December 2019
In late 2019, I presented to a Social Security Judge in Alpharetta, my client (we will call him John Black). He was over 55 years old and had multiple back surgeries that left him with the residual condition called degenerative disc disease at multiple levels in his spine. He also had a depressive disorder and a general anxiety. Read On
February 2020
In a workers’ compensation case recently handled by a colleague of mine, Hartford Casualty Insurance Company v. Hawkins, 2020 Ga. App. A19A1878, February 18, 2020, there were at least three mistakes committed by the injured worker that may have cost her a victory. The worker, Ms. Hawkins, injured her left arm in a job injury. She received treatment from a number of doctors. Read On
January 2020
When Ms. XX called me at the office, she was completely filled with anxiety. She and her husband were about to end their marriage due to her inability to earn a living as she used to do. Neither one of them could put their finger on the source of her disability. Her family was abandoning her. No one believed she was ill, either mentally or physically. Ms. XX observed others who were receiving Social Security Disability Benefits and they, too, looked fine. One day she Googled “disability lawyers near me”, and my information popped up with lots of good reviews from my clients. This seemed to persuade her to call my office. Read On
March 2020
I brought the case of J.W. to Judge Spalding, an Administrative Law Judge at the State Board of Workers’ Compensation, in late 2019. My client’s medical care was being denied by the insurance company, specifically, low back surgery and pain management treatment before or after surgery. Read On
February 2020
I had the privilege of representing a lovely lady who worked 19 years for a “big box store” in Metro Atlanta. She was a laborer responsible for continuous stacking, sorting, moving, pushing, pulling, and loading and unloading of merchandise both coming into and exiting this company. 18 years into this employment found her needing medical treatment. Her employer authorized her to get treatment NOT under workers’ compensation, the logical and lawful system for her treatment, but using her personal physician and group insurance. She treated for about 9 months with injections, therapy and medicines. She remained at work, doing the best she could. She was released by her doctors with the last physician telling her she could come back and have surgery if she wanted to “go that route”. My client declined that option. She continued to work. Read On
February 2020
This is a deliberate strategy on the part of insurance doctors, company clinics and employers and insurance companies in Georgia that is used quite often. Labeling an injury as a preexisting condition, not related to a job at all, “takes the legs out from under” the injured workers’ claim, and for that matter, the worker’s life. In a recent case I handled, the company clinic doctor stated my client’s rotator cuff shoulder injury was, instead, a type III acromion deformity and could not possibly be a job injury. His proof: an X-ray only. Read On
June 2019
If a workers is injured and then after a recovery, begins another work with his/her spouse in the spouse’s restaurant business, earning no money at all (just “helping” the business) is that fraud? This was a close case I handled in Gainesville, Georgia, and one in which all parties decided to settle instead of going to court. Read On
January 2020
After agreeing with the insurance company to change orthopedic surgeons for my client’s low back injuries, we moved forward with a Dr. Velez as the new doctor, a spine specialist with Resurgens. After a period of treatment, Dr. Velez proposed a single level partial disc removal. My client did his due diligence research, we spoke on a number of occasions, and he consulted his family doctor and thereafter concluded that this partial disc removal was not the right operation for him. My client had a face to face meeting with Dr. Velez about the type of operation the doctor proposed. As my client later testified in court, the doctor said: “it is my way or the highway.” This was shameful and completely egocentric behavior on the doctor’s part. To add insult to injury, Dr. Velez then released my client to full duty work with a 5% whole body impairment rating after initially stating my client was totally disabled! The insurance company then stopped completely my client’s weekly disability benefits. Read On
January 2019
One of my most satisfying cases recently was when I had an opportunity to represent “Larry” in a very difficult case. He called me after he said the workers’ compensation Judge ruled against him and his lawyer. I told him I would appeal his case but he had to fire his lawyer first. He did so. This client’s first lawyer did not listen to “Larry”. Admittedly the client was hard to deal with in some ways. But after the insurance company sent this client to an insurance doctor for a second opinion about back surgery, the client attempted to call his original lawyer to tell him: “I think this doctor will help me.” He could not reach his lawyer. The call went to voice mail. Later the client called again. The attendant told him he called the office far too much and hung up on him. Then the client got very frustrated and gave up. Read On
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