Work Injury Lawyers in Odessa, TX

Work with a Third-Party Liability Attorney in Odessa

If you work for a non subscriber or someone other than your employer caused your injuries, it is essential to talk with an experienced workplace accident lawyer. The only way to obtain compensation without workers’ comp benefits is to file a lawsuit against your employer or a third party. You may also be entitled to pursue both workers’ comp benefits and third-party liability compensation.

When Kemmy Law Firm represents you after a workplace accident, you can be confident that we will thoroughly investigate the incident. We will take steps to preserve and gather all available evidence. We will also handle communications with your employer and any relevant insurer. Though your employer may not have carried workers’ comp, they may have a liability insurance policy.

After a work-related injury, you may receive a settlement offer from your company or their insurer within a matter of weeks. We highly recommend you consider the offer carefully and confer with an attorney. Quick settlement offers tend to be low because the liable party is attempting to limit their expenses.

One way to avoid being pressured to accept a lowball settlement is to retain an injury lawyer with considerable trial experience. By working with a trial lawyer and filing a personal injury lawsuit, you show the liable party and their insurer that you are serious about your financial recovery.

Why Choose Kemmy Law Firm?

We are a family of trial lawyers with more than 50 years of experience. We treat each person who walks through our doors as an extension of our family. At all times throughout the legal process, you will be treated with kindness, compassion, and respect. You will also receive our honest advice and guidance during your pursuit of compensation.

We take workplace accidents and injuries very seriously. We are passionate about helping our clients get back to work, either in their established profession or in a new field.

When we work with clients who cannot return to work because of a work-related disability, we fight hard to recover the compensation they and their families need for the future.

At Kemmy Law Firm, you never have to worry about us pushing your case to the side. We are careful to limit our caseload to ensure none of our experienced attorneys or staff members are overworked. We also choose to provide quality legal representation over quantity.

Common Causes of Workplace Injuries

When it comes to workplace accidents in Texas, we have seen it all. We have handled everything from the most unexpected accidents to the most obvious and preventable injuries.

Types of work accidents we handle include:

To obtain work injury compensation through a lawsuit, you have to establish the value of your damages. Damages can be categorized as economic or non-economic injuries. We utilize your medical bills, receipts, pay stubs, tax returns, and other documentation to prove the value of your economic damages.

Of course, economic damages are not the only kinds of losses that victims of work accidents suffer. Accident victims suffer non-economic damages as well, like pain and suffering. However, unlike economic losses, non-economic damages do not show up on receipts or bills, and so they can be more challenging to establish.

To prove your non-economic damages, we may ask you to take pictures of your visible injuries each day while you recover and to keep a daily journal regarding your pain and discomfort levels and the other consequences of being injured on the job. If we take your case to trial, we want to be able to show the jury how these injuries have impacted you and your family’s daily lives and future.

Proving damages also may require hiring a medical, economic, vocational, or other experts who can testify as to your inability to work, future medical expenses, and lost income.

A Third-Party Liability Lawsuit

Our work injury attorneys can guide you through a personal injury lawsuit against your employer or third-party liability lawsuit against another person or business.

Once we collect enough evidence, we will typically file a lawsuit against the liable party. During litigation, we will fully utilize the discovery process. Depositions, interrogatories, and requests for documents can provide us with a wealth of information to support our client.

Following discovery, we might enter into negotiations with the defendant’s insurance company. We are aggressive negotiators and will fight for the maximum compensation possible for your work-related injuries.

When an insurer refuses to settle for a fair amount, the next step is to go to trial. We are not afraid to go head-to-head with the liable party in court. We have handled many workplace accidents and injury cases, and we know how juries respond to careless and reckless employers.

With our deep understanding of Texas law and comprehensive experience, we are often successful in recovering compensation for our clients. In the past two years alone, we have won more than $50 million in verdicts and settlements.

A Workers’ Compensation Claim

If workers’ compensation covers you, notify your employer of your injury as soon as possible. Then, file an Employee’s Claim for Compensation for a Work-Related Injury or Occupational Disease (DWC Form-041) with the Texas Division of Workers’ Compensation.

The DWC then notifies your employer, and the workers’ comp insurer will accept or deny your claim.

When workers’ compensation insurance covers injured workers, they may be entitled to certain income benefits:

• Temporary Income Benefits (TIBs): If you are temporarily disabled for more than seven days, you can receive 70% of the difference between your average weekly wages and the wages you are able to earn after your on-the-job injury.
• Impairment Income Benefits (IIBs): If you have a permanent partial disability that impacts your income, you may receive IIBs. The duration of IIBs depends on your impairment rating (IR), which signals the degree to which your body is impaired. You receive three weeks of IIBs for every percentage of impairment. The amount is based on 70% of your average weekly wages.
• Supplemental Income Benefits (SIBs): If you have an IR of 15% or higher, have not returned to work or earn less than 80% of your pre-injury average weekly wages, are looking for work, and have not accepted a lump sum settlement, you can apply for SIBs. You must apply for these benefits every three months.
• Lifetime Income (LIBs): You can receive lifetime income if you lost an extremity, lost your vision, sustained a spinal cord injury and paralysis, suffered a TBI causing insanity or imbecility or suffered third-degree burns over 40% or more of your body. You are entitled to 75% of your average weekly wages with a 3% increase each year.

If your claim is accepted, the insurer will calculate your benefits. Talk with an attorney if your claim is denied or the insurer calculated your benefits incorrectly.