Steadfast Oakland Lawyers Focus on Workers’ Compensation

Dedicated attorneys handle cases involving injury or illness

At Latimer Law Group, in Oakland, California, we have been helping Bay Area clients with workers’ compensation claims since 2000. We represent workers injured at construction sites, on docks and in harbors, on railroads, in offices, and in warehouses. If you suffered an illness or injury anywhere because of your job, we may be able to help you obtain compensation.

Filing a claim

California workers’ compensation rules govern what types of injuries or illnesses workers can claim, how much they can recover and when they must file a claim. You have 30 days to provide your employer written notice of the accident or incident. For harm not immediately apparent, you have 30 days from the date you first saw a doctor or missed work due to an injury or disease that you learned or should have learned was work-related.

Appealing a decision

The insurance carrier and your employer might dispute your workers’ compensation claim for a variety of reasons. They might dismiss your account of how the injury happened, claim it did not occur at work, say you are exaggerating its severity or that you did not meet some of the filing requirements. If you are denied benefits, you have a right to file an application for adjudication of claim with the California Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board. We will review your case and do all we can to help you get a better result.

Lost wages or salary

A critical part of your claim is getting compensation for your necessary medical care expenses and for part of the wages you lost as a result of not being able to work. This is known as temporary disability. In many instances, people who become ill or injured on the job experience delays in returning to work and may even be unable to work going forward, which may entitle them to partial or total permanent disability. We can guide you through these issues and seek the best outcome possible.

Rehabilitation expenses

Depending on the type of injury, rehabilitation can take days or years. Sometimes the trauma is so extensive that physical therapy is required indefinitely just to help the person function, and home alterations may be required to accommodate a wheelchair or other medical equipment. Few can afford all of this without workers’ compensation. In cases of permanent disability, the workers’ compensation system can provide vouchers to pay for the costs of obtaining vocational rehabilitation for a different job. We can help you recover any rehabilitation costs to which you are entitled.

Recovery for dependents following a worker’s death

If you were financially dependent on a worker who died as a result of his or her job, you may be entitled to death benefits. You might also be entitled to bring a wrongful death claim if a third party was at least partly responsible for the person’s death. We can explore both of these options with you.

Contact a Bay Area workers’ compensation lawyer for a free consultation

If you or a loved one has been injured on the job in the Bay Area, please contact Latimer Law Group, in Oakland, California, for a free workers’ compensation consultation. Call us at 510-444-6555 or contact us online.