Maryland work injury attorney-I need my benefits yesterday-How long does a workers’ compensation case take?

A Maryland work injury attorney knows there is no time limit as to how long a workers’ compensation case will take. Because the case can stay open for the rest of your life, some case have continued for 20 or 30 years or longer.

The general flow of a workers’ compensation case handled by a Maryland work injury attorney is as follows: The claimant treats with the Doctor until the doctor decides claimant is at maximum medical improvement and will not get any better or until the claimant stops treatment on their own. The claimant is paid for all time missed until they go return to work. The timing of these two steps is totally within the control of the doctor and claimant.

Once the claimant has completed treatment, then a a Maryland work injury attorney has to determine whether claimant can return back to the type of work they performed at the time of the accident. If the Maryland work injury attorney determines Claimant can- not return to the type of work they performed at the time of the accident, then claimant will go through the vocational rehabilitation process. A Maryland work injury attorney knows the vocational rehabilitation process timing depends upon how long it takes you to find a job or how long your retraining program is although retraining is limited to two years.

Once your treatment is complete and you are back to work, then a Maryland work injury attorney knows  you can move forward to receive your permanent injury award. In order to get the permanent injury award, you need to obtain a rating from a Doctor picked by your lawyer who will hopefully give a favorable rating. Then the insurance company will schedule a rating with an insurance company doctor and then your case will be scheduled for a hearing. This process takes about 3 to 6 months.

Once you have your actual hearing with your Maryland work injury attorney, the decision from the Workers’ Compensation Commission can take as long as 30 days. The Insurance company then has 15 days to pay the order.

If the decision of the Workers’ Compensation Commission is appealed, appeals can take as another long as one and one half years to resolve.

If you are able to settle a case, it usually takes about six weeks from the date of settlement to get a settlement approved and money paid. If the settlement also requires Medicare approval, then you can add another 60 to 90 days to the process.

Even after there has been a permanency ward, the case normally stays open, so that the case in theory still continues. I have had case that have been open my entire legal career because the client has repeatedly had to reopen the case.

Cases do only stay open with regard to money for a period of five years from the last time you receive money. So, if in a workers’ compensation five years go by without you receiving any money your case will close with regard to money only, although your right to medical treatment will continue for the rest of your life.

The short answer to the question of how long do the Workers Compensation cases last is anywhere between one year for the shortest case or until death in the longest case.

For more information on Workers Compensation in Baltimore and throughout Maryland, please CLICK HERE. 

Atas Law
Address: 6 E Mulberry St, Baltimore, MD 21202
Phone: (410) 752-4878