Traumatic limb loss affects countless individuals. It can be difficult to move forward after a car accident or other incident that costs you a limb. During such a difficult time, you need a strong network of support. Ideally, your support network should include an accident lawyer in Baltimore who has prior experience handling cases that involve catastrophic injuries. Your accident attorney can help you seek the compensation you’ll need for your medical care and future expenses.

Making Financial Arrangements

When limb loss occurs as a result of a car accident or other sudden incident, there is no time to prepare for it. And immediately after waking up in the hospital, you’ll have many other issues on your mind than paying the medical bills. Ask a relative to find an experienced accident attorney who can get started reviewing your case. Later on, you can take a more active role in the accident lawsuit. Compensation from a settlement or jury verdict can allow you to meet your care needs despite your reduced capacity to work.

Seeking Mental Health Counseling

It is quite a shock to wake up in the hospital and discover that a limb is missing. For this reason, it’s customary for mental health professionals to meet with amputees as quickly as possible. Even if you never considered speaking with a psychologist before the accident, you are strongly encouraged to take advantage of mental health resources while you adjust to your new realities.

Coping with Physical Limitations

You may be in the hospital for quite a while after the amputation. Before you are discharged, you can expect to meet with a physical therapist and perhaps an occupational therapist. Your therapists will develop a rehabilitation program for you, which will include teaching you how to overcome your new physical limitations . Your occupational therapist will help you relearn important self-care skills such as dressing yourself and climbing stairs.

Defining a New Self-Identity

As you progress with your recovery, you may need to redefine your purpose in life. You may no longer be able to work and you may need others to provide care for you, especially if you’ve lost multiple limbs. But this certainly doesn’t mean that your life no longer has a purpose. Your life has taken an unexpected turn, but you can find new meaning and purpose that allows you to move forward.

In most cases, workers’ compensation law in Baltimore prevents employees from suing their employers because of a workplace injury. Workers’ compensation is designed to provide a no-fault way for employees to receive medical treatment and a percentage of their lost wages. However, workers’ compensation benefits do not extend to all workplace injuries and in some cases, it may be possible to have a workers’ comp lawyer file a lawsuit against the employer .

For example, an injured worker may sue the employer if the employer was legally required to carry workers’ comp insurance and failed to do so. Depending on the circumstances, it may be possible to bring a lawsuit against an employer who allegedly engaged in intentional or egregious conduct that resulted in the workplace injury. In other cases, a lawsuit may be filed against a third party. For example, a workplace injury might be caused by an outside vendor. If the injury is caused by a defective product, the product’s manufacturer might be named as a defendant in a product liability lawsuit.

Workers’ compensation is an invaluable benefit for injured employees who need medical treatment and time off from work. In most cases, employees are able to return to work once they are sufficiently recovered. The doctor who is handling your workers’ compensation injury in Baltimore will let you know when you are cleared to return to work and whether you will need any workplace modifications. If you have any concerns about returning to work, you can consult your workers’ compensation attorney .

Making Notifications

Ask your workers’ compensation lawyer about whether you are legally required to make any notifications about your change in work status. You or your attorney may need to notify your employer’s workers’ comp insurance carrier and the Workers’ Compensation Board.

Receiving Wage Loss Benefits

It is possible for an injured employee to return to work before he or she is completely recovered. If this applies to you, then the doctor who handles your injury case will let you know if you must work shortened hours, avoid certain activities, or make any other adjustments to your work situation. Because of these modifications, you may be earning a reduced wage than you were before the injury occurred. If so, you may be entitled to continue to receive some workers’ comp benefits. Continuing benefits after returning to work is known as receiving wage loss benefits or reduced earning benefits.

Continuing with Medical Treatment

Some workplace injuries require long-lasting medical care. If you must continue with physical therapy or take medications, or if you require any other type of medical care because of a workplace injury, then you will still receive medical benefits. Medical treatments that stem from covered injuries are paid for entirely by the workers’ comp insurance carrier. You can also request reimbursement for travel expenses to and from medical appointments. Additionally, if you must miss some time from work to go to medical appointments, you may be eligible for benefits for “intermittent lost time.”

Reopening Your Case

There can sometimes be discrepancies between what a doctor says you are capable of and what you’re actually capable of. If, after returning to work, you find you cannot fulfill the demands of your workplace, you should consult your attorney promptly. It may be possible to request changes to your job, ask for a short-term position, or extend your period of disability and collect full benefits again.

Have you been told that your injury might not qualify for workers’ compensation ? If so, it’s time to talk to a workers’ compensation lawyer in Baltimore. Your attorney can review your case to determine if you are eligible to file a workers’ comp claim. First, your workers’ compensation lawyer will check your type of employment. If you are an actual employee, rather than an independent contractor, then you should be covered under your employer’s insurance carrier.

Next, your lawyer will consider whether your injury or illness arose out of the course of your employment. It isn’t always necessary for an injury to occur at the worksite. For instance, if John drives a delivery truck and is responsible for unloading heavy crates at the destination, then a back injury from lifting those crates did indeed arise out of the course of his employment and so it would be covered under workers’ compensation. Another requirement of workers’ comp is that qualifying injuries cannot have been intentionally caused by the claimant. For example, if John intentionally drives the delivery truck into a utility pole for the purpose of filing for workers’ comp, his injuries would not be covered.

