Workers' Compensation
Thomas Rubin & Kelley PC represents insurance carriers, self-insured employers, and third-party administrators in workers' compensation litigation throughout Arizona. Our workers' compensation work covers compensability disputes, permanent impairment ratings, bad faith and unfair claim processing complaints, subrogation, and lien recovery. Our attorneys appear before Industrial Commission of Arizona administrative law judges and handle special action review in the Arizona Court of Appeals. We handle these matters from initial investigation through hearing, appellate review, or negotiated resolution.
Workers' Compensation Matters We Handle
We handle disputes over compensability, including whether an injury arose out of and in the course of employment, as well as disputes over medical treatment, average monthly wage, temporary and permanent disability, loss of earning capacity, and claim closure and reopening.
The firm also represents carriers and self-insured employers in claims alleging bad faith or unfair claims processing, and assists carriers with lien rights and recovery when a third party caused the employee's injury.
For self-insured employers and third-party administrators, our attorneys also advise on claim handling practices, communications with injured workers, and coordination between the claim and the employer's return-to-work efforts, so that decisions made early in the claim hold up if they are later contested at hearing.
Hearing Preparation and Claim Strategy
Thomas Rubin & Kelley PC reviews the claim file, the medical records, and the employment facts, and gives the carrier or employer an early assessment of compensability and exposure along with a recommended course of action.
We develop the facts through employer and witness interviews, records requests, and independent medical examinations, and we work with medical experts on causation and the extent of disability.
Reports follow the client's guidelines and focus on the decisions at hand: whether to accept or contest the claim, how to respond to a request for hearing, and when resolution is in the client's interest.
Contested matters are heard by an Industrial Commission administrative law judge. Our attorneys prepare each matter for hearing, including medical testimony, and handle requests for review and appeals when needed.
Issues That Shape Workers' Compensation Cases
Compensability disputes center on the work connection of the injury, the timing of the claim, and the medical evidence of causation. We address timeliness issues under A.R.S. §23-1061 and exclusive remedy questions under A.R.S. §23-1022 early, because either can resolve a claim or a related civil suit.
Medical evidence frequently decides the outcome at hearing. We prepare treating physicians and independent medical examiners for testimony, address permanent impairment ratings and preexisting conditions, and challenge opinions that do not fit the claimant's work history.
Bad faith and unfair claim processing complaints call for coordinated handling. Our attorneys defend statutory complaints before the Industrial Commission under A.R.S. §23-930 and coordinate the defense of related civil claims against the carrier.
Third-party claims give carriers an opportunity to recover the benefits they have paid. We protect lien rights under A.R.S. §23-1023, track the timing of the employee's third-party claim, and pursue assigned claims when the employee does not. For further reading, see Automatic Assignment of Bodily Injury Claims Under Arizona's Workers' Compensation Laws.
Where Workers' Compensation Meets Liability Defense
Many of the firm's liability files involve an injured worker who has received workers' compensation benefits. Our familiarity with both systems assists carriers on either side of that intersection, whether they are protecting a lien, pursuing an assigned claim, or defending a third-party claim that includes compensation-paid damages. We also advise on how a liability settlement should account for the carrier's lien.
Sending a Workers' Compensation File
Workers' compensation claims, lien questions, and assigned third-party claims may be directed to our Phoenix office at (602) 274-8289. New matters can also be submitted through the contact page.