substantially worsened so you can't just say I'm still having knee pain I had knee surgery for a torn meniscus and I got my my settlement award and I'm still having knee pain and I want to go back to court and I want to get more money generally that's not going to happen because the reason why you're getting money for your permanent disability or permanency award is you're going to have those knee problems forward for the permanent future right if for some reason I've had cases where some of them have a knee surgery and they have continued knee problems and they're maybe will ask the insurance company and send it back to the initial authorized doctor it did the surgery the doctor may examine them and say yet there is a problem here and they may get another MRI and determine that there's another tear in the same area where operated before and it's because of the the damage already done to their nature and the doctor will reinstitute treatment and if we're able to prove that there is an increase in their disability or worsening of their condition we'll perform the same procedure again with the permanency exams and then we may be able to get an increased percentage of disability and that person will get an increased amount of money based upon the prior award so these cases that you handle as a seasoned veteran worker's comp attorney they can go off for years and years and years yeah they're pending on the injuries depending on the injuries I've had people that have had two or three successful reopener claims to belong on the injury and if the insurance company is still responsible to that if their doctor says you still need ongoing medication or ongoing physical therapy even though you're back to work then many times those benefits can last five 10 15 years or a lifetime Wow okay well I want to thank you for coming we're here interviewing Scott Shulman who is a seasoned 25 years soli practicing workers compensation work in New Jersey Scott is there anything you want to add to our to our viewers anybody that might be watching this video in terms of what you do or workers comp or anything this is your time yeah saying if you're watching this and and you believe that you have questions or you believe that some of these circumstances may apply to you feel free to give us a call at eight five six four eight six four three four three we'll be happy to speak with you answer any of your questions and if we believe that you have a work-related injury and and potential claim will be happy to pursue it and and like I said in the outset I enjoyed doing this I enjoy fighting for the injured worker sure I enjoy making sure that they get whatever benefits that they to which they are entitled and I don't let the insurance companies push them around or push me around and and I don't back down to them until I get whatever the injured workers so I so I've heard well thank you very much you're welcome thank you

Channel: Petrillo & Goldberg Law

Views: 2,540

Keywords: workers' compensation lawyer, workers' compensation attorney, new jersey workers' compensation lawyer, new jersey workers' compensation attorney

Id: 8JXTi13ujv0

Length: 5min 18sec (318 seconds)

Published: Thu May 23 2019