Boston construction injury lawyer

October 23, 2020

Do I Have To Pay A Personal Injury Attorney?

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No. Typically, you do not pay a personal injury or a workers’ compensation attorney out-of-pocket. At the Carney, Rezendes & Crowley, LLC, we focus on personal injury and workers’ compensation cases which operate on what is called a “contingency” fee. A “contingency fee” means that we only get paid if we get you compensation, which typically occurs through either a negotiated settlement, mediation, arbitration, or a jury trial verdict.

Why Not?

The reason for a “contingency fee” is to be able to provide legal representation to injured workers and injured people from all levels of income. If personal injury or workers’ compensation attorneys required clients to pay attorney fees out-of-pocket, only wealthy people would be able to afford an attorney when they are hurt. Injured workers and people from all income levels deserve an attorney to fight for them and to represent them for injuries that never should have occurred. Here at the Carney, Rezendes & Crowley, LLC, we take pride in fighting for injured workers and people who are injured needlessly due to safety violations which occur in construction sites, motor vehicle collisions, and many other types of dangerous situations.

September 16, 2020

Forklift Injuries

by Carney Law Firm

Injured by a Forklift?

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Forklift, or Powered Industrial Truck (“P.I.T.”), injuries are very common in the construction industry for both drivers and nearby workers. According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), an estimated 85 deaths result each year as a result of forklift operation accidents, as well as almost 35,000 serious injuries and almost 62,000 non-serious injuries per year. In the U.S., 1 in every 6 workplace deaths occur in forklift related incidents.

With roughly 856,000 total forklifts in the United States, this means that approximately 1 in 9 forklifts will be involved in an accident that results in injury or death. Further, the Industrial Truck Association estimates the average use for the life of a forklift or P.I.T. is approximately 8 years. Taking this factor into consideration, a fair projection calculates that almost 90% of forklifts will be involved in an incident that results in a worker getting injured over the course of the lifetime of the forklift. At the Carney, Rezendes & Crowley, LLC, we have skilled and dedicated attorneys who are experienced representing people with personal injury and workers’ compensation claims resulting from forklift accidents.

August 23, 2016

How and Why Can my Workers’ Compensation Benefits be Terminated?

by Carney Law Firm

Workers’ Compensation insurers must follow certain procedures in order to lawfully terminate or reduce Massachusetts workers’ compensation benefits. The procedure for modification or termination varies greatly depending on how long the insurance company has been paying benefits.

THE FIRST 180 DAYS AFTER YOUR DISABILITY BEGINS

If the insurer has began to make payment of weekly benefits to you timely, namely within 14 days of notice, the insurer is allowed to stop payments to the employee without obtaining approval of the Department of Industrial Accidents (“DIA”) or the consent of the employee. However the insurer is required to give the employee seven(7) day written notice of their intent to stop benefits. The insurer’s written notice of termination must state their reasons and advise the employee of his or her rights to file a claim for further benefits. If you return to work at the same rate of pay you were earning prior to your injury, the insurer may terminate benefits effective the last day you were disabled prior to your return to work. If your own treating doctor clears you to return to your previous job, the insurer may terminate benefits regardless of whether or not your prior job remains available to you.

May 25, 2016

How Much is My Workers’ Compensation Claim Worth?

by Carney Law Firm

There are many factors that determine the Lump Sum settlement value of a Massachusetts’ workers’ compensation claim. Some Massachusetts’ workers compensation claims may have no settlement value at all, while some may have a settlement value of several hundred thousand dollars (or more). While it is important to stress that each individual workers’ compensation claim must be evaluated individually, there are some important factors that determine if a claim has settlement value, and if so, the amount of that settlement value.

Each state administers its own individual system of workers’ compensation benefits. In Massachusetts, the workers’ compensation system is known as what is commonly referred to as a “wage loss” system. That is, if a work related injury or medical condition causes a period of disability from work that also causes wage loss, then the injured worker is entitled to weekly wage loss benefits. It should be noted that not all work related injuries (even if the injury prevents the injured worker from returning to the previous occupation that they were performing while they were injured) cause a wage loss. For example, a forty five year old employee with a master’s degree in computer science is laid off from his job as a computer software programmer where he was paid $78,000.00 per year, or $1,500.00 per week. In order to pay his bills while he looks for another job in the computer software field, he takes a job in the construction industry as a laborer. While working as a laborer, he strains his back. Although the injury isn’t serious enough to cause him to need back surgery, the injured worker is permanently disabled from working as a laborer where he was earning $1,000.00 per week. His treating doctor is of the opinion that he can return to work at a sedentary or light duty job. Because he is capable of earning more money as a computer software programmer, an occupation he is trained for, physically able to do, and pays him more money than the laborer job, he has no wage loss and would not be entitled to any weekly workers compensation after the point in time where his doctor cleared him to return to light duty work. Continue reading

December 4, 2015

How to Calculate Your Social Security Disability (SSDI) Offset (Reduction) if You Are Receiving Weekly Workers’ Compensation Benefits

by Carney Law Firm

Another disability benefit available for Massachusetts’ employees injured and out of work for more than one year is social security disability. For more information on who qualifies for SSDI benefits and how you can apply for SSDI, please refer to our SSDI practice area page. It is important to note that any worker who is out of work for one year or who has a condition which will clearly lead to disability lasting more than twelve months should consider filing for social security disability.

There are certain coverage requirements which generally state that a worker must have had a fairly steady work history to qualify; but assuming you do qualify, social security disability could provide significant additional benefits to you and your family in addition to your workers’ compensation benefits. There is no effect on your workers’ compensation claim by filing for social security. Indeed, an award of social security disability benefits may even help your workers’ compensation claim. Social security disability could pay an injured worker and his family up to an additional two thousand four hundred ($2,400.00) per month, depending on the amount of the worker’s pre-injury wages. In addition to monthly money, social security can also provide the worker with Medicare coverage after the second year of social security entitlement. This may be important since many workers who are on workers’ compensation have their health care insurance canceled after being out of work for a period of time. Continue reading

January 8, 2015

New OSHA Workplace Injury Reporting Rule Goes Into Effect as of January 1, 2015

by Carney Law Firm

The new year brought new changes to the United States Department of Labor, Occupational Health and Safety Administrations’ (“OSHA”) work injury reporting requirements for employers. Prior to January 1, 2015, employers were required to report fatalities occurring at the workplace and incidents that required three or more employees to be hospitalized. Beginning on January 1, 2015, OSHA now requires employers to report any injuries or illnesses that occur at the workplace and require only one employee to be hospitalized. The employer of the injured worker must report the work injury or illness to OSHA within 24 hours of their first knowledge of the hospitalization. Continue reading