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Just about every week of the year I get a call from somebody who was injured on the job, but isn’t looking for a work comp attorney. They have one already, but need help with the Family Medical Leave Act or FMLA. Basically they are hoping we can refer the to an attorney who works on those cases on behalf of injured workers.
In almost every case we tell them the same thing. If you like your work comp lawyer, they should recommend a lawyer for you. They don’t have to handle FMLA cases, but if they are doing work injury claims every day, these issues come up so much that they should know someone good to suggest you to.
On the other hand, if you don’t like your work comp attorney, we’d be willing to discuss taking that case over. If we did, we’d then refer you to a great labor lawyer who handles FMLA claims. But we won’t do one without the other.
There are a couple of reasons for this policy. First off, we don’t believe we should do the work of your lawyer. If they care about you and are experienced, suggesting a law firm that helps should not be a problem. Too many law firms blow off their clients and say something like, “You only hired me for the work comp part.” That may be true, but in our opinion, the attorney has an obligation to help in any way they can, especially when the issue is related to the underlying work injury case. They don’t have to represent you beyond work comp, but they shouldn’t blow you off either. When they do it’s a red flag to me and a sign that they aren’t the right lawyer for you.
The second reason we don’t do this is we believe it’s important that the work comp lawyer and FMLA lawyer have a good working relationship. I say that because the issues in each case overlap and it’s beneficial for the attorneys to share information with each other. While that’s possible if they don’t know each other, it’s more probable when they are used to emailing and texting each other. If they don’t know each other, it can cause delays or misinformation that could hurt one or both of your cases.
And honestly, if your work comp lawyer won’t go to bat for you at a time when you are missing so much work that FMLA becomes an issues, what are they going to do if the case has to go to trial or you need approval to get a surgery? I just don’t believe they will fight as hard for you as they should.
The good news is that these issues usually come up toward the beginning of a case. So you’ll know pretty quickly if your attorney is in your corner or not. And if they aren’t it’s not usually hard to switch and find someone who will really advocate for you.
