Attorney involvement in a workers compensation claims are most prevalent among workers with less than six months tenure, according to a study released Wednesday by the Waltham, Massachusetts-based Workers Compensation Research Institute.
WCRI examined more than 950,000 claims of workers injured between Oct. 1, 2012, and Sept. 30, 2019, in the 31 states covered by its database, which it says represents over 80% of the comp benefits paid nationwide in 2017.
Of the claims with more than seven days of lost time, 34% involved an attorney, according to the analysis, which also found that of those with permanent partial disability, 64% involved an attorney. Only 14% of total disability claims involved litigation.
Of workers with legal representation, the average indemnity benefit per claim was $41,148, compared with the average $7,957 paid to injured workers without a lawyer involved, according to the analysis.
The study also examined types of injuries that had high attorney involvement, with 61% of those with “neurological spine pain” seeking litigation. Forty percent or more of workers with “inflammations” and carpel tunnel syndrome sought attorney representation.
Worker tenure also stood out as a factor, with 39% of claimants with less than six months tenure seeking an attorney. That figure gradually drops to a low of 32% for employees with more than 10 years on the job.
This article was first published in Business Insurance.
