馃攳
California Workers' Compensation - How a case can settle / settlements explained. - YouTube
Channel: MichaelBurgis
[9]
hi my name is michael burgess and i'm an
[11]
attorney i wanted to take this time to
[13]
briefly go over how a work comp case
[16]
settles now this is just a brief
[19]
overview I hope it's helpful there's
[22]
generally two ways cases can settle in
[24]
workers comp one is a stipulation one is
[28]
a compromise and release now what a
[31]
stipulation is remember that in work
[34]
comp the way an attorney or waive your
[37]
an applicant is entitled to benefits is
[40]
based on our doctor indicating they
[41]
sustained permanent disability
[43]
attributed due to a work-related injury
[46]
now the greater the permanent disability
[49]
is the greater the amount of
[50]
compensation of an applicant is
[52]
important shal entitled to now under a
[55]
stipulation what you're doing is is the
[58]
parties are stipulating to the
[61]
percentage of disability that an
[63]
applicant sustained now a stipulation
[67]
the greater the percentage of disability
[70]
the stipulated to the greater the amount
[71]
of compensation the applicant is
[73]
entitled to now that's not paid in a
[75]
lump sum it's paid overtime and these
[78]
figures are administrative Lee set
[80]
they're set by the state legislation for
[83]
instance if there's a generally a
[85]
maximum wage earner under current law
[86]
and you've sustained 1% disability it's
[89]
approximately $700 and it's paid not in
[92]
a lump sum but it's paid overtime for
[95]
instance a 10% disability is
[96]
approximately $7,000 so you still get
[99]
weekly payments generally it's around
[101]
$230 the greater the disability is the
[104]
greater the duration of those payments
[106]
are now in a stipulation all you're
[108]
doing is you're locking in that the
[110]
applicant and sustain that percentage of
[112]
disability locking in the stream of
[115]
payments that are entitled to when
[117]
you're also locking into is you're
[119]
locking in the future medical care what
[122]
that means is in a stipulation you're
[125]
going to stipulate to what the
[126]
percentage of disability is and what the
[128]
body parts or pain or symptoms that the
[131]
applicant sustained injury to you're
[134]
also locking in future medical care for
[137]
all of those body parts that are injured
[139]
based on the medical
[140]
evidence so for instance if somebody's
[143]
injured their back and they have ten
[144]
percent disability what a party may do
[147]
is stipulate that they sustained 10
[149]
percent disability to their lumbar spine
[152]
or their low back and that they're
[154]
entitled to the Future Medical / the
[156]
medical reports of whatever the doctor's
[159]
name is and if in that medical report it
[161]
indicates they may need physical therapy
[164]
pain medication some injections and
[167]
maybe potentially surgery in the future
[169]
all those provisions are locked in in a
[172]
stipulation and the insurance company
[174]
has to not only pay out those those
[178]
payment the permit disability payments
[180]
but they also have to take care of the
[182]
future medical treatment it's referred
[185]
to as the future medical being will left
[187]
open
[187]
now that is what's referred to as a
[190]
stipulation now if you go to trial a
[193]
stipulation is done by the parties
[195]
whereas the applicant and the insurance
[197]
company stipulates and agrees that the
[200]
body parts they sustained injury to or
[201]
XYZ and they've entitled to X amount of
[204]
permanent disability if the parties
[206]
cannot stipulate to it and they end up
[209]
going to court and putting on a trial
[211]
from a judge a judge would ultimately
[213]
determine what if any permanent
[215]
disability they're entitled to the same
[217]
thing as a stipulation but it's referred
[219]
to as a findings and award because now
[222]
the parties haven't stipulated to it a
[224]
judge has has determined what the
[226]
findings are and issued the award same
[229]
thing as a stipulation but referred to
[231]
as a findings and award permanent
[233]
disability is not paid in a lump sum
[234]
it's paid overtime and future medicals
[236]
left open with the insurance company to
[238]
take care of that for the rest of your
[240]
life now that's a stipulation or
[242]
findings that award if you go to trial
[244]
now there's also a way case can be
[246]
settled by something called a compromise
[248]
and release now what this is is this is
[251]
an actual lump sum to basically
[254]
generally speaking it's to buy out
[256]
everything it's to buy out all of the
[258]
permanent disability all the future
[260]
medical treatment any owed benefits it's
[263]
generally the insurance company offering
[265]
a one-time lump sum to just wipe their
[268]
hands clean of the case and they want
[269]
nothing to do with it now generally
[271]
speaking you can never force an
[274]
insurance company to offer a lump sum
[277]
settlement or a compromising release you
[279]
generally can't do that now what happens
[281]
is often through an attorney or whether
[285]
you're not represented and it shows
[286]
could be might make an offer or an
[288]
attorney can show that it's really in
[290]
the insurance company's best interest to
[292]
do a lump sum settlement now for
[294]
instance in my cases I workup both
[297]
options for my clients I'll say here's
[300]
option a where we lock in as greatest
[303]
the greatest amount of permit disability
[305]
we can and future medicals left open or
[307]
here's option B here's the lump sum
[309]
they're offering and that's to buyout
[311]
everything now if they put what I feel
[313]
is adequate on for future medical then I
[316]
would generally recommend the
[317]
compromiser release and if they're not
[318]
putting what I feel is adequate for your
[320]
future medical treatment then I would
[322]
recommend the stipulation and leave
[324]
future medical left open now generally
[326]
speaking I workup both options and it's
[329]
up to my client to make the
[330]
determination nobody can force you to
[332]
take a compromise and release in a lump
[334]
sum settlement just as we can never
[337]
force the insurance company to offer
[338]
lump sum settlement but just to
[340]
reiterate there's technically three ways
[343]
that kids can settle stipulation
[345]
findings an award and a compromise and
[348]
release stipulation and findings in
[350]
award
[350]
you're just being compensated for your
[352]
permanent disability locking in the
[354]
industrial injured body parts and the
[356]
future medical for those industrially
[358]
injured body parts compromise and
[360]
release generally lump sum to buy out
[362]
everything now there are very variations
[365]
of each of these they're hybrids you can
[367]
settle partial
[369]
issues on your case via compromise and
[372]
release or you know there's a whole
[376]
bunch of waste cases can settle but once
[378]
again as a just general overview
[379]
stipulation findings and award and
[381]
compromise and release I hope this has
[383]
been helpful if you have any additional
[385]
questions feel free to check some of my
[387]
other videos out or feel free to give my
[389]
office a call the banners below I'd be
[392]
more
[392]
willing to go over any of and answer any
[394]
questions for you thank you
Most Recent Videos:
You can go back to the homepage right here: Homepage