The first time I called Ms Lewane and explained my injury circumstances, she scheduled an appointment with me. At this appointment, Ms. Lewane shared many answers to my questions regarding what to expect from my workers compensation claim. She explained what , by law, I am entitled to receive. She gave me a hand book with all of this information. She also explained that I can be compensated for my travel expenses. My injury occurred 1-9-2011, and throughout my treatment, she was always available to answer questions regarding some of the Insurance companies practices and how I should word my questions to them and to my case manager. I found that emailing her was the most efficient use of her time.

After seeing a specialist for my injury and receiving what amounts to a “stop-gap” surgical procedure which gave me no real relief from pain, she informed me that I should have been given the names of three specialists from which I could chose. The first specialist was not trained in the latest area of treatment for my specific need. She encouraged me to request a new specialist, trained in this newer treatment, and after much time going back and forth with the caseworker, I was allowed to see a new Dr. that does specialize in the area of my injury need. As of this writing, I have had many email conversations and phone calls regarding my progress and advice on how and what to share with my workers comp.case manager and the nurse assigned to my case. I cannot express how this “Guiding Light” has brought me to this day. I am to have a cutting edge surgical procedure on 4-24-2012, by a most competently trained surgeon.

I may have given up in despair if it had not been for the encouragement and guiding advice of Ms. Lewane. Even though I have not formally “Hired” Ms. Lewane, she has always made me feel that she was there to help me. I can only say, “thank you Michele, for helping me through the past year. If it were not for you and your staff,my story would have a different ending”!!

Carole S. Sutton

Amelia County Court House , Virginia

Vocational rehabilitation. Once the doctor states
that you may return to some form of light duty
work, the insurance company may begin vocational
rehabilitation. There are two goals of vocational
rehabilitation. The first goal is to restore the employee
to some form of employment and the second goal is to
relieve the employer’s burden of future compensation.
The goal is not to find the employee a meaningful job,
a convenient job, or a job that he would want. It is not
an opportunity to go to college or learn a new trade.
It is solely to save the insurance company money. To
me, vocational rehabilitation is not a benefit to the
employee but rather a benefit to the insurance company.
It is usually better for employees to find their own
employment. The Virginia Workers’ Compensation
Commission’s vocational guidelines are in the
appendix. You can go to my website and download the
form at www.injuredworkerslawfirm.com. If you think
the vocational rehabilitation specialist is violating the
rules, give him or her a copy

     A lot of our clients ask us what  happens if their condition gets worse after their
benefits have stopped, and  they need to go back out of
work?
     If your condition worsens and a doctor takes you back
out of work, you can apply for additional benefits.
This is called a change in condition application. You
must do so, however, within two years from the date
the last compensation payment was made pursuant
to an Award order.

If you’ve been voluntarily paid sporadically, this does not stop the two years from
running. This is another reason why its’ very important
always to get your Award orders entered for all benefits
and time periods.

Sometimes an insurance adjusters voluntarily pay
you some benefits. You might ask, “What’s wrong with
the insurance company doing what it is supposed to
do?” What’s wrong is that they do it in order to catch
you unaware and then you are in danger of permanently
losing your benefits. Many times, insurance adjusters
will voluntarily make payments and will never inform
the claimant of the fact that if they don’t file a claim
for benefits form and get an Award order, they will quit
paying them when the statute of limitations runs out,
which is two years from the date of injury. This is part of
their “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy. This occurs with entire

claims and it also occurs with specific body parts. Here is
an example. You have a shoulder and neck injury but the
paperwork only lists your neck. The insurance company
pays for your shoulder and neck medical treatment and
after two years they stop your shoulder treatment. You
are out of luck because every body part must be listed
in the paperwork within two years of the accident for
them to have to pay it. What bothers me so much about
this is that most people don’t want to “file a lawsuit” or
“sue” their employers and they think a claim for benefits
is filing a lawsuit against their employer. They don’t
understand that it is a requirement. The problem is that
the insurance companies know this about hard working,
loyal employees, and take advantage of these individuals
who don’t want to make waves and want to get back to
work as quickly as possible. The number of times people
have come to me with this problem breaks my heart,
because there is nothing I can do for them at that point.

Get your cost of living adjustment. It’s a strange
calculation as to when someone is eligible for COLA so
many people do not request it, which can cost them a lot
of money. Once, I got COLA for a client that exceeded
$20,000 from previous years, plus an increase in her
current weekly check by several hundred dollars. COLA
is a cost of living adjustment that happens every year. In
theory, if you’re completely out of work and receiving
workers’ compensation for a while, you can request it by
filling out the form, which I have included in the appendix.
You can go to my website and download the form at www.
injuredworkerslawfirm.com. You simply go to your local
Social Security office, have them confirm that you are
not receiving Social Security benefits, mail the form to
the Virginia Workers’ Compensation Commission, and
you can get the cost of living adjustment. If you are on
Social Security disability, you cannot get a cost of living
adjustment because there is no “double dipping.” Social
Security gives you the cost of living adjustment. If you
haven’t received the cost of living adjustment for several
years, you need to have a form filled out by the Social
Security Administration for each year in order to get your

adjustment. The trick is figuring out when you are eligible
for the cost of living adjustment. You can receive your
cost of living adjustment effective October 1st of each
year if you are on an outstanding award and the accident
occurred before July 1st of that same year. This means
that someone who was injured on June 30 will be able to
receive a cost of living adjustment as soon as October 1st
(three months). Someone who was injured July 2 will not
be able to receive cost of living adjustment benefits until
October 1st of the following year (15 months).

