Practice Areas

• Workers' Compensation
• Personal Injury
• Social Security Disability

Firm News

• North Carolina Industrial Commission: The Vocational Rehabilitation Professional, from Page Rehabilitation, had a "strained interpretation of suitable employment and the duration of her proposed job search raises serious questions as to whether her objective was to benefit plaintiff or defendants."...
• North Carolina Industrial Commission: Liberty Mutual must provide yardcare and housecleaning to an injured brickmason....
• North Carolina Industrial Commission: A restaurant dishwasher who slipped and fell, and was taken straight to an emergency room has proven that he was injured on the job....
• North Carolina Industrial Commission: Sanctions against the insurance company for failing to accept a claim when our client, an insulation installer, was in an auto accident....
• North Carolina Industrial Commission: We beat both AIG and Zurich in proving that this truck driver for a brick company had two separate accidents which both injured his knee, ultimately disabling him....
• North Carolina Industrial Commission: OTP Lawyers stepped in to save an injured plumber whose original lawyer couldn't get the job done against Key Risk....
• North Carolina Industrial Commission: Facing down the Argonaut workers' compensation adjuster in a disputed carpal tunnel case...
• North Carolina Industrial Commission: In this case with Kemper Insurance company the NCIC found that the employer, Cintas, "schemed" to fire plaintiff while she was on light duty....
• North Carolina Industrial Commission: When are you "on the job" to be covered by workers' compensation?...
• North Carolina Industrial Commission: A restaurant manager who suffered gunshot wounds in a hold-up is entitled to a yard worker and a housecleaner because he cannot do much of his own work anymore....

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Library

Workers' Compensation

• Workers' Comp Tips
• My Employer Says They Don't Have Workers Comp Insurance
• What is the Present Value of Money and Why Should I Care?
• Seven Things which Make Adjusters Happy
• Five Ways Doctors Can Hurt Your Case

Social Security Disability

• Five Social Security Disability Tips
• What on Earth is a Workers' Compensation Offset?
• What People Applying For Disability Need To Know

General

• The Ten Worst Insurance Companies

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Testimonials

"From the initial interview until the check came I was treated like family. I have and will continue to recommend you to friends and family."

"I was impressed with your firm from the beginning... Although I'm sure you are totally busy with cases I always felt as though mine were the only one you were handling. All my calls were promptly returned and I really appreciate that."

"You were right up front about what the workers' compensation adjuster would try to do. I did not know anything about workers' compensation laws. I think your firm did an amazing job for me and my family."

"You were very easy to work with."

"You really know workers' compensation."

"You were the experts... I absolutely could not have gotten the same results without your help."

"You helped me in every way."

"You were abale to spot the problems immediately and fix them."

"There's no way I could have gotten the same results without your help."

"Your office a very, very profesional office. You have always treated me with great respect, honesty, and integrity."

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Oxner Thomas + Permar Blog

Blog Category: All CategoriesWorkers' CompensationGeneral

Workers' Compensation

8/20/2008
Todd Oxner
Comments (0)
The North Carolina Industrial Commission has raised the mileage reimbursement rates
Effective July 1, 2008 the North Carolina Industrial Commission has raised the mileage reimbursement rate to 58.5 cents per mile on all trips which are 20 miles or more roundtrip. They've followed the IRS' move in this regard.

We always handle this reimbursement for our clients. I've heard recently of a couple of law firms who are telling their clients to defer this to the end of the claim when you talk settlement. I think that is a terrible idea for a couple of reasons.  First, with gas at or near $4.00 per gallon most injured workers need that money now, not later. Second, if you are entitled to $1,000.00 worth of mileage reimbursements over the course of your claim you should get the full $1,000.00. I suspect that those attorneys are going to take a fee off this -- so you'll only get $750.00 and they'll get $250. 

