A workers’ compensation paralegal provides professional legal support to attorneys through legal research, filing preparations, and general administration of claims, lawsuits, and litigation. Workers’ compensation paralegals must understand the process and procedures associated with workers’ compensation, and possess a confident and professional demeanor with attorneys, clients, and the employer/carrier representative.
Workers’ compensation paralegals must:
- Have extensive knowledge in workers’ compensation and understand the laws and procedures associated with the area of practice.
- Possess good communication skills to answer any questions that actual or potential clients may have.
- Collect information from a client by asking informative questions that will be beneficial for the client’s claim.
- Monitor the progress of each claim, and obtain updated information by communicating with the client’s health care providers, adjuster, and worker’s compensation agencies in their respective state.
- Obtain and review the client’s medical records, documents provided from the client’s adjuster, wage information and employer records in order to prepare the attorney’s case for mediation, hearings or trial.
Workers’ compensation paralegals provide the necessary foundation to help attorneys reach a satisfactory resolution to each client’s claim.
Speaking from my own experience, being able to communicate effectively is the most beneficial asset to a workers’ compensation paralegal or any paralegal for that matter. I spend at least 80% of my time on the telephone communicating with clients, medical providers, and others in the legal community. It is important to establish a good relationship not only with the clients we serve but with other professionals you come into contact with. Effective communication can be the difference between obtaining medical records within minutes or days of a request.
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