If you are injured in the course and scope of your employment, you are entitled to receive certain benefits provided by the Tennessee and Georgia workers’ compensation laws. These laws are very difficult to understand and filled with deadlines and requirements that an average person would not know about.

For example, you must advise your employer of the time, place, manner and circumstances of your injury, in writing, within thirty (30) days after you are injured unless you can show that the employer had actual knowledge of your injury. It is not unusual for employers to say that they did not have actual knowledge of your injury even though it is not a true statement.

Did you know that the employer is required to give you a panel of three (3) or four (4) physicians, not in the same firm, for the treatment of your work-related injury? You must choose one of those physicians from this panel. It is very important to know how to evaluate each physician on the panel and how to choose the right one. What if the employer refuses to provide you with this panel?

Did you know that the employer is required to file a document called the Employer’s First Report of Injury with the State of Tennessee and State of Georgia immediately upon you telling them that you were injured on the job? What if the employer refuses to file the document?
Did you know that you may also be entitled to receive a certain percentage of your average weekly wages while you are disabled from working due to your injury? There are certain formulas used to calculate just how much weekly disability benefits you are entitled to receive from the employer. What if the employer refuses to pay you these benefits?

Insurance companies have an army of investigators and attorneys who are immediately called upon when an employee sustains an on the job injury. Although insurance company adjusters may want you to believe that they are looking out for your best interests, this is simply not the truth. The insurance company adjusters’ sole purpose is to help the employer save money.

Therefore, it is absolutely necessary that you seek the advice of an experienced workers’ compensation lawyer who can review your case, evaluate it, and then give you a clear and concise opinion of what your case may be worth and what future steps are necessary to protect your rights.

Attorney Gary Starnes is an experienced workers’ compensation lawyer who will fight for your rights. He has battled insurance adjusters and claim representatives in Tennessee and Georgia for years and knows what they do to investigate and defend workers compensation claims.