If you have a workers’ compensation claim, you might be concerned that you can’t afford to hire a lawyer. Fortunately, the workers’ comp system in Georgia has rules to ensure that you can. If your attorney isn’t able to win benefits for you, you don’t have to pay any fees at all. In addition, state law sets a cap on how much you'll pay. Read on for details.
In Georgia—as in most states—all workers’ comp attorneys are paid on a contingency fee basis. This means that, instead of charging you an hourly rate, your lawyer will be paid a portion of your settlement or award. If you don’t get any compensation, neither does your attorney.
Under Georgia law, your attorney can’t charge more than 25% of the benefits you receive in your settlement or award (not including medical benefits). Also, the fee generally can’t exceed 400 weeks of your disability benefits. (Ga. Code § 34-9-108(a); Ga. Code Workers’ Comp. Rule 108 (2019).)
In some cases, a lawyer might agree to a contingency fee that’s lower than 25%. But this rarely happens, because workers’ comp claims usually involve a lot of work for attorneys, and the maximum fee is already relatively low (especially when compared to personal injury cases, where contingency fees are typically 33% to 40%). However, you might be able to find a lawyer who will agree to a reduced fee if you had relatively minor injuries, and your claim can be quickly resolved.
The workers’ comp judge may order your employer’s insurance company to pay a portion of your lawyer’s fees if the insurer didn’t pay your benefits on time (without a good reason), and your lawyer had to take action to enforce your rights. You might also get an order for fees if you can prove that the insurance company denied your claim without any reasonable legal basis. (Ga. Code § 34-9-108(b) (2019).)
Besides the lawyer’s fee, there are other expenses involved in pursuing a workers’ comp case, including the charges for medical records requests, court reporter fees for transcribing depositions, and expert witness fees (for example, for doctors who testify at a deposition or hearing).
Most workers’ comp lawyers will not ask you to pay for these costs up front. Instead, they generally cover the out-of-pocket expenses and then deduct them from your settlement or award. Although many attorneys will forgive the costs if you don’t receive a settlement or award, this isn’t always the case. So before you hire an attorney, be sure to ask how the costs will be handled.
In Georgia, the workers’ comp judge must approve your lawyer’s fee (if it’s more than $100), as well as all legal costs that will be deducted from your settlement or award. Your attorney will submit a form to request the approval. In most cases, the judge will approve a fee that’s within the legal limits. (Ga. Code § 34-9-108(a) (2019).)
You should discuss fees and costs with your lawyer at your initial consultation, before signing a contract. And when you’re considering a settlement, your attorney should explain how much will be deducted in attorneys’ fees and costs, and whether the contingency fee percentage will be calculated before or after the costs are subtracted.
There may be more deductions from your portion of the settlement or award for other obligations, such as unpaid medical bills, unpaid child support, and reimbursements for Medicare or unemployment benefits you received while the insurance company was denying your workers’ comp claim. (Learn more about what might be taken out of workers’ comp settlement or awards.)
If you’re still wondering whether it’s worth it to hire a lawyer, you may want to look at the results of our national workers’ comp survey, which showed that injured employees received significantly higher settlements and awards, on average, when they hired attorneys than when they pursued their claims on their own.
