Bringing a case to court can be expensive, which is part of your employer’s Workers’ Comp carrier’s goal in these cases. They think that if they force you to take the case to court, then you will lose or give up because you can’t afford to pay for things like evidence and testing out of pocket. However, the way that these expenses are paid is often a bit more complex than you might expect, and it often costs you nothing in the end.
Many of the tests and depositions that the insurance carrier will require are things that they need to pay for. On the other hand, any evidence you need to gather – such as test results or depositions to build a strong case – also cost money. Usually, our lawyers can pay for these litigation costs while the case is pending, given that attorneys fees and litigation costs end up being paid back by the insurance carrier as part of your award at the end of the case.
Call our Certified Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Specialists at Cardamone Law at (267) 651-7945 for help with your case.
Who Pays for Depositions and Litigation Costs in a Workers’ Comp Case in Pennsylvania?
Depositions can be quite expensive, given that you need to cover the office space to take the deposition, an attorney’s time, a stenographer to make a record of the deposition, and other costs. Generally, the person who pays for the deposition is the person who requests it, with some caveats. The same is true for other litigation costs, like expert reports and exhibits.
When your employer – or, more likely, their Workers’ Compensation insurance carrier – requests that you come in for a deposition, they pay for that cost. If they want to take your time away from you and interview you ahead of a hearing, then that is up to them to cover the cost of that deposition.
On the other hand, when you need to depose someone as a witness in your case, we will work to cover that cost and prevent it from being passed on to you. So, instead of having you pay up front and out of pocket for costs like this, our Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation lawyers cover the cost instead.
At the end of the case, the evidence costs – and, oftentimes our attorney’s fees – are paid by the employer as part of the court order under § 440 of the Workers’ Comp Act. This means that, at the end of your case, we get paid back for the expenses we had to pay for depositions, exhibits, and other costs of litigation anyway.
The fact that most injured workers cannot cover these litigation costs out of pocket, but our lawyers can, is part of why judges usually recommend that petitioners get a lawyer on their side – and often caution them that the case will be difficult or impossible without a lawyer’s help.
Who Pays for Medical Exams for a Workers’ Compensation Claim?
There is a lot of medical evidence needed in a Workers’ Comp claim. Depending on how exactly the medical exam came about, the person who pays for it might vary.
Cost of Treatment
First and foremost, if you are seeking medical treatment for an injury, your employer’s insurance should cover that from the beginning. Your ambulance ride, hospitalization, testing/scans, diagnosis, and emergency treatment should all be covered, especially if you came straight from work to get that care after a work accident. When it comes to the debates and points of contention in a Workers’ Comp case before a Workers’ Comp judge, the issue is usually over how severe your condition is and whether it keeps you from working.
Examinations to Collect Evidence
The medical care to treat your injury might provide records that can be used as evidence in your case, but it is likely that you will need additional examinations by doctors other than your treating physician – doctors who can, in theory, be more independent. Of course, when the insurance carrier chooses a doctor for you to see, it is anything but independent. When you see a doctor of your choice to gather evidence, that allows you to counter their bias with a doctor of your own choice.
The examinations to gather evidence to use in your case are each paid for by the party who requests that exam. That means that if the insurance carrier wants you to see their doctor, they pay for it; if you go to your own doctor, you pay for it – for now.
Like the costs for depositions, we can often get these costs reimbursed as part of your winnings in your case.
Independent Medical Examinations (IMEs)
As part of a claim for total disability that lasts 104 months (2 years) or more, the insurance carrier will be able to require you to go to an independent medical exam (IME) for an impairment rating exam (IRE) every 6 months. In this exam, a separate doctor from the one who treats you will examine you and determine if you are still “totally disabled” and unable to return to work. If they agree that you are, that will help you continue getting wage-loss benefits – but the insurance carriers usually pick biased doctors who will try to shut off or reduce your benefits.
When the insurance carrier requests an IME, they have to pay for it. They also have to pay for your transportation to the exam and any wages you miss out on to attend.
If you need a separate exam to provide evidence to counter the IME’s results, we can also help you seek that out and potentially get that covered by your award, too.
Who Pays for My Lawyer for a Workers’ Comp Case in Pennsylvania?
Ultimately, legal fees can be paid out of the winnings in your case. Our fees are capped under the Workers’ Comp Act’s § 442; we cannot receive more than 20% of your award as our fee for working on your case. Additionally, § 440 – referenced briefly above – allows the judge discretion to include those fees as part of the judgment against the insurance carrier.
At the end of the day, this means that you pay nothing unless we win your case, and our fees come out of the award at the end of your case.
Call Our Workers’ Compensation Lawyers in Pennsylvania Today
For a free case evaluation, call our Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation lawyers at Cardamone Law today at (267) 651-7945.
