Clearwater Workers’ Compensation and Social Security Disability Lawyer
Our straightforward approach to personal injury cases usually produces results that exceed your expectations.
Most families live from hand to mouth. A few months without a paycheck, or even a few weeks without one, is often financially devastating. Social Security benefits are available if the victim has a disabling injury, like a car crash injury, or a disabling medical condition, like Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. If that illness or injury was job-related, workers’ compensation benefits are usually available. Both programs replace lost wages and pay reasonably necessary medical bills, at least in most cases.
The compassionate Clearwater workers’ compensation and Social Security Disability injury lawyer at the Rooth Law Firm knows how a disabling injury or illness affects a family. Many of the people on our professional team have undergone similar experiences. This understanding motivates us to work extra hard to obtain the benefits disability victims need and deserve. Because of our solid approach, we usually settle these matters out of court.
Workers’ Compensation
Usually, these claims are very complex. The insurance company usually disputes liability (work-related nature of the illness or injury) and/or damages (amount of benefits).
Frequently, a non-work-related or pre-existing condition contributes to the disability. Hearing loss is a good example. Most people hear loud noises all the time, not just at work. In these cases, a Clearwater workers’ compensation injury lawyer must prove the illness or injury was substantially work-related.
Under the law, the workers’ compensation insurance company must pay reasonably necessary medical bills. Usually, insurance adjusters take the position that “reasonably necessary” means “cheapest available.” Attorneys help ensure that job injury victims get the treatment they need, not the treatment an adjuster is willing to pay for.
Joseph Rooth is a Board-Certified workers’ compensation lawyer. So, our team can handle the most complex job injury matters.
Workers’ compensation is the exclusive remedy for some, but not all, job-related injuries and illnesses. Some victims have additional legal options.
Social Security Disability
Permanently disabled people may be eligible for Social Security Disability benefits. As is the case in workers’ compensation, the disabling condition could be a trauma injury, like broken bones as the result of a fall, or a long-term disease, like toxic exposure to cancer. To the Social Security Administration, disability is a five-part inquiry, as follows:
- Not currently working (earns less than $1,550 per month, as of January 1, 2024),
- Severe condition (lasting at least twelve months or terminal),
- Listed condition (or a medical condition substantially similar to a listed condition),
- Unable to work at a previous job, and
- Unable to work any job.
Special rules apply in some situations, especially for disabled children and blind individuals.
So, under this standard, a disability is primarily a medical condition, but not exclusively a medical condition. The D-word also has educational, economic, vocational, and other implications. Frequently, a Clearwater personal injury lawyer partners with a vocational expert or another such professional to establish these elements of a disability.
Work With a Pinellas County Workers Compensation & Social Security Disability Lawyer
Victims need and deserve compensation for their injuries. For a free consultation with a Board Certified workers’ compensation lawyer in Clearwater, contact the Rooth Law Firm. We routinely handle matters throughout the Sunshine State.