Minnesota Workers Compensation Indpendent Medical Examinations. Guess What? They Aren't Independent!

Every week at Atkinson Law Office and Minnesota Disability we receive notices that our clients are scheduled for independent medical examinations, "IME".  We send notices out to our clients advising them that the IME is usually a precursor to every disputed Minnesota Workers Compensation claim.  Below are some suggestions that we provide our clients.

1.  Don't Be Intimidated By An IME
2.  Be Prepared To Answer The Doctors Questions TRUTHFULLY!
3.  Answer Every Question To The Best Of Your Ability
4.  Make Sure You Consult An Attorney Before You Attend

Don't Be Intimidated By An IME

Easy for me to say right?  Well I have attended two allegedly independent medical examinations and by following my rules, one of the doctors actually found my injury to be caused by my work activities.  A rareity but it does happen.  Be polite, don't be a jerk, and know that whatever happens, you have the right to contest the findings if they are unfavorable with the assistance of your attorney and own doctors.

Be Prepared To Answer The Doctors Questions Truthfully

Don't wing the IME.  Go prepared.  This isn't the time to guess how you may have been injured or the circumstances regarding your treatment, etc.  Review your medical records, discuss the facts pertaining to your injury with your attorney.  Be PREPARED!

Answer Every Question To The Best Of Your Ability

Most clients report that the independent medical examination takes no more than 10-15 minutes and the doctor has little interest in hearing about how the injury occurred. Don’t be discouraged simply try your best to answer any questions asked.  Don’t exaggerate or fake your symptoms. This can be discovered during the physical exam and will destroy your case.

Make Sure You Consult An Attorney Before You Attend

There is never a cost to consult an attorney AND if you retain an attorney we can NOT and do not charge you a fee unless there is a dispute.  And even then the fee is paid by the employer's insurance company.  A free consultation means just that...it's free.  Give one of our experienced attorneys a call today at 651-333-3636.   At Atkinson Law Office we have over 40 years of combined legal experience just waiting to assist you.

I Need A Minnesota Workers' Compensation Attorney. But How Do I Chose With So Many Choices?

You have a lot of choices out on the internet for a lawyer to assist you with your Minnesota workers' compensation injury.  I believe that you need an attorney who limits his/her practice to workers compensation.  Ask yourself whether the lawyer and law firm also practice personal injury, family law, criminal law, and wills.  Do you really want to a lawyer who practices workers compensation "part-time"?  Because if they advertise that they handle a wide range of legal matters, they have very little time to keep up on the ever changing laws that affect your case.

At Atkinson Law Office, P.A. and Minnesota Disability, we live, eat, and breath Minnesota workers' compensation.  Every year we recover millions of dollars in benefits for injured workers; including medical, wage loss, retraining assistance and monetary benefits for permanent injuries.  Though attorney Thomas Atkinson will litigate your matter on your behalf, we have a team approach in assuring we stay on top of your case day in and day out.

Nearly every one of our staff members has personal experience in the struggles of workers compensation injuries or has worked for work comp insurance companies before coming to work for our office.  They know the secret tips to obtaining benefits for you.  Whether you have had a back injury or such from chronic pain, we are ready to assist.

Contact Atkinson Law Office and Minnesota Disability today at 651-333-3636 and visit our website for more information.  You can also submit your questions online by following this link.  Remember your consultation is FREE and there is never a fee until we recover benefits for you.

I Need A Minnesota Workers Compensation Lawyer. Who Is The Best Minnesota Work Comp Attorney For My Case?

Minnesota does not allow workers compensation attorneys to call themselves "experts".  However, there are vast differences in the quality and experience of Minnesota workers compensation lawyers for hire throughout our state.  Some attorneys are really "personal injury" attorneys who do workers compensation on the side.  Work comp is truly just a side practice for these firms or they will simply refer you to lawyers like myself who limit their practice to work comp.  Other law firms claim to do it all; divorces, wills, criminal law and would you guess workers compensation too?  I'm a strong believer in hiring a specialist.