That's crazy, because a contingency fee of 25% is based on the possibility that there may not be a recovery. Yet mileage reimbursements are automatic in accepted claims so there should never be a fee on them.
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Labels: Injured workers North Carolina Industrial Commission, workers compensation,
7/24/2008
Todd Oxner
Comments (0)
What's a fair amount to pay your workers' comp attorney?
The short answer: No more than 25% of the benefits which the attorney gets for you. We never do that.


The long answer: Some attorneys are demanding 25% of an injured worker's checks from the moment he walks in their door. We think that is taking advantage of the workers' comp claimant. That is completely unfair. We don't take cases if we cannot add value to them -- and we don't expect to get paid until we do. You should never have to give up any of your money (which you need to live on) until the lawyer has done something for you. And filing a couple of form letters with the Industrial Commission isn't enough to earn a fee. In fact it is virtually unheard of for the NCIC to award a fee of more than 25%.


As a general rule we think it is improper for a lawyer to take a cut of your weekly check unless she actually went to a hearing to get the checks started, or if he kept the checks going at a hearing. But if an attorney asks you to pay them from the minute they represent you, or if they write a couple of letter and make some phone calls to get checks started and then want 25% of your money forever, you should seriously consider whether they are in it for your best interests or just for your money.
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Labels: attorney's fees Attorneys, Injured workers, North Carolina Industrial Commission workers compensation,
7/23/2008
Todd Oxner
Comments (0)
Why does the North Carolina Industrial Commission make an injured worker look for work even when they are on Social Security Disability?
Why does the North Carolina Industrial Commission make an injured worker look for work even after the Social Security Administration says they are disabled? The Court of Appeals looked at the question in a case pitting a Steelcase furniture worker against her employer and Liberty Mutual.


In the case the injured worker wanted to use her receipt of Social Security Disability as evidence that she couldn't work. Unfortunately it failed because she had listed multiple ailments as the basis of her SSD claim.


The standard for getting SSD is the ability to perform substantially gainful activities. This is different than the standard for workers' comp, which is the capacity to earn wages in a competitive labor market. The comp system also has the variation of suitable employment which holds that a high-earning worker doesn't have to take a low-paying job after their injury.


We think the Court of Appeals has left the door open for the right claim to come along. To succeed I think the award of SSD must be solely on the basis of the same injury as the workers' comp case. Also I think it will be more successful for an injured worker with a high pre-injury average weekly wage. We wouldn't argue necessarily that the injured worker couldn't find any work -- just that work paying so little as to be below the substantially gainful activity threshold would be, by definition, not suitable employment. Finally, it would be ideal if the Administrative Law Judge had used a vocational expert at the Social Security hearing.


No guarantees, but it's a case I'd take to hearing.
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Labels: North Carolina Court of Appeals social security disability suitable employment workers compensation,
7/13/2008
Todd Oxner
Comments (0)
What drives me crazy after nearly 15 years of doing workers' comp?
I've got a list:




1. Insurance company adjusters who take advantage of an injured workers' unfamiliarity with the law.


2. When the Industrial Commission rules against an injured worker on a technicality (I believe a tie always goes to an injured worker).


3. Workers' Comp attorneys who let adjusters run all over their clients.


4. Attorneys who do not provide educational materials to their clients to help them understand what is going on in the case.


5. Workers' Compensation attorneys who claim they are "aggressive, experienced, determined, etc.," but never take tough cases to hearings.


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Labels: Attorneys, Injured workers workers compensation,

General

7/13/2008
Todd Oxner
Comments (0)
Welcome to the NEW OTP website
Welcome, everyone, to our new website. It's very much of a work in progress and we'll be rolling out some new areas in the next few weeks. Our firm is well-known across the state for our proficiency in workers' compensation. But we're something of a secret when it comes to Social Security Disability law (which we also handle across the state) and personal injury cases.  Look to see these areas of the website booming shortly. The most exciting part for us will be the video library where we'll be posting a number of short videos we've made to help people understand the law. If you've got an idea, a question, or just a comment please let me know.
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Labels: Oxner Thomas Permar personal injury social security disability workers compensation