Off The Record – Workers’ Comp – Settlements

Video Transcript

Craig: Hi, everyone. My name is Craig Rosasco and I’m a partner at the law firm of Turley Redmond & Rosasco. This is Bill Turley, my partner. We’re here today to talk about workers’ compensation settlements. At Turley Redmond & Rosasco, we deal with all facets of injuries and disabilities. Today, once again, we’re going to speak about workers’ compensation settlements and the different types that there are.

There are typically two different types of settlements. The first is known as a Scheduled Loss of Use. And that’s when a claimant suffers an injury to an extremity and, at the end of their case, they are determined to have a certain amount of permanency based upon range of motion deficits. And then there’s also what’s called a Section 32 resolution. And my partner Bill is going to explain that to you briefly.

Bill: Section 32 settlement usually comes about when the insurance company is going to come under an obligation to have to pay you for an extended period of time into the future. Very often, what they will do is they’ll offer you a lump-sum payment in exchange for those ongoing continuous payments into the future. But very often, a lot of times if you have a problem case, or you know, something that’s got a little, as we say, hair on it, they will offer a Section 32 settlement just to make the case go away, so to speak. Okay. And very often these settlements will require the cooperation of your doctor. Am I right?

Craig: No doubt, absolutely.

Bill: So, a lot of times, you really can’t bring a case to a resolution until you’ve reached what we call maximum medical improvement. In other words, the doctor has done everything that they can possibly do for that particular injury to get you better, to get you as good as you can get. They’ve reached a plateau. And, quite frankly, very often we have some difficulty in getting to that plateau, do we not?

Craig: There are some hurdles to be jumped in every type of case, but certainly the Section 32s, and there are some issues that get brought into the global closure of the case, which many claimants aren’t aware of. And that comes down to, what are the future value of payments? Is there a present-day value discount? What is the value of the medicals? What is the value of the medications? All these things need to be factored into your Section 32 settlement. And they are things that the general client is just not aware of, and they’re not prepared to negotiate against the big Fortune 500 insurance companies. And that’s where you need attorneys like myself and Bill to represent your interest on Section 32s.

Additionally, if we can jump back, I mentioned Scheduled Loss of Use settlements earlier. A lot of times, not a day goes by that I don’t see either a claimant’s doctor and/or an insurance company doctor misutilizing the permanency guidelines, wherein they’re not factoring in certain special considerations that may come into play, or whether they’re not factoring in all the different range of motion, the planes of range of motion with the shoulder. We’ve got flexion, we’ve got abduction, we’ve got extension, we’ve got adduct, we’ve got all these different things that come into play. And if the doctor is not factoring those things into your case, he’s shortchanging you. So, we’re here to make the difference in between a possibly shortchange and a fair settlement. So, that’s why I recommend that you call us. Bill, why don’t you tell them what the internet website is?

Bill: It’s www.nydisabilitylaw.com.

Craig: That’s right. And you can reach us on the phone at area code 631-582-3700. From that office can branch anywhere out statewide for your representation needs.

Bill: And we have a Facebook page too, right?

Craig: We do have a Facebook page.

Bill: Yeah, yeah.

Craig: We’re socially media-connected. So, find us, reach out to us. It’ll be worth your while. Thank you.

Bill: Thank you.