Ocean County Workers Compensation Lawyer
Locations Served in Ocean County, NJ
For nearly 30 years, Ocean County Workers Compensation Lawyer, Daniel Santarsiero, Esq. at the Law Offices of Jonathan F. Marshall has fought to protect the interests of employees throughout Ocean County, NJ who have suffered work-related injuries and occupational illnesses, including in the cities listed below.
- Barnegat Light
- Barnegat
- Bay Head
- Beach Haven
- Beachwood
- Berkeley Township
- Brick
- Eagleswood
- Harvey Cedars
- Island Heights
- Jackson
- Lacey Township
- Lakehurst
- Lakewood
- Lavallette
- Little Egg Harbor
- Long Beach
- Manchester
- Mantoloking
- Ocean Gate
- Ocean Township
- Pine Beach
- Plumsted Township
- Point Pleasant
- Point Pleasant Beach
- Seaside Heights
- Seaside Park
- Ship Bottom
- South Toms River
- Stafford Township
- Surf City
- Toms River
- Tuckerton
Cases That an Experienced Ocean County Workers Compensation Lawyer Can Help You With
Our Ocean County workers’ compensation firm is capable of representing you with respect to any workplace injury you are facing. We can help you with:
- Workers’ Compensation Claims and Process: Including Denial And Delay Of Claims, Fired After Being Hurt At Work, HIPAA Regulations, Medical Treatment, Obtaining A New Doctor
- The Calculation Of Benefits: Including Benefits For Dependents And Heirs, Cash Settlements, Income Benefits, Social Security Disability, Workers’ Compensation Medical Benefits
- Claims for Different Types Of Injuries: Including Light Duty Workers’ Comp Claims, Permanent Disability Benefits, Second Injury Fund, Temporary Total Disability Benefits (TTD Benefits), Total Disability Claims
- Claims for Specific Workers: Including Arborists, Tree Fellers and Trimmers, Construction Workers, Excavator Operators, Factory and Plant Workers, Firefighters, Foreign-Born Employees, Undocumented Workers and Day Laborers, Framers and Roofers, Furniture Movers and Cartage Company Employees, Health Care Workers, Highway, Roadway and Bridge Workers, Law Enforcement Officers, Police Officers and Public Safety Personnel, Public Employees, Transportation and Material Handlers, Warehouse Workers
- Claims for Different Types of Workplace Injuries: Including Aggravation or Exacerbation of Preexisting Conditions, Amputations, Asbestos Exposure, Back Injuries, Broken Bones, Closed-Head Injuries, Exposure To Toxic Substances, Eye Injuries And Loss Of Vision, Head and Brain Injury, Infections from Injuries at Work, Internal Injuries, Intoxication and Workplace Injuries, Knee Injuries, Off-Site Work Injuries, Pre-Existing Injuries, Repetitive Stress Injury, RSD (Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy), Scaffolding And Ladder Accidents, Shoulder Injury, Strains and Sprains, Toxic Exposure and Lung Cancer, Work-Related Illnesses, Workplace Catastrophic Injuries
- Accidental Death Claims: Including cases involving Contact With Objects and Machinery, Defective Machines and Products, Electrocutions, Fires And Explosions, Industrial Accidents, Slip-And-Fall Accidents, Traffic and Motor Vehicle Accidents, Violence by Persons or Animals, Workers’ Compensation Death Claim
If you have been injured in a workplace accident, it is important to have an Ocean County Workers Compensation Lawyer review your claim as soon as possible to see that you are being treated fairly and to ensure that you receive full compensation for your injury. Please call 866-916-3549 or contact our office using our online contact form to arrange a free consultation. You should know that our compensation lawyers do not charge a fee unless we make a recovery on your behalf.
How Ocean County Workers’ Comp Cases Are Administered
Each county in New Jersey hears workers’ compensation claims in specified workers’ compensation courts, with a few exceptions (Cape May and Cumberland counties share a district office that is located in Bridgeton, for instance). In Ocean County, the workers’ compensation court is located in Toms River. There are multiple judges who are in this court on a day-in/day-out basis. The supervisory judge in Toms River is Carmine Taglialatella and the other judges who have the same jurisdictional authority as him are Russell Cherkos, James Robertson, and James Arsenault.
