By: Russell Keener  —  December 15, 2011
 

Did you know that carpal tun­nel syn­drome is the most com­mon of work­place injuries?  And were you aware that like other types of work­place injuries, you can opt to get work­ers’ com­pen­sa­tion ben­e­fits?  These state­ments are both true, how­ever, if your injuries are seri­ous enough, you may even want to con­sider fil­ing a per­sonal injury law­suit. Either way, we believe you can ben­e­fit from the ser­vices of a per­sonal injury lawyer in Marietta.

So what is carpal tun­nel syndrome?

The wrist joint is sur­rounded by fibrous tis­sue that sup­ports the joint and is very snugly fit around it; this is called the “carpal tun­nel.” The median nerve runs through the carpal tun­nel and pro­vides sen­sa­tion to the mid­dle and index fin­gers, and thumb. Injury to the carpal tun­nel can cause swelling and may even irri­tate the median nerve, result­ing in pain and tin­gling within the fin­gers. When it’s severe enough, you can com­pletely lose the use of your hand, mak­ing you unable to grasp and hold things, etc. Carpal tun­nel syn­drome is a very com­mon work­place injury because of the repet­i­tive wrist move­ments required for activ­i­ties like typ­ing or sewing.

When should you con­sult a per­sonal injury attor­ney in Marietta?

Fil­ing for work­ers’ compensation

Your per­sonal injury lawyer can help you through the process of cor­rectly fill­ing out and fil­ing your work­ers’ com­pen­sa­tion paper­work; this is no easy process, and try­ing to do it your­self may cause errors that result in a judge delay­ing or even deny­ing ben­e­fits altogether.

If you need to go to court to defend your case, you’ll need a per­sonal injury lawyer to rep­re­sent you prop­erly; doing this will help you get a bet­ter out­come than if you sim­ply decide to set­tle for what the insur­ance com­pany wants to give you.·

Fil­ing a lawsuit

In most cases, you must file work­ers’ com­pen­sa­tion rather than fil­ing a law­suit against your employer. Most states require that you prove *inten­tional* action from your employer that resulted in injuries if you want to file a per­sonal injury law­suit. Job related injuries that were not the result of inten­tional action by your employer are usu­ally only eli­gi­ble for work­ers’ com­pen­sa­tion benefits.

It’s true that work­ers’ com­pen­sa­tion ben­e­fits are usu­ally lower than those you might receive from a law­suit, but the work­ers’ com­pen­sa­tion sys­tem is designed so that work­ers can have some guar­an­teed rec­om­pense for their injuries. Employ­ers agree to pro­vide that rec­om­pense with­out hav­ing to go through a long, drawn up court process. Fur­ther, employ­ers agree to pro­vide work­ers’ com­pen­sa­tion as part of work­ers’ rights with­out threat­en­ing ter­mi­na­tion or other neg­a­tive action as a result of fil­ing for work­ers’ com­pen­sa­tion benefits.

Your Atlanta work­ers’ com­pen­sa­tion lawyer can help you decide whether fil­ing a law­suit or for work­ers’ com­pen­sa­tion is best

The legal sys­tem can be quite com­plex, so you need the ser­vices of your Atlanta work­ers’ com­pen­sa­tion lawyer to both help you fig­ure out whether you should file for rel­a­tively straight­for­ward work­ers’ com­pen­sa­tion ben­e­fits, or whether a law­suit is in your best inter­ests instead. Your per­sonal injury attor­ney will know which is best. Don’t risk los­ing out on ben­e­fits you should have, or on a jury award or set­tle­ment if applic­a­ble. You’ll pay no money up front if your lawyer decides that your case has merit and takes it on, but will have the money and ben­e­fits you need while you recover from your injuries.