Mediation Hearing tomorrow-Doesn't look good...

[marvinmartian]

Hi y'all,

I thought I was already a member of this forum, but must have been another one like this, with piedmontmountain as well.  She and I have almost EXACTLY the same situation going on, up to and including (as scary as this is) the same attorney advice!  

I go tomorrow for my first mediation hearing with the IC and I'm dreading it!  Thank God for piedmontmountain and reading about the experience she's already been through.  I'm serious...she's been told, word for word, the same advice that I have by her attorney...That they never leave medical open, that $70,000 is a good offer, etc...

A couple of differences in our cases is that my doctor has stated that I cannot and will not be able to work again, EVER.  My impairment rating is 28% BAW.  I had a fusion done in October 2006 of L4-S1 and am in a pain management program, on approximately $2000 worth of meds monthly.  I wear a Fentanyl 100 mcg/hr patch every 48 hours, and take Tizanidine 4 mgs. 2 daily; Lexapro 20 mg. 1 daily; Ambien 10 mg. 1 @ bedtime; Dilaudid 8 mg. 4 times a day (which they want to change to Methadone on my next visit); Topomax 100 mg. 1 tablet twice a day; and 3 Lidoderm 5% patches twice daily.

I have a right knee and right shoulder injury that they still have not authorized treatment for (there was minimal treatment authorized in the beginning on the right knee, but that stopped) and I've fallen twice since the original injury because of the knee giving out on me and the falls have caused even more injury to the knees (both knees), shoulder, and back, but the attorney has only documented those subsequent falls...she hasn't fought to get authorization for treatment.

I was injured on 2/24/05 and have been receiving weekly checks since then.  I understand Georgia has a 400 week limit and according to my attorney, WC would sit back and hope I walk out my front door and get hit by a bus rather than pay a large settlement because that would alleviate them having to pay out anymore benefits (yes those are the exact words of the paralegal).

I stress that those are the paralegal's words, because after all this time, I have YET to actually speak to my attorney.  She has never once called me.  For a while she sent me a few emails, but that stopped when we disagreed on how much we should demand in a settlement letter.  She thought my request of $200K was too high and I wouldn't budge.  This was prior to my having spinal fusion surgery.  The paralegal also told me that by going through with surgery I 'decreased' the value of my settlement.  They didn't actually put it in so many words but they strongly hinted that they didn't want me to have the surgery!  They said if I DIDN'T have the surgery I might be able to get 1/2 the $200K, but if I had the surgery, there would be no way.

Sorry, I didn't mean to stop this post so abruptly, but the battery in my laptop went dead and I wanted to post it before I lost everything I wrote, so if you read all of the above and thought I left you hanging, I apologize! LOL! I plugged back up and now I'll finish my lengthy (sorry) post!

To date, all my contact with my lawyer's office has been strictly through the paralegal. Other than the few emails prior to my surgery. Once I made the decisioni to have my surgery, the attorney didn't even speak to me at all for four months! Wouldn't return phone calls NOTHING! In fact, during the holidays two of my weekly checks got 'lost in the mail' and I was frantically calling the attorney's office because I was literally living on peanut butter (picture Thankgiving dinner with peanut butter sandwiches) for almost two weeks and I went to my follow-up appointment with my surgeon and broke-down in his office. He asked if I had called the adjuster and I told him I wasn't allowed to talk to her and he said "By God, I AM!" and he had his nurse call her while I was sitting there, and the adjuster apologized profusely and said it was the first time she had heard anything about it (despite my phone calls to my lawyer begging them to call the adjuster) and she immediately cut me new checks and OVERNIGHTED THEM to me. I had my money the next day!

To say the least I'm terribly disappointed in my lawyer. I don't feel like she has my best interests at heart...I think she's in it for a quick settlement....get the money and run. I have no confidence that she's going to be going in there tomorrow and fighting for me. She's continuously told me 'DO NOT APPLY FOR SSDI UNTIL AFTER WE SETTLE YOUR CASE' so I haven't applied. Now I'm thinking that might have been a mistake on my part and very poor legal advice on her part.