At Atkinson Law Office and Minnesota Disability, we limit our practice to representing injured and disabled workers.  We believe that our background in having previously represented employers and insurers is the secret to our success.  We know the opposing attorneys, insurance companies and adjusters better than most lawyers across the state.  We know how they think and in some cases have taught them what they know (and this is not an exaggeration).  Tom Atkinson has has been asked to lecture for decades to both insurance companies, work comp adjusters and other workers compensation attorneys.  Since opening his practice representing injured workers, Mr. Atkinson is a frequent lecturer to lawyers seeking his insight and wisdom in representing injured workers.

We have compiled a team of paralegals, investigators and other lawyers who assist in various aspects of your case.  Rest assured however, that Tom Atkinson will always be on hand to personally answer your questions when necessary.  Mr. Atkinson takes pride in sharing his personal story of suffering a work related injury and undergoing both back and neck surgery as the result.  He understands the frustration of late wage loss payments, unpaid medical bills and denied claims.  Let him help you navigate the maze known as Minnesota Workers Compensation.

Our attorneys and investigators are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to answer your calls.  Call today at 651-333-3636 or visit our website for additional information, www.mndisability.com  We have clients across the country and throughout Minnesota that have suffered Minnesota workers compensation injuries.  Remember, your consultation is absolutely free and there is NEVER a fee unless we recover benefits for you. 

Minnesota Workers Compensation Injuries Can Result in Chronic Pain, RSD, and CRPS

When I began assisting injured workers over 20 years ago at the start of my career, I had never heard of the terms complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS).  Sure we encountered clients with unusual pain patterns that had the peculiar tendency to move, but little was known about this as a stand alone disease.  This condition was not treated as a disease, but rather a symptom.  In fact, many doctors still treat CRPS as a symptom rather than the illness it is recognized today.  CRPS is a highly painful, limb-confined condition, which arises usually after trauma. It is associated with a particularly poor quality of life, and large health care costs. The causes of CRPS remain virtually unknown but is usually referred to as an immunodisorder or one's body's reaction to trauma that is extreme.   The condition's distinct combination of abnormalities includes limb-confined inflammation and tissue hypoxia, sympathetic dysregulation, small fiber damage, serum auto antibodies, central sensitization and cortical reorganization. These features place CRPS at a crossroads of interests of several disciplines including rheumatology, pain medicine and neurology.  As such it's often difficult to diagnose, treat and manage.

Significant scientific and clinical advances over the past 10 years hold promise both for an improved understanding of the causes of CRPS, and for more effective treatments.  The treatment of CRPS is multidisciplinary and aims to educate about the condition, sustain or restore limb function, reduce pain and provide psychological intervention.  Unfortunately most majo
r cities, including those in Minnesota have a very limited number of experts willing to actively treat and manage CRPS.  However, results from recent randomized controlled trials suggest that it is possible that some patients whose condition was considered refractory in the past can now be effectively treated, but confirmatory trials are required.

At Atkinson Law Office and Minnesota Disability we have represented and currently represent many clients with diagnosed CRPS.  We are familiar with the medical experts in Minnesota and are often helpful in guiding injured workers to referrals to said physicians and clinics possessing expertise in CRPS.  If you have a work related injury and would like a FREE consultation (yes it is absolutely free), please call us today at 651-333-3636.  We represent injured workers across Minnesota and those injured while working for Minnesota employers across the country.  We have a team of professionals with unparallelled experience, most with literally decades of experience in workers compensation both as injured workers themselves.  At Minnesota Disability and Atkinson Law Office we are ready to assist you today.

Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry Workers Compensation Office

The Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry in St. Paul Minnesota does many things to assist employers and employees throughout our state.  One of their biggest functions is assisting employers and employees who have sustained workers compensation injuries.  The office does NOT and can NOT represent injured workers.  Keep in mind that the DOLI help desk employees give advice to employers, insurance companies AND employees, and are not bound by attorney client privilege.   In fact, some of those with whom you speak to might not even be attorneys.

