Working on an oil field can be extremely dangerous. Even if you do everything you can to keep yourself safe, if your company overlooks safety concerns or your coworkers make mistakes, you could suddenly find yourself facing a life-altering injury. Experienced oil field injury lawyer Mickey Fine has helped injured workers throughout Bakersfield for more than three decades. He is committed to helping his clients pursue the maximum compensation to which they are entitled under the law.
7 Ways an Oil Field Injury Lawyer Can Help You
After suffering an oil field injury, you need to be very careful to protect your legal rights. While you may be entitled to financial compensation, you could lose your legal rights if you aren’t careful. With this in mind, here are seven important ways an oil field injury lawyer can help you:1. Protecting Your Right to Workers’ Compensation Benefits
In most cases, when you get injured on an oil field in California, you will be entitled to receive workers’ compensation benefits. California law requires most companies to provide workers’ compensation coverage for their employees, and eligible employees can file claims on a “no-fault” basis. But, while you might not need to prove fault in order to collect benefits, this does not mean that collecting benefits is easy. In fact, it can be an extremely time-consuming and difficult process. An oil field injury lawyer can handle the process for you while you focus on your recovery.2. Accurately Calculating Your Workers’ Compensation Benefits
One of the more challenging aspects of filing for workers’ compensation benefits is determining how much you are entitled to recover. Unfortunately, you cannot rely on your employer’s insurance company to accurately calculate your benefits. But, when you hire a lawyer who has your best interests in mind, you can feel confident that you are seeking the full benefits you deserve.3. Filing a Claim Outside of Workers’ Compensation
In many cases, injured oil field workers will have claims outside of workers’ compensation. Oil field accidents can result from a wide range of causes, and many of these causes will give rise to “third party” claims. If you have a “third party” claim, you can seek compensation above and beyond the benefits that are available to you through workers’ comp. While workers’ compensation covers your medical bills and a portion of your lost wages, filing a “third party” claim gives you the opportunity to recover compensation for your:- Medical expenses (current and future)
- Full lost wages (current and future)
- Other financial costs (i.e. prescription and medical device costs)
- Pain and suffering
- Scarring and disfigurement
- Emotional trauma
- Loss of companionship and consortium
- Loss of enjoyment of life