Undefeated Midland Workers’ Compensation Lawyers
When you’re injured on the job in Midland, Texas, call the Undefeated Workers’ Compensation Lawyers at Zehl & Associates Injury & Accident Lawyers. As a worker, you have certain legal protections. This might include the opportunity to recover workers’ compensation insurance benefits to offset the costs of your medical treatment and disability. Our experienced Midland workers’ compensation lawyers can help you explore your options and work to secure a substantial benefits package.
Since 2006, injured workers in Midland have trusted Zehl & Associates to help them stand up to powerful employers and insurance companies after devastating work-related accidents. Smart, cutting-edge legal strategies and substantial resources have helped us remain undefeated and win billions for clients like you.
Don’t settle for less than your claim for workers’ compensation benefits is worth. Trust our top-rated, record-setting record law firm to help you get every cent you deserve. We offer a free consultation, so call our law office in Midland, TX, at 432-220-0000 to get started today.
Table of Contents
- How Our Record-Setting Attorneys Can Help With Your Claim for Workers’ Compensation Benefits in Midland, TX
- What Is Workers’ Compensation?
- Helping Workers Seek Benefits After All Types of Accidents and Injuries in Midland
- What Benefits Does Workers’ Compensation Pay in Midland?
- How Long Will I Have To File a Claim for Workers’ Compensation Benefits in Texas?
- Schedule a Free Consultation With an Undefeated Midland Workers’ Compensation Lawyer
How Our Record-Setting Attorneys Can Help With Your Claim for Workers’ Compensation Benefits in Midland, TX
Workers’ compensation benefits can be a lifeline when a work-related injury or illness turns your world upside down. However, accepting workers comp coverage will limit you to doctors selected by (and loyal to) your company and will NEVER fully compensate you for your injuries, providing only a small fraction of what you’d be able to recover in a personal injury lawsuit.
When your future is at stake, the only way to ensure that you pursue every legal option available and recover the maximum compensation you deserve is to hire the best legal representation you can find.
At Zehl & Associates, we are a team of award-winning, undefeated Texas trial attorneys with a track record of top honors from the National Trial Lawyers, the National Law Journal, Super Lawyers, and other prominent organizations — and the results that demonstrate we not only win, but set records. We have secured Billions for injured workers, including some of the largest accident recoveries in the history of Texas.
Once hired, we do whatever it takes to stand up, fight, and win for you. Count on us to:
- Assemble the best and brightest lawyers, safety experts, and engineers to independently investigate your accident and provide insight and testimony to support your case.
- Quickly gather medical records, wage statements, tax returns, and other evidence needed to document the extent of your injuries and losses and calculate your damages
- Make sure that you receive the best medical treatment in the country for your injuries, ensure that you’re able to pay your medical bills and reasonable living expenses while your case is pending, and stand by you every step of the way.
- Represent you during settlement negotiations, and handle all communications with your employer, their insurers, and their legal team — we have seen them use every trick in the book to avoid responsibility, and we’ll stop at nothing to hold them accountable.
- NEVER settle for less than the maximum compensation you deserve for all of your injuries and losses. We prepare every case for trial, if necessary, and we remain undefeated to this day.
Call our Midland law office today to discuss your legal rights and options. Our top priority is making sure you have all the information you need to make the best decision for you and your family.
All case evaluations are free, and you won’t pay a dime unless we win your case.
Call our Midland law office today to learn more and schedule a time for a free case evaluation.
What Is Workers’ Compensation?
Workers’ compensation is an insurance system designed to cover costs related to an employee’s job-related injury or illness. Rather than filing a personal injury lawsuit against their employer, a worker who gets hurt on the job can seek benefits from their employer’s workers’ compensation insurance policy.
This offers an accelerated path to getting compensation and protects employers from being sued when workers get hurt on the job.
However, unlike most other states, Texas doesn’t require most employers to opt into the workers’ compensation system. Employers have the freedom to opt-out, choose alternative ways to protect injured workers, or risk being sued when someone gets hurt or killed at work.
How Do I Know if I Qualify for Workers’ Compensation?
You may qualify for workers’ compensation benefits if:
- You work for an employer who has a workers’ compensation insurance policy
- You are classified as an employee (full-time, part-time, seasonal), and
- You were injured or became ill while performing job-related tasks or duties.
Benefits won’t be available if you’re not engaged in job-specific responsibilities or are off the clock. For example, you might qualify for benefits if you’re injured in a truck accident while driving materials to or from a job site, but not if you get into a car accident on your lunch break.
Can I Sue My Employer if I Get Workers’ Compensation?
Generally speaking, no. When you get workers’ compensation, you waive the right to take civil legal action against your employer, even if they contributed to or caused your workplace accident.
However, you are free to sue your employer if they’re a workers’ compensation non-subscriber. If they didn’t take the steps to set up benefits to protect you in the event of a work-related injury, you can hold them accountable if their negligence causes you to get hurt.
