Atlanta Legal Nurse Consultant Attends "Anatomy of a Workers’ Compensation Case"

Atlanta, Georgia – Atlanta legal nurse consultant Liz Buddenhagen, RN, CLNC participated in a Workers’ Compensation legal nurse educational event at The Georgian Club in Atlanta on July 21, 2009.

Tom Holder, an attorney and partner in Long and Holder of Atlanta - specialists in Workers’ Compensation cases, delivered an interactive presentation to members of the Atlanta Chapter of the American Association of Legal Nurse Consultants.

Holder, a law school graduate of Emory, has enjoyed a distinguished law career achieving an “AV” rating by Martindale-Hubbell, Fellow of the Knights of the Bar and is a Georgia Super Lawyer 2004-2009.

His firm focuses on Workers’ Compensation Claimant’s Law – closed head injuries, death cases and all other cases involving Workers’ Compensation issues.


About Holder’s talk:

Workers’ compensation law is the product of a compromise between the forces of labor and management. In general, all that needs to be proved was that the injury was one “arising out of and in the course of employment.” Negligence on the part of the employer need not be proved.

In exchange, for what amounts to a “no-fault” approach to industrial accidents, the employer extracted two significant concessions.

First, the remedy under the workers’ compensation statute became the exclusive remedy available to the employee. It matters not whether the employer is completely blameless or if he is grossly negligent. If the claim falls within the ambit of the workers’ compensation statute, the employer is immune from civil suit.

Second, compensation is payable according to set formulae and schedules set forth in the statute. The employer is now much more likely to have to pay on a per claim basis but the amount he will have to pay on each claim is strictly limited.

In Georgia, the law provides for the creation of a State Board of Workers’ Compensation. The board administers claims and the various administrative judges serve throughout the state as courts of first impression for disputed claims.

Holder discussed income benefits, disability, medical benefits, rehabilitation and settlement. He noted that WC clients require close and frequent attention. Clients are in pain and living on a probable substandard income which can cause them to fall behind on their financial obligations and create frustration.


About Liz Buddenhagen:

Liz Buddenhagen, registered nurse and certified legal nurse consultant, is owner of Buddenhagen & Associates. Her firm assists Atlanta attorneys with the medical issues of legal cases.

Services are available to assess injuries and damages, quickly process large volumes of records, organize and summarize records, create timelines, identify pre-existing conditions, explain medications, and research and educate actual injuries. For more information email Liz@BuddenhagenLNC.com, view website www.Legal-Nurse-Consultant-LNC.com or call 770-725-2997.

Contact Information

Liz Buddenhagen, RN, CLNC

Principal

Buddenhagen & Associates

Contact via E-mail