[Starve The Beast]

I have a wonk question: How do trial lawyers figure into the workers compensation mess? I understand that they can sue on behalf of workers who believe they deserve compensation, but there's not much money there, right? How does that work?

[RanchoStash]

The bulk of their money comes from the settlement the employee receives at the end of a long ordeal that insues between Workers' Comp., Doctors, and the employee. Little work, for a nice sum of the partial or full disability settlement. The regulations here in CA require the Workers's Comp. companies to repeatedly send "you have the right to get yourself an attorney" letters to the injured employee. What most people don't know is here in California the State Comp. Ins. Fund (largest carrier for W/C) has the third most employees on Workers' Comp. behind only to other state agencies.

[republicofdavis]

"How do trial lawyers figure into the workers compensation mess?"

I'm surprised he used the term "trial lawyers." It's actually "Applicant's Attorneys." Trial lawyers are commonly understood to be civil attorneys, and they don't handle workers' comp.