Fort Wayne Injury and Disability Attorney Nathaniel Hubley

In some worker's compensation claims it is not uncommon for the worker's compensation insurance company to retain a nurse case manager to oversee the injured worker's medical treatment. Essentially, a nurse case manager acts as the worker's compensation insurance company's claim adjuster's eyes and ears on the ground. On April 17, 2018, the Indiana Worker's Compensation Board issued an update regarding its nurse case manager guidelines . According to the Indiana Worker's Compensation Board, "ideally, a nurse case manager is a liaison among the medical provider, the employer and the injured worker.  While not an indispensable player in the Indiana worker’s compensation process or specifically governed by the Worker’s Compensation Act, the nurse case manager can play an integral role in the coordination of medical treatment and the stay-at-work/return-to-work process." In its updated guidelines, the Indiana Worker's Compensation Lawyer...

Recent Developments In Indiana Worker's Compensation Law When Temporary Total Disability Benefits are available to an injured worker who has been fired after sustaining the work-related injury. Under the Indiana Worker's Compensation Act , employers would typically be able to deny an injured worker temporary total disability benefits if the employer had fired the injured worker for a reason unrelated to the work-related injury. Contact a Fort Wayne Indiana Work Injury Lawyer For example, in many situations an injured worker would be off work undergoing treatment for the work-related injury and while doing so, would be receiving weekly temporary total disability benefits. These temporary total disabil ity benefits are essentially wage replacement benefits paid out at two-thirds of the injured worker's average weekly wage. However, when the employer would fired the injured worker for say failing a drug screen or for some other reason, the employer would take the p...

Safety precautions include: Stop your vehicle and move it to a safe nearby location;  Check to see if anyone is injured;  Call 911 for medical assistance;  Do not leave the scene of the accident;  Make sure everyone involved moves to a safe location; and  If you think you are injured or think that the accident was violent enough, wait for the EMS to examine you. If possible, get the other party's information, including: Name;  Address (including email);  Phone number(s); and  Also, get the contact information of any witnesses. Get the following information about all vehicles involved: Year, make, and model of the motor vehicle(s);  License plate number(s);  Insurance carrier(s); and  Insurance policy number(s). If a police officer is present, get the following information from him or her: Name and badge number;  Phone number; and  Police report number. Document the motor vehicle accident, including: Dam...

During a Social Security disability hearing, vocational experts routinely assist the Social Security Administrative Law Judge in determining whether there is work available in the national economy which a particular disability claimant can perform. The disability attorney will also use the vocational expert in an attempt to show that the disability claimant's severe restrictions prohibit his or her ability to engage in competitive employment. The federal district courts have noted that vocational experts are persons who have, through training and experience in vocational counseling or placement, an up-to-date knowledge of job requirements, occupational characteristics and working conditions, and a familiarity with the personal attributes and skills necessary to function in various jobs. In providing their testimony, vocational experts rely in part upon the Dictionary of Occupational Tables which is a reference published by the  U.S. Department of  Labor tha...

April, 18 2013 -- Social Security Administrative Law Judges and their union filed a lawsuit against the Social Security Administration on Thursday in federal Court in Chicago, alleging that the agency's productivity goals in fact constitute an illegal quota that pushes judges' workloads beyond the capacity of what they can realistically handle. The lawsuit alleges that the agency requires administrative law judges to decide between 500 and 700 cases per year, which averages out to over two decisions per workday. The judges claim that the goals are too high, and force judges to make decisions too quickly. The lawsuit essentially puts in question the integrity of the  Social Security disability  hearing process. The fact that the people in charge of the process are raising the issue makes it all the more serious. The lawsuit alleges that judges are supposed to keep meet their quotas, regardless of how complicated their cases. Many case files are 500 or more pages. Judges c...

Under the Indiana Worker's Compensation Act , injured workers are normally entitled to three (3) different types of benefits, including: (1) medical treatment at no cost to the injured worker; (2) wage replacement benefits, commonly known as Temporary Total Disability ("TTD") benefits; and (3) compensation for any permanency of the work-related injury that is calculated by looking at the Permanent Partial Impairment ("PPI") rating assigned by the treating doctor. However, in some cases, when the injured worker's impairment is so severe that it might adverely affect his or her ability to engage in competitive employment, the injured worker may have a claim for Permanent Total Disability ("PTD") benefits. PTD claims arise when the injured worker is unable to perform reasonable forms of work activity, such as a sit down job. In determining whether there is a viable PTD claim, the following considerations are taken into account: the injured worker...

