When a worker has an injury, all US states have a structure of laws designed to provide multiple benefits to that worker. These laws are referred to as workers’ compensation. They define the benefits, identify all of the parties, and dictate the manner and method for dispensing such benefits. When there is a dispute over the benefits or the injury itself, the employer and employee may find themselves in conflict within the system. These controversies are resolved through either negotiation or a trial. The practice of representing the employer side is referred to as workers’ compensation employer defense.
Examples
The system itself involves billions of dollars in payments per year and involves a broad spectrum of sub-communities of different and often conflicting interests and individuals.
For example, the major entities in most US state systems are:
- Judges
- Lawyers (for both sides)
- Hearing Representatives or Hearing Officers
- Insurance company claims examiners
- Third party administrators for self-insured employers and their examiners
- Injured workers (employees)
- Employers
- Doctors and various medical providers
- Bill collectors for the doctors and other providers
- Interpreters
- Court reporters
- Photocopy companies
- Private investigators
- Bill reviewers
- Professional reviewers of requests for medical treatment
- Expert witnesses
The attorneys who regularly perform this kind of work do so with such frequency that their practice becomes specialized. States have tried to control this through certification or licensing of the practitioners as designated specialists within the field after appropriate education and testing has been completed.
