Workers’ compensation attorneys in Colorado are sometimes essential for obtaining the benefits that the state laws entitle to each employee. If it runs smoothly, the process can give the injured worker some much needed medical care and cash payments that he will need to recuperate. If the system fails, an alternate process begins which reads like a trial. There are hearings, attorneys for the defendant (the employer and his workers compensation insurer), judges, an appeals process, etc.

Throughout this trial-like ordeal, the injured worker is expected to defend himself. Although the Colorado Division of Workers’ Compensation states that the plaintiff (employee) does not need representation, he can hire an attorney to help with the appeals process.

Workers’ compensation attorneys can not only help the injured worker navigate the claim, hearing, and appeal; he also ensures that that his client’s rights are protected along the way. The attorney has an intimate knowledge of the Colorado workers’ compensation laws; a knowledge which he uses, for example, to protect the client from the insurer’s adjusters—the people who are usually sent to assess the injury. A less than honorable adjuster can ultimately reduce the amount of benefits that the workers’ compensation insurer awards to the injured worker who does not have an attorney. This is often done over the objections of the worker. The only remedy is a hearing.

Filing for the hearing without representation is possible, but it is also another part of the process in which the worker can get snowed into receiving less or none of the benefits that he is entitled to. Under Colorado law, an injured worker is entitled to lost wages, mileage reimbursement, permanent and partial disability, and also payment for disfigurement. Unrepresented plaintiffs are usually unaware of either the existence of these benefits, or of the steps to take to obtain them. The system that is said be navigable without an attorney often leaves the unrepresented without the benefits which they are entitled.

Hiring a Colorado workers’ compensation attorney is the best way to get the maximum benefits allowed by law. His knowledge of the law is a client’s most valuable asset. Most workers’ compensation attorneys work on a contingency basis, which allows representation for a client, despite their financial situation. Consult a workers compensation attorney soon after the injury to save time and to obtain the most out of your workers compensation.