Vocational rehabilitation. Once the doctor states
that you may return to some form of light duty
work, the insurance company may begin vocational
rehabilitation. There are two goals of vocational
rehabilitation. The first goal is to restore the employee
to some form of employment and the second goal is to
relieve the employer’s burden of future compensation.
The goal is not to find the employee a meaningful job,
a convenient job, or a job that he would want. It is not
an opportunity to go to college or learn a new trade.
It is solely to save the insurance company money. To
me, vocational rehabilitation is not a benefit to the
employee but rather a benefit to the insurance company.
It is usually better for employees to find their own
employment. The Virginia Workers’ Compensation
Commission’s vocational guidelines are in the
in our book Ultimate Guide to Workers’ Compensation in Virginia.

You can also go to our website and download the
form at www.injuredworkerslawfirm.com. If you think
the vocational rehabilitation specialist is violating the
rules, give him or her a copy of the guidelines and ask
for an explanation.

Meet Your Legal Team

 

Lotus Perkins

Receptionist / Legal Assistant

When you call Injured Workers’ Law Firm, or visit our office, Lotus’ friendly voice will likely be the first one you hear.  She works closely with client’s to ensure their questions are answered, schedules appointments and assists in retrieving medical records, processing of mileage reimbursements and COLA requests.

 

Sheena Rahman

Paralegal / Intake Specialist

Sheena handles our intakes and is the primary contact for potential new clients.  She assists in educating clients on the workers’ compensation system and helping them identify when they may need the assistance of an attorney.  Sheena also opens new client files, assists in administration of Human Resources and the Marketing Campaign at Injured Workers’ Law Firm.

 

Stephanie Wilkins

Paralegal to Michele Lewane, Esq.

Stephanie is the main paralegal to attorney Michele Lewane and the primary contact for our clients.  She has been working closely with Ms. Lewane for 5 years and is trained in workers’ compensation matters.  Stephanie will prepare your file for hearings, prepare settlement demands, follow up on checks, answer questions and help keep you informed as to what is going on with your case.

 

Bob Busch

Client Services/Marketing Manager

Bob oversees our client services and manages the Marketing Campaign at Injured Workers’ Law Firm.  He focuses on improving client services and client retention.  You may even hear from him at the conclusion of your claim for a follow up to our performance and your level of satisfaction with our service.  Bob also directs the content for our newsletter, website and maintains our Facebook page.  Check us out at

 

injuredworkerslawfirm.com

or

 facebook/injuredworkerslawfirm.com

 

 

Our entire staff is friendly, helpful and always ready to assist our clients with any needs they may have.  Please feel free to contact us with any of your questions or concerns!

In Virginia, to get workers’ compensation benefits after
you’ve been injured, you need to notify your employer
immediately—even if it is a minor injury. Don’t worry that
you may not appear to be a team player. Once your employer
receives notice, he or she will file a first report of accident
and submit it to the workers’ compensation insurance
carrier. At that point, the insurance adjuster will call you,
ask questions about your injury, and record your statement
(which is something I usually recommend not giving). Then
you should begin receiving two thirds of your wages weekly,
and given a panel of three doctors. This may seem simple
BUT there are many traps. The biggest problem is that the
injured worker has the burden of proof. This means that the
insurance adjuster and the employer can do nothing and can

say nothing. They have no obligation to explain anything to
you, which may mislead you—and you have no recourse. It
is up to injured workers, even if they are unconscious in a
hospital, to know what their rights and obligations are and to
ask for their benefits. Most insurance adjusters have a policy
“if they don’t ask, don’t tell.” This is the reason why it is best to
talk to an attorney experienced in workers’ compensation so
you know your rights and are informed of any areas in your
claim that could prevent you from getting your full benefits.
You may not need to hire an attorney but you should get fully
informed since you are held responsible for any mistakes you
may make. Good workers’ compensation attorneys will give
you a free consultation to discuss your particular situation.

Protect your rights. How do you best protect
yourself? Get an Award order by filing a claim for
benefits. You may file a claim for benefits either by
writing a simple letter, by filling out the claim for benefits
form provided by the Virginia Workers’ Compensation
Commission, or by filing online at http://www.vwc.
state.va.us. Even though I use letter form to file claim
for benefits for my clients, I recommend to injured
workers who do not have an attorney to use the claim
for benefits form (a sample is in the appendix). You
can go to my website and download the form at
www.injuredworkerslawfirm.com. To fill the form out, you
need to have the employer’s name and address. The most
important part of this form is “parts of your body injured.”
You MUST list ALL the body parts injured specifically. A
shoulder is not an arm. A neck is not a shoulder. A head
injury is not a brain injury. If you do not list the body part
specifically, then they do not have to provide medical
treatment for that body part. Overkill is best. Even if the
body part doesn’t need medical treatment currently, if it
was injured during the accident, list it. You also need to
list the specific date of injury and your average weekly

wage per week. If you don’t know whether the insurance
adjuster is accepting or denying your claim at this point,
or you believe they are accepting your claim, that’s all
you fill out and then you mail the form to the Virginia
Workers’ Compensation Commission. At that point, they
will contact the insurance adjuster and require them to
fill out forms that will generate the Award order that you
need. If you know they are already denying part of your
claim, under Part B, you want to check the various items
that are in dispute and what you are seeking: medical
benefits, lost wages or partial lost wages, or permanent
partial disability benefits (when a doctor has given you
an impairment rating to a body part when you have
lost range of motion). You can also use this form if your
situation changes and you have what’s called a Change in
Condition, or to request a hearing on the various items
that are under Part B.

Are psychological injuries covered by the Act?
Possibly. Psychological injuries alone such as stress,
depression, or anxiety are not covered under the Act.
However, if your work injury and/or the chronic
pain from the injury causes you stress, anxiety, and
depression, then it will be covered. There has to be
a physical or bodily change for the psychological
component of the injury to be covered.