We sent the demand for 200K the day after my surgery. A lot of things have changed since then, with the most important change being that the doctor has now put me at MMI and states that I will not be able to work again. I'm 48 years old. This means I have no hope of ever having health insurance. When the paralegal called me on Friday to tell me the mediation was still on and that the 'other side' is prepared to go forward with settling and she just wanted to be sure that I'm ready to settle, I said "of course, as long as the offer is fair" and she said 'Well, we asked for $200K, which means we'll probably walk out of there with about $75K" and I said "Um, noooooo, if we get less than $200K, then it's not worth it because after lawyer's cut and MSA, $75K will leave me with NOTHING and what about open medical?" and she said "Oh no...there won't be any medical. If we asked for open medical, what would be their incentive for settling?" and I said, "One surgery would wipe out even $200K!!!" and she replied that I would just have to either get a job and get health insurance or apply for SSDI and that's pretty much how she ended the call.

After I calmed down I fired off a pretty aggressive email to her and the attorney laying it all on the line about how dissatisfied I am with them and how the doctor has stated I cannot work so how the heck am I supposed to get a job with health insurance when MY LAWYER IS SUPPOSED TO BE GOING INTO THE MEDIATION AND ARGUING FOR GREATER SETTLEMENT BECAUSE MY DOCTOR SAYS I CAN'T GET A JOB???? I also voice that it angers me that my lawyer has never even called me!

Ya'll won't believe this.....I just went inside and there's a message on my cellphone FROM MY ACTUAL LAWYER! LOL! She actually called me HERSELF! It says "I was going to be meeting with you 1/2 hour prior to the mediation tomorrow to go over any concerns and questions that you have (wow, she was going to actually give me a 1/2 of her time!) but after reading your email it doesn't sound like you're ready to go forward with this after all, so please give me a call and let's discuss this."

I kind of figured after she got my email that she would think I wasn't ready to settle. It's not that I'm not ready to, it's just that I'm not going to settle for a piddly amount that will leave me broke in 6 months and not able to work and not able to even pay for my prescriptions while she's sitting there in her fancy office and not even remembering my name! I have to look out for me, even if she's not going to, right?

Thanks for bearing with me through such a long post. I'm going to give her a call back and I'll let you guys know what she says.

[Bad Boy Bad Boy]

Mediation isn't always a bad thing, if you go. For you too can explain what is going on if you open your mouth.

Settlement, if you have on-going issues, tell your attorney there will be no such talk, till your medical has been taken care of.

Paralegal's words, what Attorney and Injured Worker wouldn't agree more with. maybe even th WC IC, they work of a Bonus so to speak.

[WinggedEagle]

MM, you need to go on and get that SSDI application turned in regardless of what the attorney said. Filing now will help protect your benefits and they can retro for up to one year for your date of disability. The longer you wait the more you loose. Your attorney apparently dosen't want you to file prior to settlement of your WC claim as she may see a cut from her procedes go to MSA. Do what is in YOUR BEST INTEREST and get that SSDI applicaiton filed now. Also in the likely event that WC cuts your weekly benefit check whilst waiting for settlement you will have an income to help pay the bills.

http://www.ssa.gov/

Good luck to you

WE

[Lilly]

Hi.
Apply for SSDI promptly. If you have the lawyer help you....they will get a cut of this check too $ Cha Ching.
Good luck & stick to your guns, Lilly

[Bad Boy Bad Boy]

Marvinmartian, you may have said it, and I missed it, but what State are you in? You can also apply your State in your profile to make things easier for other people in the future too. it does help us.

[Bad Boy Bad Boy]

Mediation is a process in which a neutral third party (mediator) helps the parties communicate with one another in an attempt to reach an agreement that is acceptable to everyone. Mediation is a forward-looking process in that it encourages the participants to focus on their current and future needs and interests rather than focusing on fault and blame for past actions. Mediation differs from a court proceeding in that the parties maintain control of their dispute. The decision-making power in mediation lies with the parties, not with the mediator.

[Bad Boy Bad Boy]

Georgia; or I would think;

http://sbwc.georgia.gov/vgn/images/porta...ndbook.pdf

I'm missing something? Why is settlement being brought up if you need surgery? Why hasn't a Hearing been requested in your medical behalf? Have said the won't pay for surgery, yet you never used the word the IC (Denied)? if they denied surgery, you obtain such letter, and copy it. Then send it off to your Heath Insurance Company, asking them to then assit you and pay for the surgery, which in time they will get their money back from WC and the IC.