Car accident injuries range considerably in severity and type, but many of them have the potential to cause long-lasting or permanent disfiguration. If your doctor expects you to have permanent scars from your car accident injuries, be sure to inform your injury lawyer of this development. When filing an accident injury lawsuit in Baltimore, your lawyer may seek compensation for your permanent disfigurement.

After you recover, you might consult a cosmetic surgeon to discuss procedures that can help minimize your scarring. It’s important to keep track of all of your expenses pertaining to the disfigurement, including surgeon consultation fees and operating costs. Your lawyer may be able to recover compensation to cover these costs for you. Permanent disfigurement can also be a factor in seeking damages for psychological injuries. You might consider visiting a mental health counselor or psychologist. During a trial, these types of expert witnesses might testify regarding your psychological injuries that have resulted from your permanent disfigurement.

Car accidents can occur anywhere at any time and sometimes it’s difficult to pinpoint an exact cause. However, determining the cause and contributing factors to a car accident that occurs in Baltimore is an essential step in the recovery process. This is because a car accident lawyer will need to assess liability for the crash to help the victims recover maximum compensation for their injuries and other losses. Police reports are often very helpful in uncovering crash-related issues such as the following.

Teen Drivers

Drivers aged 16 through 19 are most at risk for a crash compared to all other age groups. In fact, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 2,163 teens in the U.S. were killed and 243,243 were rushed to the ER for serious injuries because of motor vehicle crashes that occurred in 2013. The CDC further notes that young drivers aged 15 through 24 comprise just 14% of the U.S. population, yet they are responsible for 30% of the total costs stemming from motor vehicle crashes. Male teens represent the highest risk and this risk increases further when male passengers are in the car. The presence of passengers of either sex in a car driven by a teen driver of either sex is also a significant risk factor for a crash. This could be because teens are more likely to try risky driving behaviors when their peers are present and/or because passengers are a considerable source of distraction while driving. The risk associated with teen drivers is also attributed to their relative inexperience with handling a car.

Driving Distractions

In addition to the distracting influence of passengers, there are many other sources of distraction that can contribute to car accidents. It’s common knowledge that cellphones, GPS devices, and other electronic gadgets can easily distract a driver. However, many other activities can be incredibly distracting, such as eating and drinking, grooming, rubbernecking at crash sites and at billboards, reaching for fallen objects, and even daydreaming.

Busy Roadways

Another factor that can increase the risk of a crash is a very busy roadway. Experienced drivers already know that they ought to exercise greater caution during rush hour traffic, but sometimes even the most cautious of drivers can forget to check a blind spot before changing lanes. During rush hour, it’s particularly important to actively and continuously monitor the changing traffic patterns.

You may already know that a charge of driving under the influence (DUI) can lead to jail time, substantial fines, and suspension of your driver’s license. But you might not have considered the effect that having a criminal record can have on your employability. If you’ve been charged with DUI, it’s vital that you consult a DUI lawyer near Baltimore immediately. Your DUI attorney can get right to work on your case and provide guidance through each step of the process.

One way your DUI attorney can help you is by representing you during your arraignment, at which point you may be released on your own recognizance or released on bail. Being released is of course preferable, since you might not care to explain to your employer that you’ll need to miss work indefinitely while you await the resolution of a criminal case. Your DWI lawyer will also work to get the charges reduced or dropped if possible, or to argue for your acquittal in court. Otherwise, if you are convicted, your employer could decide to fire you. In fact, many employers have mandatory firing policies that apply to employees with criminal convictions. A DUI conviction might also result in the loss of your professional license and it will significantly diminish your chances of landing a new job.

For many employees, their workers’ compensation rights and responsibilities are not well understood. The regulations can be complicated and confusing, and they vary from state to state. If you have sustained an on-the-job illness or injury, you should know that you do have the right to visit a workers’ compensation law firm in the Baltimore area. You can have a workers’ compensation attorney review your case and provide personalized guidance. It’s particularly important to consult a workers’ compensation attorney if you feel that your employer may have violated your legal rights.

You Have Not Been Advised of Your Legal Rights

Employers are required by law to post a notice of compliance in a conspicuous place where employees could reasonably be expected to see it, such as in a break room. The notice must provide information about employee rights, disclose the name of the company’s workers’ compensation carrier, provide information about the available workers’ compensation benefits, and inform injured workers that they have the right to receive medical treatment. Advise your attorney at law if your employer has not complied with this requirement.

You Have Not Been Provided with Claim Forms

After an injury occurs in the workplace, employees must report the incident right away. Within 24 hours of the incident being reported, the employer is required to provide the injured worker with claim forms and written information about the employee’s workers’ compensation rights. The written information must include details about filing a claim and the available benefits. The failure of an employer to do this is an indicator of employee rights violations.

You Have Been Treated in a Discriminatory Fashion

Employees are protected by law from retaliatory actions initiated by their employers. This means that after you report an incident and file a claim for compensation, employers are barred from initiating discriminatory actions against you. Inform a workers’ compensation attorney promptly if you feel that you have been the recipient of retaliatory acts in the workplace. Some examples of retaliatory acts include being unfairly demoted, having hours or wages cut, being unfairly reassigned to a position of lesser value, or being unfairly terminated.