This video will address what happens after you settle your workers’ compensation case. My name is Matt Eason, and I’ve been practicing workers’ compensation and personal injury law for 25 years. Naturally, one of the first questions clients ask us right before they settle the case is, “What happens next? What happens after I’ve settled my case?”
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After you settle a workers’ compensation case, the most pressing question is how long until you receive your payment. Under the law, they have 30 days after the judge issues the order approving the settlement to pay that without being subject to fees or interest, and quite frankly, that payment usually shows up within a couple of weeks.
Once you’ve gotten past the issue of when the check arrives, the bigger question is, “What remedies or rights do I still have moving forward after the settlement of your workers’ compensation case?” We need to work on one to understand your rights and remedies. Sometimes, people interpret the word settlement to include a stipulation, award, and the word settle compromise. Some people interpret it to mean only a compromise.
A stipulation and award isn’t a settlement of your case. It’s an agreement reached between you, your attorney, and your employer or workers’ compensation carrier over the benefits you’re entitled to by your workers’ compensation case. When you’ve reached that agreement, that agreement is put into a written stipulation and given to a workers’ compensation judge, who issues an award based on that stipulation.
When you have a stipulation and award, you still have future rights. You have not settled those future rights. Consequently, if you need medical care related to that injury, you’re entitled to that medical care subject utilization review. Likewise, suppose your injuries worsen, and you’re still within five years of the original injury date. In that case, you can potentially go back and petition to reopen your case and increase the stipulation and award. Consequently, to characterize a stipulation and award as a settlement isn’t accurate; it’s a resolution of benefits to date, and you still have benefits in the future.
In contrast to a stipulation and award, compromise and release exist. A compromise and release are more related to a settlement agreement than in other areas of the law. In a compromise and release more time to not, you’ve washed your hands of all potential claims. That includes future medical care, rights to temporary disability, permanent disability, vocational rehabilitation, and everything else. A compromise and release are just that. It’s a compromise with your claim and a complete release of your claim in most situations. Therefore, to ask what rights you have after a compromise and release, the answer is virtually none in most cases.
Regarding the call of the question, what happens after you settle a worker’s compensation case? You should expect your check within 30 days after the judge signs the order, and it depends on future rights. Did you have a settlement through a compromise and release or a resolution through a stipulation and award?
If you have questions about which of those you should sign, which ones are appropriate, and what you should receive to settle your case, we hope you will consider contacting our Sacramento workers compensation attorneys.
