VIRGINIA LAWYERS WEEKLY Editor in Chief Paul Fletcher and Workers Comp attorney Doug Landau of the Herndon law firm ABRAMS LANDAU, discussing the Mediation of a workplace lifetime disability injury case
While any lawyer can ask for and participate in the free Mediation offered by the Virginia Workers Compensation Commission, it takes time, effort, experience and money to be properly prepared to Mediate a permanent injury or total disability case. The best Virginia Workers Compensation lawyers in Virginia come prepared with their own settlement evaluation and have discussed the issues thoroughly with their clients, and others who have a stake in the outcome of the case. Poorly prepared lawyers, attorneys who try cases “on the cheap,” and the volume law firms rarely invest the time and resources to be fully prepared to Mediate permanent disability and catastrophic workplace injury claims.
The best Virginia workers comp lawyers go into Mediation committed to negotiating in good faith. They know the range of values of the case and have had experience with similar cases in Mediation and at trial. The data that is usually assembled well before the week of the Mediation include:
- The compensation rate
- The average pre-injury weekly wage
- The weeks left under the Award
- Permanency rating(s)
- Partial Disability rates
- Present day values
- Current Medical Status
- Average Monthly Cost to date
- Anticipated future care ross
- Medications, mileage, DME and other reimbursements
- Statutory Life Expectancy
- Age-Rated Life Expectancy
- Present Value of Medical Care, RX, DME, mileage reimbursements, etc.
- Likelihood of payments, due to actuarial factors such as:
- Age/Life Expectancy/rated Age
- Other Health problems
- Geography
- Education
- Transferrable Skills
- Vocational Rehabilitation
- Likelihood of success
- Cost fluctuations
- Receipt of other benefits (such as LTD, VEC, SSDI, etc.)
- Family structure (benefits for widow, children, others ?)
If you and your lawyer have not discussed, in detail the issues, facts and figures in your case, in advance of your Mediation, do not walk out on the Mediation. RUN ! If you are not ready, you do not go forward. It is too important to “wing it.” Lawyers who say, “We’ll just see how it goes – don’t worry about the facts and figures” are wasting everyone’s time and resources. If you do not know where you are going, you will likely get lost. Have goals, be realistic, discuss it way in advance and understand that as the Virginia Workers Compensation Act was designed to be a medical bill payment and partial wage replacement system ONLY, that you will need to marshall other resources over the long term. Simply put, it’s almost impossible to retire on Virginia comp, so plan to do something with any potential settlement. If you or someone you know or care for has been permanently disabled from work as the result of a job-related car, truck, bicycle or motorcycle crash or slip and fall or dog bite attack and there are questions about Mediating or settling the claim, e-mail or call us at ABRAMS LANDAU, Ltd. (703-796-9555) at once.
