Workers' Compensation

Charlotte Workers' Compensation Attorneys 

The Bollinger Law Firm, P.C., is based in Charlotte, but takes workers' compensation cases across North Carolina.

At the law offices of The Bollinger Law Firm, P.C., helping injured people obtain benefits they deserve is what we do. To discuss legal and financial aspects of your workplace injury with an experienced, dedicated and determined workers' compensation attorney in Charlotte, North Carolina, contact The Bollinger Law Firm, P.C..

Workers' Comp: Medical Expenses, Wage Replacement, Permanent Disability

After a workplace injury, an employee is naturally concerned about pain, recovery, rehabilitation and healing. Workers' compensation insurance (once called "workman's comp") is a safeguard that is intended to provide for the medical and financial needs of employees while protecting employers from excessive liability. It is your right, and it is important, to file a workers' comp claim after an injury on the job. There is no need for you to feel that you are in any way betraying your employer. Providing for you after an on-the-job injury is the reason that workers' comp exists.

For Injuries On the Job

A workers' compensation claim has nothing to do with fault. Any injury that takes place within the scope of your employment may qualify you to make a claim for medical benefits — and if you are out of work long enough to miss out on pay, workers' compensation provides for wage replacement as well.

Examples of incidents resulting in workplace injuries include the following:

• Bending over to pick up a box of copy paper and experiencing a "pop" in the back, which later turns out to be a disk rupture
• Repetitive injuries such as carpal tunnel syndrome
• Occupational diseases such as bursitis, tendonitis, and exposure to fumes and poisons
• Psychiatric stress
• Motor vehicle accidents occurring when an employee is driving on the job (delivery people, sales people, home health care workers, police and truck drivers, for example)
• Construction accidents
• Industrial and manufacturing accidents

An accident at work which exacerbates a pre-existing condition is also cause for a workers' compensation claim.

Insurance Companies Often Delay and Deny Coverage

Clear-cut as they may be, claims for accidental injuries at the workplace are often mishandled by workers' compensation insurers. It is common for them to delay coverage, despite the fact that prompt medical care is critical for the best outcome after an injury. Delay and denial tactics often appear to be intended to encourage the injured worker to seek coverage elsewhere, such as through group medical insurance. We know how to cut through the delays and get the ball rolling for you.

Don't Be Caught in the Middle Between Insurers

When injured employees in Charlotte, North Carolina, get caught in the middle between workers' compensation insurers and group medical insurers that seek to cast responsibility on each other, our lawyers are ready to intervene.

Get Workers' Comp Claims Paid Properly and On Time

Our experience has given us knowledge and tools that enable us to get claims properly paid. We are well aware of the strategies they often use that can put injured workers in a bind — such as when group medical insurance providers put liens on workers' compensation benefits. Sometimes a letter from our attorneys resolves a dispute. When necessary, we are prepared to represent our clients in administrative hearings to ensure that claims are paid per policy terms. Our lawyers have successfully handled hundreds of workers' compensation claims. Although most cases settle without going to trial, we will go to court for you.

Contact a Board Certified Specialist

Twenty years ago the North Carolina Court of Appeals stated that:

"In contested Workers' Compensation cases today, access to competent legal counsel is a virtual necessity..... Leaving injured employees without the representation they need to obtain the complete and total amount of their workers' compensation award would defeat the purposes of the [Workers' Compensation] Act. In fact, employers would be encouraged to contest liability and meanwhile make voluntary payments less than that required by the Workers' Compensation Act." Church v. Baxter Travenol, 104 N.C. App. 411, 416 (1991) (bold emphasis added).

On June 24, 2011, Governor Perdue signed a bill that makes significant changes to our Workers' Compensation Act, and these are the biggest changes in the law we have had since 1994. The Court's warning in 1991 that injured workers need competent legal counsel has just become even more important and meaningful because of the 2011 changes to the law.

I am a Board Certified Specialist in NC Workers' Compensation Law. A Board Certified Specialist has been tested and vetted by the NC State Bar in order to assure the public that the lawyer has a high level of competence in the specialty area of law. As the Court of Appeals said in Church, an injured employee needs a "competent" attorney on a workers' compensation case. An injured worker can be assured that a Certified Specialist in Workers' Compensation Law is indeed competent to handle the case properly. Unlike some lawyers, I do not dabble in workers' comp law; it is the main area in which I work.

I grew up in Newton, North Carolina, which was primarily a furniture and textiles town at the time. I enjoy handling workers' compensation cases for injured workers, partly because I worked in "blue collar" jobs as a young man. I worked in retail stores, in a furniture factory (tailing the rip saws), in a foam rubber factory (on the "Baumer slitter" cutting carpet cushion) and for a nursery and landscaping business.

I like to give injured workers a level playing field with the rich and powerful insurance company that is responsible for paying the workers' compensation benefits. There is nothing better than taking on the big insurance companies and self-insured employers and winning a good award in court, or negotiating a good settlement, for a client who has been injured at work and still has children to feed and bills to pay.

My clients are not lawyers, and they usually don't know how to navigate the workers' compensation system. Without a good lawyer, they would be at the mercy of the insurance companies, just as the Court of Appeals predicted. I enjoy being an advocate for the hard-working people of North Carolina who need my help.

If you have a question about your North Carolina workers' compensation claim, then get in touch with me. Consultations are always free, and I will answer your questions on the phone or by email. There is no obligation on your part. I am happy to answer questions because I hate to see a hard-working citizen get taken advantage of by the big insurance company or employer. So don't hesitate to get in touch with me for a free consultation about your claim!
  --Bob Bollinger, Board Certified Specialist in NC Workers' Compensation Law

Contact us to learn about our contingency fee structure and the steps we will take to help get your workers' comp claim paid fully and on time.