If you need legal advice I strongly urge you to contact an experienced workers compensation attorney first.  A private workers compensation attorney will give you excellent advice free of charge.  The Minnesota Department of Labor has an excellent and important role in assisting injured workers.  However, providing legal advise is not one that I support nor recommend for most injured workers.

If you have been injured please call a licensed and experienced workers compensation attorney immediately.  You can find them through the Minnesota State Bar Association, Minnesota Association for Justice and at fine law offices such as Atkinson Law Office and Minnesota Disability.  We offer free consultations at no charge by simply calling 651-333-3636.

Why Is My MN Work Comp Adjuster Asking About My Facebook Account?

I have written and lectured about Facebook, Mylife and other forms of social media for years.  More and more often, whether my clients are aware of it or not, insurance adjusters, employers and insurance company lawyers are looking you up on Facebook.

I had a client in my office today and I asked her how her ski trip was this weekend and she looked at me wondering how in the world I knew her family went skiing.  I turned my computer around and showed her pictures from her Facebook, her husband's Facebook and her childrens' Facebook accounts.  Now the pictures didn't show my client skiing or failing to follow her restrictions, but I got my client's attention.  Facebook is often better than surveillance videos because you and your friends are posting the pictures and photographs rather than a creepy investigator.

Can a Minnesota workers compensation judge allow the admission of photographs from your Facebook account?  There are no appealate decisions to guide us at this point but let me share with you what a workers compensation judge in another state recently did.

An Arkansas workers compensation appeals court ruled that photos on Facebook and Myspace of a man “drinking and partying” could be used as evidence to deny him further workers compensation claims.  At the center of the suit is  Zackery Clement, who suffered a hernia on March 12, 2009 after a refrigerator fell on him while on the job at Johnson’s Warehouse Showroom in Pine Bluff,  Ark.  Keep in mind this was an admitted work injury.  Clement, who was compensated for medical expenses and received temporary total-disability benefits for more than a year, was seeking an extension of benefits following three surgeries as a result of the injury.

In an opinion, written by Judge David M. Glover, the Arkansas Court of Appeals states: “We find no abuse of discretion in the allowance of photographs. Clement contended that he was in excruciating pain, but these pictures show him drinking and partying.”

The lesson to be learned is NEVER EVER lie.  If your doctor tells you NOT to perform certain activites be sure to testify truthfully if you disobey your doctor.  We all want to live our lives and share activities with our loved ones and families.  Just don't exaggerate or lie about your symptoms or ability to perform non work activities.  When you have a serious work related injury doing so will often result in consequences such as slower recoveries or increased pain.  My suggestion is that you "lock down" you Facebook or turn it off.  You will be shocked by the extra time you have when you don't need to be updating your status, location or activities every few minutes.

If you have sustained a work related injury and have questions or concerns about your claim, Atkinson Law Office and Minnesota Disability offer free consultations at suburban office locations with free parking, hot coffee, cold beverages and a staff with decades of experience handling Minnesota workers compensation cases. Call our office today at 651-333-3636 for a free consultation and feel free to visit our website for additional information regarding your Minnesota Workers Compensation injury.

I Settled My Work Comp Claim And Need Medical Treatment. What Can I Do?

As the founder of Atkinson Law Office, P.A. and Minnesota Disability, I have been involved in thousands of workers compensation settlements over the last 20 years.  One thing that is common in many of them is that some form of medical benefits are usually left open.  Even though the words may say, "full, final and complete settlement" they are usually followed by the type of benefits left open.  One thing is certain, all workers compensation settlements are not equal.

If you can't find you settlement agreement or don't remember your lawyers name, we have the expertise to obtain a copy of the settlement documents through the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry.  In as little as a couple of weeks, we can obtain the document, review it and counsel your remaining rights to workers compensation benefits.  We can explain to you how your existing health insurance (if you have any) affects your right to workers compensation benefits. 

Contact our office today at 651-333-3636 and let us begin helping you with discovery what benefits you have remaining with your old workers compensation settlement.  Whether you have your documents or not, we would be happy to assist you.  At Atkinson Law Office, P.A. and Minnesota Disability, we have a team of experienced workers compensation professionals waiting to help you 24/7.