For over 30 years, The Law Offices of George Poulos has dedicated its practice to helping all those who’ve been wrongly injured on the job. Our experienced Jackson Heights workers’ compensation attorney understands that you are not just another client; you are an individual who has a job, a family to support, and you need financial compensation benefits to help you do so. We take this responsibility incredibly seriously, and we are ready to help you through every step of the legal process ahead. Contact our firm to schedule your initial consultation so we can get started today.
Our Legal Services
The Law Offices of George Poulos can provide you with the following answers to your questions after sustaining a workplace injury:
- What is Workers’ Compensation?
- Who is covered?
- Filing a claim
- Workers’ Compensation Benefits
- Disability Classifications
- Occupational Diseases
- Third Party Lawsuits
- Claim Disputes
Understanding Workers’ Compensation
If you’ve been injured on the job, you can depend on The Law Offices of George Poulos to assist you through every step of the legal process ahead, including:
- Determining Whether You Have a Claim: First, we will have to determine whether you qualify for workers’ compensation under New York State’s workers’ compensation law.
- Determining Your Disability Classification: Our firm will then analyze medical records and expenses regarding your injuries and evaluate the extent of your injury.
- Filing Your Claim: Next, our Jackson Heights workers’ compensation attorney will file your claim. It is critical that you retain the services of an attorney who is familiar with filing these claims, as doing so will ensure that your claim is filed correctly and in accordance with the law.
- Handling Claim Disputes: At times, individuals are wrongly denied their workers’ compensation benefits, as insurance companies often prioritize their bottom line. If your claim has been disputed, our firm can fight to win you the benefits you truly need.
- Filing Third-Party Lawsuits: In many cases, when someone is wrongly injured in an accident on the job, the benefits provided by workers’ compensation simply do not cover the entire cost of their injury. When this happens, our firm can work to prove that a third-party who is not your employer is liable for your injuries. As long as we can demonstrate that you were injured as a direct result of the negligence of a third-party, such as a property owner or product designer/manufacturer, you should be entitled to financial compensation.
The Deadlines Behind That Statute of Limitations
Two deadlines matter, and they are not the same one. You generally have two years from the date of the accident to file your claim with the Workers’ Compensation Board. You also have only 30 days to give your employer written notice of the injury, and that is a separate bar. A claim filed comfortably inside two years can still be defeated because nobody put the injury in writing during the first month.
Written is the operative word. A conversation with a supervisor or a text to a foreman will not reliably satisfy the requirement, and neither gives you proof a year later when the carrier claims it never heard about the accident. Write it down, keep a copy, and note the date.
Third-party claims run on a different clock. Those are ordinary negligence lawsuits, and the deadline is generally three years, though if a municipality is the defendant it shrinks to a 90-day Notice of Claim.
A workplace injury in Jackson Heights is a Queens County claim, administered through the Board’s Queens district office in Jamaica. Hearings are largely virtual now, but the district office still determines which examiners and law judges handle your file.
Contact Our Experienced Jackson Heights Workers’ Compensation Attorney
After sustaining a workplace injury, you need a legal team with extensive knowledge and skill in workers’ compensation law. Keep in mind that the sooner you speak with our firm, the better, as there is a statute of limitations in place for both third-party claims and workers’ compensation claims. Contact The Law Offices of George Poulos today to schedule your initial consultation with our seasoned Jackson Heights firm so we can begin working on your case.