New Jersey Legal Malpractice Attorney
Often, when somebody is injured on the job, he is able to collected workers compensation insurance to cover his medical bills and his wage loss, and then pursue a claim against another party for causing the injuries that he suffered. For example, let’s assume that a driver for a courier service is driving a delivery truck when his truck is struck from behind by another driver. The accident seriously injured the driver, causing him to miss two months of work.
Because the accident occurred on the job, the driver is entitled to workers compensation insurance. Yet, because another unrelated driver caused the accident, the company driver has a legal claim against that driver. He has hired Larry Lawyer to represent him.
In the case against the other driver, Larry Lawyer is suing for personal injuries on behalf of the truck driver. Whatever Larry Lawyer recovers, however, will be subject to a lien by the workers compensation insurance company that already paid the driver health care costs. The insurance company will seek to be repaid for its outlays from the funds recovered against the errant driver who caused the accident. The burden falls upon Larry Lawyer to make sure the insurance company gets paid.
If Larry Lawyer fails to protect the insurance company, then there may be claims brought against Larry Lawyer, both by the client, and by workers compensation insurance company.
