# Workers' Compensation Lawyer - Springfield & Westfield, MA | Dunn & Phillips, P.C. > Springfield workers' compensation lawyers for denied and disputed claims, and for the third-party injury cases that comp doesn't cover. Fees in comp cases are set by statute. Free consultation. [Canonical page](https://www.dunnandphillips.com/practice/personal-injury/workers-compensation/) --- - [All injury cases](/practice/personal-injury/) - [Car Accidents](/practice/personal-injury/car-accidents/) - [Truck Accidents](/practice/personal-injury/truck-accidents/) - [Motorcycle Accidents](/practice/personal-injury/motorcycle-accidents/) - [Slip and Fall](/practice/personal-injury/slip-and-fall/) - [Dog Bites](/practice/personal-injury/dog-bites/) - [Workers' Compensation](/practice/personal-injury/workers-compensation/) - [Medical Malpractice](/practice/personal-injury/medical-malpractice/) - [Wrongful Death](/practice/personal-injury/wrongful-death/) [Practice Areas](https://www.dunnandphillips.com/practice/) [Personal Injury](https://www.dunnandphillips.com/practice/personal-injury/) Workers' Compensation # Workers' Compensation Lawyer in Springfield, MA Hurt on the job in Massachusetts? Comp benefits don't depend on fault - but insurers deny and discount claims every day, and many injured workers also have a second case nobody told them about. [New injury? Call or text (413) 426-8657](tel:+14134268657) [Request a free consultation](https://www.dunnandphillips.com/contact/?practiceArea=Personal%20Injury) Not sure you have a case? [Try the quick size up](https://www.dunnandphillips.com/consult/). A few quick taps. Have the firm call you Free. A real person calls you back. Phone That phone number looks too short. Please check it so we can call you back. What happened? (one line is fine) Have the firm call me Short version is fine. Save the details for the call. Sending this does not make us your lawyers yet. Something went wrong. Please call or text the 24-hour injury line at [(413) 426-8657](tel:+14134268657) instead. Thanks. We have it. A real person will call you back. If this is urgent, call or text [(413) 426-8657](tel:+14134268657). Western Massachusetts still works with its hands - warehouses and distribution floors, construction sites, hospitals and nursing facilities, the trades. When the job causes the injury, Massachusetts workers' compensation is supposed to respond automatically: medical care and weekly checks, no fault required. In practice, an insurer decides whether to pay, and injured workers learn the difference between what the system promises and what a claims adjuster allows. We represent injured workers across the region from our offices in [Springfield](https://www.dunnandphillips.com/locations/springfield/) and [Westfield](https://www.dunnandphillips.com/locations/westfield/). A new injury intake reaches a real person 24 hours a day at [(413) 426-8657](tel:+14134268657); the first conversation is free. ## How the system is supposed to work Report the injury to your employer as soon as it happens - in writing, even when the supervisor saw it. The employer reports to its comp insurer, and benefits begin: **medical treatment** for the injury with no co-pays, and **weekly incapacity checks** once you lose enough time from work - roughly 60 percent of your average weekly wage while you are temporarily unable to work at all, with different rates when you can work partially or when the incapacity proves permanent and total. Certain permanent losses - including qualifying scarring and disfigurement - carry additional specific payments. Two things comp never requires: proof that your employer did anything wrong, and proof that you did everything right. A fall that was partly your own misstep is still a covered injury. ## Where claims go wrong The insurer controls the checkbook, and the routine failure modes are familiar: the claim denied as "not work-related," the pre-existing back condition blamed for everything, the doctor's restrictions second-guessed after an insurance medical exam, the weekly checks cut off the day a nurse case manager decides you look better. None of these is the last word. Massachusetts runs a dispute process through the **Department of Industrial Accidents**, and insurer positions that survive a phone call often do not survive a hearing. The economics favor fighting: in comp disputes, attorney fees are set by statute, approved by the DIA, and - when you prevail on a disputed claim - generally paid by the insurer, not out of your checks. ## The second case: third-party claims Comp is the exclusive remedy against your **employer**. It says nothing about everyone else. The delivery driver rear-ended on his route has a full injury case against the other driver. The tradesman hurt by another company's rigging on a shared site, the worker injured by a machine that should have had a guard, the home-health aide attacked by a dog at a client's property - each has a potential lawsuit against that third party, on top of comp, and that lawsuit pays what comp never does, including pain and suffering. These cases get missed because the comp checks arrive and no one asks the second question. We ask it in the first conversation, and our [personal injury practice](https://www.dunnandphillips.com/practice/personal-injury/) is built for exactly these cases. When both cases exist, they have to be coordinated - comp carries a repayment right out of a third-party recovery, and negotiating that lien well is