You can also potentially file a third-party personal injury lawsuit if someone other than your employer contributed to the cause of your injuries. You can get much more compensation (including for your non-economic damages, such as pain and suffering) through a lawsuit than you can through workers’ comp.
Our lawyers can help you evaluate and follow through with your best course of action. We’ll aim to secure as much money for you as possible.
Am I Eligible for Benefits if I Caused My Workplace Accident?
Since workers’ compensation is a no-fault system, you can receive benefits even if you caused or contributed to your injury. There are some exceptions, like if your intentional misconduct caused an accident.
Helping Workers Seek Benefits After All Types of Accidents and Injuries in Midland
Workers’ compensation can be recovered by all different types of workers who suffer different types of injuries across dozens of industries.
At Zehl & Associates, our workers’ compensation attorneys in Midland handle claims involving:
- Construction accidents
- Slip and fall accidents
- Manufacturing accidents
- Mining accidents
- Oilfield accidents
- Agriculture accidents
- Warehouse accidents
- Truck and other motor vehicle accidents
- Transportation accidents
- Repetitive motion injury
- Electrocution injury
- Crushed by object accidents
- Caught in/between object accidents
- Accidents involving defective machinery
- Spinal cord injury
- Traumatic brain injury
- Burn injury
- Amputation injury
- Wrongful death of a loved one
If you’ve been injured or lost a family member in a job-related accident in Midland, call Zehl & Associates. Our legal team has extensive experience and a proven track record of helping injured workers and families obtain substantial benefits and monetary awards. Discover how we can help you get the benefits you need, too.
What Benefits Does Workers’ Compensation Pay in Midland?
Workers’ compensation offers limited benefits for medical treatment, lost wages, disability, and death.
Medical Benefits
Insurance will cover the costs of all reasonable and necessary medical treatment as you recover from your work-related injury.
This can include costs related to:
- Hospitalization
- Surgery
- Medication
- Medical devices
- Prosthetics
- Follow-up care
- Travel
- Chiropractic care
However, there’s a catch. You must seek treatment from a plan-approved healthcare provider. This can limit your ability to control your treatment or see your preferred physicians.
Temporary Income Benefits
Temporary income benefits (TIBs) are available when your work-related injury or illness sidelines you completely, making it impossible for you to go back to work during your recovery. Benefits are calculated using your average weekly wage prior to getting hurt, subject to state maximums. Typically, you can get 70 percent of your average weekly wage, up to $1.174.00.
Temporary income benefits can be paid until you reach maximum medical improvement (MMI) or for 104 weeks, whichever is shorter.
Supplemental Income Benefits
Supplemental income benefits help to offset the difference between your pre-injury and post-injury wages when you go back to work. This will typically equal 80 percent of the difference between the two wages. For 2024, the maximum weekly supplemental income benefit is $822.
Impairment Income Benefits
Benefits can still be awarded once you’ve reached MMI as long as you’re given an impairment rating. An impairment rating essentially says that you’ve recovered as much as you will, but that your injury still affects your ability to work up to your normal capacity.
Impairment income benefits are directly related to your impairment rating. You can receive 3 weeks of pay (based on your average weekly wage) for every 1 percent of impairment. The more significant your impairment, the longer you’ll receive benefits.
Lifetime Income Benefits
If you can’t return to work in any capacity after getting hurt on the job, you can potentially receive Lifetime Income Benefits (LIBs). Benefits equal 75 percent of your average weekly wage with a 3 percent increase every year. LIBs are still subject to caps. For 2024, the maximum weekly Lifetime Income Benefit is $1,174.
Death Benefits
Spouses and children can potentially recover death benefits when a loved one is killed in a fatal workplace accident or dies from an occupational illness or disease. This can include compensation for a funeral, as well as up to $1,174 in wage benefits every week.
How Long Will I Have To File a Claim for Workers’ Compensation Benefits in Texas?
In Texas, you’ll have one year from the date of your injury or diagnosis to formally request workers’ compensation benefits. Note that you must have notified your employer of your injury or illness within 30 days to reserve your right to seek benefits. The default time limit to file a personal injury lawsuit, if you’re eligible to do so, is two years.
If you miss the applicable deadline(s) for your case, you give up the opportunity to recover compensation to help you take care of medical bills and account for a sudden loss of income. There are exceptions to these time limits, but only for specific circumstances; contact us as soon as you can to get started.
Schedule a Free Consultation With an Undefeated Midland Workers’ Compensation Lawyer
Our Midland workers’ compensation lawyers have won Billions on behalf of injured workers across Texas, including the largest burn injury settlement in U.S. history. With the resources, experience, and ability to stand up against the largest companies in the world, we make sure that our clients and their families receive the maximum compensation possible.
If you or a loved one were seriously injured or tragically killed in a work-related accident in Midland, TX, contact us today for a free, no-obligation case evaluation.
We’ll answer your questions, explain your rights, and provide you with all the information you need to make the best decision for you and your family.
All consultations are free, and you won’t pay us a dime unless we win your case.