Benefits
If you are eligible for workers' compensation benefits, you are entitled to the following:

Medical Benefits:
Your employer must pay all medical bills reasonable and necessary to the treatment of the work related injury.

Temporary Disability:
If you are temporarily unable to work because of the injury, you are entitled to receive two-thirds of your salary for all lost time after two weeks.

Permanent Disability:
If you are unable to fully recover for an accident, you will be entitled to receive compensation for the disability.

If your employer has paid the medical bills and temporary disability benefits, and you suffer no permanent impairment then your employer has satisfied all obligations under the law.

When should you contact an attorney.
You should contact and attorney when one of the following conditions is met:

1. Your employer refuses to write an accident report for an accident that occurred at work.

2. Your employer will not authorize treatment of your injury.

3. Your employer will not pay your medical bills.

4. Your employer does not pay temporary disability after two weeks of inability to work.

5. Your injury is expected to result in a permanent disability.

Protecting your Rights
You should do the following to protect your rights under the workers' compensation law.

1. Report any accident at work, immediately to your supervisor. Insist that your employer write an accident report, and give you a copy. If your employer refuses to write an accident report, you should write an accident report, and mail it to your employer by certified mail return receipt requested. The report should contain the following information: your name and address, your employer's name and address, the date and time the accident occurred, the address and description of where the accident occurred, the names of any witnesses to the accident, a description of the accident, and a description of any injuries that you incurred.

2. Seek any necessary medical attention promptly. If the treatment is not required as an emergency, you should receive authorization for treatment from your employer.

3. Insist that your employer provide you with the names of three physicians who are qualified to treat your injury or condition.

4. Follow the physician's instructions for treatment of the injury.

5. Keep a record of all expenses related to the injury.

Time
If it is necessary to take your employer to Court, the case must be started within one year.

Procedure
The procedure for a personal injury case or a workers compensation case is similar to other types of civil cases. Here is a description of the steps to a civil case.

1. Filing a complaint
Any case is started by filing a complaint. The complaint is simply a document that describes (a) who you are (b) who you are suing (c) a description of why you are suing them and (d) what you expect the Court to do. After the complaint is filed, the other party is served with the complaint. Usually, they must be given the complaint in person. If it is difficult to find the other party, this can take a substantial amount of time.

2. Answering the complaint
After the other party receives the complaint, they have a limited amount of time to answer the complaint, usually 30 days. The answer states whether the other party agrees of disagrees with what you said in the complaint.

3. Discovery
During discovery, each side is allowed to discover what evidence the other party has. One party may send the other a list of questions called interrogatories. Each side may require the other to send documents that they have. Witnesses may be called to an office to answer questions before a court reporter. The court reporter writes down all the questions and the answers.

4. Motions
Either party may wish for the judge to decide on a legal issue in the case. Either party may request that the judge does this, by making a motion. For example, one party may not wish to produce evidence that the other party has requested. The party seeking disclosure would ask the judge to order the other party to produce the evidence. One party may ask the judge to dismiss the case or to grant a judgment. These requests would all be examples of motions.

5. Trial
Finally there is a trial. The case may be decided by a judge or a jury.

6. Appeal
If either party believes the judge made a mistake, they can appeal the decision to an appeals court.

During this process, the parties may agree to settle the case. This usually means that the defendant pays the plaintiff, to dismiss the case.

This process is not fast. Most cases settle without a trial. In my experience, cases usually settle about 6-12 months after they start. If a trial is necessary, the case usually takes 1-2 years. If an appeal is filed, it can take another 1-2 years.

Workers Compensation cases usually take substantially less time. However, there are additional requirements that must be followed before a complaint is filed.