part of doing the job right. ## Deadlines Report to your employer immediately - delay invites a dispute about whether the injury happened at work. Formal claims have their own limits, generally four years from when you knew the injury was work-related, and disputes over stopped or denied benefits run on much shorter clocks once papers are filed. If a government employer or public entity is anywhere in the picture, shorter notice rules can apply. The safe rule is the simple one: bring us the denial letter the week it arrives, not the year after. If your claim is being paid properly and no third party is involved, we will tell you that too - free, in the first conversation. Free worksheet - PDF ## Get the Massachusetts After-an-Accident Worksheet Every step after a crash, fall, or other injury, from the scene to resolving your claim, in one PDF worksheet. From a Western Massachusetts firm that handles the insurers so you can focus on healing. [Download the worksheet (PDF)](https://www.dunnandphillips.com/downloads/dunn-phillips-personal-injury-after-accident-worksheet.pdf) Saves to your device as a fillable PDF you can complete or print. It is free: no email required. Using this does not make us your attorneys. It is general information, not legal advice. Common questions ## Workers' Compensation FAQs Can I sue my employer for an injury at work? Almost never - workers' compensation is the exclusive remedy against your employer in Massachusetts, regardless of fault. The trade is that comp benefits are owed whether or not anyone was careless, including when the injury was partly your own doing. The suing question usually points somewhere else: at a third party whose negligence caused the injury. What is a third-party claim, and do I have one? If someone other than your employer contributed to your injury - a driver who hit you while you were working, a careless subcontractor on a shared site, a property owner, a defective machine - you can pursue a full injury lawsuit against them on top of your comp benefits, including pain and suffering that comp never pays. This is the most commonly missed claim in work injuries, and checking for it costs nothing. My claim was denied. Is that the end? No. Denials and premature terminations are routine insurer behavior, and Massachusetts has a dispute process through the Department of Industrial Accidents where many of them do not survive. Deadlines apply, so do not sit on a denial letter. What benefits does Massachusetts workers' comp pay? Reasonable and necessary medical treatment for the injury, weekly wage-replacement checks - roughly 60 percent of your average weekly wage while you are totally unable to work, with other rates for partial or permanent incapacity - and specific compensation for certain permanent losses, including scarring and disfigurement in defined cases. What comp does not pay is pain and suffering; that only comes through a third-party case. How are lawyers paid in workers' comp cases? Differently than in injury lawsuits, and better for you: in Massachusetts comp disputes, attorney fees are set by statute and approved by the Department of Industrial Accidents, and when you win a disputed claim the insurer generally pays the fee. You do not pay out of pocket for us to fight a denial. New Personal Injury Direct A new injury intake reaches a real person 24 hours a day. Call or text, or start with the intake form and we will get back to you. [Call or text (413) 426-8657](tel:+14134268657) [Start the injury intake form](https://www.dunnandphillips.com/practice/personal-injury/#start-your-case) [Try the quick size up](https://www.dunnandphillips.com/consult/) Where we are Springfield, Main Office 185 Belmont Avenue, Springfield, MA 01108 [(413) 787-9955](tel:+14137879955) [Get directions](https://www.google.com/maps/search/?api=1&query=185%20Belmont%20Avenue%2C%20Springfield%2C%20MA%2001108) Westfield, Personal Injury Law Center 56 Washington Street, Westfield, MA 01085 [(413) 562-8300](tel:+14135628300) [Get directions](https://www.google.com/maps/search/?api=1&query=56%20Washington%20Street%2C%20Westfield%2C%20MA%2001085) Other injury case types we handle - [Car Accidents](/practice/personal-injury/car-accidents/) - [Truck Accidents](/practice/personal-injury/truck-accidents/) - [Motorcycle Accidents](/practice/personal-injury/motorcycle-accidents/) - [Slip and Fall](/practice/personal-injury/slip-and-fall/) - [Dog Bites](/practice/personal-injury/dog-bites/) - [Medical Malpractice](/practice/personal-injury/medical-malpractice/) - [Wrongful Death](/practice/personal-injury/wrongful-death/) **“Pay nothing unless we win” applies to personal injury matters only.** If we win, our fee is a percentage of the amount recovered and is paid out of that settlement or verdict, along with case costs; if there is no recovery, you owe no fee or costs. The percentage and terms are set out in a signed written fee agreement. This promise does not apply to our other practice areas, whose fees are charged as described in your fee agreement. This page is general information only, not legal advice for any specific situation, and reading it does not create an attorney–client relationship. Every matter depends on its own facts; for advice on your particular circumstances, talk to a licensed attorney. Published by Dunn & Phillips, P.C., 185 Belmont Avenue, Springfield, MA 01108. Responsible attorney: Cornelius W. Phillips, III. 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