Northville Workers' Compensation Attorney
Michigan Work-Related Injury Lawyer Protecting Your Rights After an Accident on the Job
From our office in Northville, The Corriveau Law Firm represents injured workers throughout southeastern Michigan in workers' compensation claims and appeals. Our family of Northville work-related injury attorneys has served our local communities since 1976. We have helped hundreds of injured workers get the compensation they are entitled to under the law — to help themselves and their families during the difficult times after serious injury. Contact us to schedule an appointment.
Contingent Fees in Workers' Comp Cases: State law regulates our attorney fee in workers' compensation cases based on the amount of money we are able to secure for you. If we are not successful in representing you, then the state law prohibits us from charging an attorney fee.
Are You Covered by the Worker's Disability Compensation Act?
Most Michigan employers are required to carry workman's comp insurance. However, certain exceptions do exist. For example, most federal employees are covered instead by the Federal Employees' Compensation Act.
Companies with very small numbers of regular employees may also be exempt. If an employer regularly employees three or more employees at a time or employed one worker for 35 or more hours per week for 13 out of the 52 weeks of the last year, the company is required to provide workers' compensation insurance benefits.
Even if you work for a very small company, however, you may still be able to recover worker's compensation benefits. You may find that you need the help of an attorney to get the benefits you are entitled to. Our Northville and Ann Arbor workers' compensation lawyers regularly help workers seeking benefits from small employers.
Did the Injury Arise out of and in the Course of Employment?
Workers' compensation allows for payment of benefits to an employee who suffers a personal injury "arising out of" and "in the course of employment."
In many instances, the answer to this question may be in dispute. For more than 30 years, Corriveau Law has argued this issue in countless workers' compensation cases, proving that injuries and illnesses happened at work so that the worker can recover benefits.
The general rule is that an employee going to or from work is not considered to be within the course of employment. However, exceptions exist. Your case needs to be examined individually by our experts to determine if you meet the test applied by the courts.
Other commonly litigated areas of dispute include:
- Whether the injury occurred on employer's premises
- Whether the employee's actions benefited the employer
- Whether business travel was involved
- Whether employee's injury resulted from his or her own intentional act
- Whether the injury was caused by or aggravated by work
Workers' Compensation Disputes Over the Cause of Injury
Often the cause of an injury or disability is easily determined but instances occur where this cannot be seen so easily. The law also provides for compensation for when a previously existing condition has been aggravated by your current employment.
In pursuing your rights it is important that you receive and be able to offer to the court credible and expert medical testimony about the causes and aggravations of your medical condition. At Corriveau Law we have spent decades creating associations with medical experts and experts in other fields necessary to obtain successful results for our workers' compensation clients.
In cases involving mental illness, heart trouble, and illnesses related to aging, one can recover workers' compensation by proving that work aggravated the condition in a significant manner.
Other Legal Areas Related to Workers' Compensation
At Corriveau Law we look at the whole picture of a client's legal situation. Often, the stress and strain of coping with disability and injury results in damage to one's personal life. Our firm is equipped to handle all your legal needs that may arise as a result of injury such as divorce or child support modifications.
If you become disabled you may also qualify for Social Security. Our attorneys can guide your decision and treatment toward meeting this goal if you are eligible.
For a free initial consultation about workers' compensation with an attorney at our Northville firm, call 248-782-5202 (877-701-4991 toll free) or fill out the contact form on this site.