Evidence in civil litigation is governed by the Rules of Evidence (either federal or state). Rule 702 of the Federal Rules of Evidence applies to expert witness testimony. A Vocational Expert ("VE") generally refers to an expert witness who testifies at Social Security disability hearings. The VE's testimony is used by the Administrative Law Judge ("ALJ") to determine whether a claimant is disabled. Specifically, the VE addresses whether based upon the limitations assigned by the ALJ, whether the claimant can perform their past relevant work, and, if not, whether the claimant can engage in competitive employment. In doing so, a standard is needed to define the specific requirements that the VE's testimony and the VE's methodology must satisfy in order to maintain the integrity of the VE's testimony. The most well known example of a standard that places a check on the testimony of an expert is Rule 702 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (or the e...

Overview of Indiana Worker's Compensation Benefits This Guide discusses the three main worker's compensation benefits available to workers in the State of Indiana. Generally, most worker's compensation cases will involve some form of compensation involving the three main type of benefits. 1 Temporary Total Disability Benefits Temporary Total Disability benefits, also referred to as TTD benefits are a wage supplement. These benefits are paid to employees who have sustained a work-related injury that renders them unable to work. These benefits are paid at 2/3 of the employee's average weekly wage. The first TTD benefit will be made after the first week the employee is off of work. Should the employee be off of work for more than twenty days, then the employee will receive TTD compensation for the initial week of lost work. TTD benefits are offered to the injury employee in an attempt to offset the employee's lost wages. It is important to note that s...

Written by:  Nathaniel O Hubley Attorney licensed in Indiana The SSA, with the authority granted to it by the Social Security Act, provides cash and insurance benefits to individuals through two disability programs, both of which use the same disability determination process, but both of which also have different, yet complementary, goals. The first program is the Social Security DIB program, which is part of the comprehensive social security insurance program, and the second program is the Supplemental Security Income ("SSI") program, which is a means-based program designed specifically to guarantee a minimal level of income to only the poorest of the aged, blind, and disabled. Because SSI benefits are means-based and consist of only nine-percent of the benefits paid by the SSA, this article focuses on DIB.  To be eligible for DIB, the SSA requires that an applicant be unable to engage in "substantial gainful activity by reas...

Written by:  Nathaniel O Hubley Attorney licensed in Indiana Attorney Nathaniel Hubley is a Fort Wayne, Indiana Injury and Disability Attorney . At the fourth of the five-step sequential disability determination, the Administrative Law Judge ("ALJ") relies on VE testimony on a limited basis; at the fifth step, however, the SSA relies heavily on testimony from the VE who forms his or her opinion after reviewing the disability claimant's records and data in the DOT. This testimony is crucial because neither the ALJ nor the claimant possess the ability to analyze the exertion or skill required by particular employment positions, because the categories in the DOT are organized in an exceedingly technical fashion.  Thus, VE testimony serves as the foundational building block of the SSA disability determination process, because, without it, a complete, accurate, and reasonable decision would not be possible. 2. The Dictionary of Occupational Titles. The...

Written by:  Nathaniel O Hubley Attorney licensed in Indiana Attorney Nathaniel Hubley is a Fort Wayne, Indiana Injury and Disability Attorney. Like most valid and recognized adjudication systems, the SSA's five-step disability determination process is based on the notion of fundamental fairness. Understanding how the five-step process works is crucial; accordingly, two key concepts should be realized: first, the analysis is sequential, meaning that the claimant cannot proceed from one step to another until it is determined that he is disabled; and second, the analysis is a process, meaning that it requires consideration of many elements, consisting of both medical and vocational evidence. In order for the process to begin, a claimant must first be eligible. If a claimant is rendered unable to continue employment at any time before age sixty-five, the claimant may be eligible for DIB as long as the claimant meets the SSA's standard for disability and is ...