New Jersey Workers Compensation Court
The day to day operations of the workers’ compensation courts in New Jersey and the cases that are listed before a particular judge at a particular district office are grouped together by the workers’ compensation insurance carriers. Each employer in New Jersey is required to have workers’ compensation insurance. There is a small fraternity of insurance companies that are authorized to write workers’ compensation insurance in the state. Employers therefore will oftentimes have only one insurance company, but that insurance company may have anywhere from 50 or less to 500 or more different employers that they insure for any particular time period.
Cases will then be grouped together by which particular attorney is handling the particular insurance company’s list before a particular judge. For instance, a Monday in Toms River is dedicated to NJM, or New Jersey Manufacturers Insurance Company, so the cases that are part of that Monday’s list in Toms River would be all cases in which employers are insured by NJM.
Normally, each day there are two insurance companies that handle all of the cases being heard by a particular judge. For example, on an “NJM day” in Toms River there will also be an attorney for Travelers present who will be administering the cases that day. Each insurance company hires a particular lawyer or lawyers to handle the cases that are listed that particular day. Some of the insurers have house counsel which means the lawyers who handle those claims are actually employed by that particular insurance company. Other insurance companies will hire private firms to handle the cases that they have at a particular district office.
Filing An Ocean County Workers’ Comp Claim
Workers’ compensation cases begin with the filing of a claim petition that is signed by the injured worker and notarized by a Notary Public in the State of New Jersey. There is no filing fee associated with the filing of a claim petition. That claim petition is electronically filed, sent to the main office in Trenton, New Jersey, and assigned to a local district office depending on where the injured worker lives, which as we mentioned in this instance would be Toms River for Ocean County.
The claim petition is then also served upon the particular employer listed on the claim petition. That employer is then responsible for sending that particular claim petition to the workers’ compensation insurance company who insured that employer on the date of injury.
The workers’ compensation insurance company will then assign counsel and that attorney will then file an answer in the workers’ compensation court. At that point in time, the case is ready to be listed for a hearing. Many times cases that are listed for hearing can be postponed while a worker is receiving the benefits that he or she is entitled to receive, such as medical treatment or wage replacement benefits.
Sometimes, there would be an occasion where the workers’ compensation insurance company or the employer is not treating the injured worker fairly. For instance, they may have improperly suspended the worker’s wage replacement benefits or they may not be providing the proper care required for the injured worker’s medical condition. During those times, a motion can be filed by the injured worker’s attorney to present that case to a judge so a judge can make a determination regarding the amount and kind of medical care that’s required and whether or not that particular injured worker is entitled to continuing wage replacement benefits.
There is always a hearing that needs to take place before any settlement is approved in workers’ compensation court. During the course of that hearing the judge needs to make sure of certain factors. The first factor is the judge needs to make sure that the injured worker is aware of the fact that they do not have to settle their particular case and instead that they have the right to have a trial, have the right to present witnesses, and have a right to present other documentary evidence for the court to consider. At the end of any such trial the judge would make a determination. When the judge is determining whether or not to approve a settlement, he or she must make sure that the injured worker realizes that they have the right to a trial and, just as importantly, realizes that if a settlement is approved by the court that that injured worker would be giving up his or her right to have a trial. The judge also would want to make sure that if the injured worker is giving up his right to trial and wishes for the judge to approve a settlement, that he or she is doing so due to his or her own free will. In other words, no one can be coerced into settling a case or giving up his or her right to have a trial.
Contact a Top Rated Ocean County Workers Compensation Lawyer for a Free Consultation About Your Work Accident Claim Today
To be sure that your full rights and best interests are protected in your workers’ compensation case, contact the attorneys at New Jersey Workers Compensation Lawyer of JFM Law to expertly guide you through the process.