In this issue:
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Upgrades simple assault against a private school teacher to aggravated assault; adds definition of “school” to criminal code.
will provide that treatment, since it's the employer or its insurance company who is responsible for payment of medical expenses. It follows that if the worker does not go to the authorized treating doctor, then the employer will generally not be responsible for payment of the medical expenses. When an employee is hurt on the job, the employee is entitled to receive temporary disability benefits of 70% of wages up to an amount set by the State.
For example, the maximum amount for an injury in 1997 was $496 per week. These benefits are payable on a retroactive basis if the employee is out at least seven (7) days and the treating doctor certifies that the employee cannot work. In general, temporary disability benefits will continue to be paid so long as the workers' treating doctor certifies that the employee cannot work.
When medical treatment is completed and the employee is able to return to work, there may be a basis for payment to the employee of benefits for the after-effects of the injury. This is called partial permanent disability and is based on a schedule which utilizes a system of assigning value to each part of the body on a scale of 1% to 100%.
Generally, the issue of partial permanent disability is resolved by filing a claim in the Division of Workers' Compensation. A lawyer who represents a claimant before the Division of Workers' Compensation may not charge any fee in advance. An Administrative Law Judge who hears the case will set the fee (never more than 20%) and if there is no recovery, an attorney will not be allowed a fee.
Finally, disposition of a claim in the Division of Workers' Compensation will not always operate to end a claim. There are rights and obligations on the part of both the employer and the employee. Since an employee is not obligated to pay a fee in a workers' compensation case unless awarded by the Court, it would make sense for the employee to immediately consult an attorney to protect his/her rights.
The employee should also be aware of the fact that there are time limits regarding the reporting of accidents. The safest approach is, of course, to report a work related accident immediately, even if it seems relatively minor at the time. Failure to report an accident can cause delays in receiving temporary disability and other benefits.
When you meet with a worker's compensation attorney, the following information will be requested from you:
1. Name, address and telephone number.
2. Name, address and telephone number of employer.
3. Name, address and telephone number of any union the client is a member of , along with full details of any union benefits that may have been received or to which the client has a right. (There may be a union benefit plan which provides the employee with payments for drugs and medical bills in addition to workers' compensation benefits.)
4. The job title the client held when injured, along with the client's educational background and previous employment history.
5. The nature of the employer's business.
6. Your Social Security number.
7. Your sex, age, and marital status at the time of the accident.
8. The name of the employer's worker's compensation insurance carrier or indication of whether the employer is self-insured.
9. The exact details of how you gave notice of the accident to the employer or whether the facts and circumstances are such that the employer must have had knowledge.
10. The exact place where the accident occurred and the date and time of the occurrence.
11. A full description in your own handwriting of how the accident occurred or to the exposures if an occupational disease case.
12. Your wages or earnings and whether on time or piece-work basis, the rate per hour, or the weekly wage.
13. The date when you stopped work and the date of return to work.
14. A statement of past and present complaints, as well as a description of all body parts affected by the accident. Explain any emotional complaints since the accident to investigate the question of neuro-psychiatric disability.
15. The compensation paid for temporary or permanent disability must be ascertained.
16. Full details as to medical aid required and whether it was requested from the employer. If the medical treatment was furnished by the employer, all dates of treatment should be inventoried. If the employer refused to furnish the treatment, indicate in detail all requests made to the employer for treatment, as well as obtaining the names and addresses of all doctors who furnished the treatment.
17. Be certain you have the names and addresses of all physicians and hospitals who rendered medical treatment since the accident, including but not limited to the injuries arising from the accident. Attempt to obtain the amount of all physician's bills and prepare a file for paid and unpaid bills.
If you are receiving medical treatment from a doctor of your choice or if the employer has refused to render medical treatment, the attorney must give written notification to the employer and its insurance carrier of all the details concerning your injuries and accident and the name and address of the doctor by whom he is being treated or the name and address of the doctor who is going to be treating him. The attorney must clearly indicate in the letter that this is a formal request pursuant to Title 34 for the employer/respondent to furnish medical treatment by the doctor chosen by the petitioner or, alternatively, that the respondent should immediately provide the name and address of a doctor that it wants to treat the petitioner. In Worker's Compensation, the respondent controls the choice of doctor.
18. Any Blue Cross, Blue Shield, or major medical plans which cover you, as well as identification numbers, since it may be possible to obtain payment for medical bills from these plans, if the employer/worker's compensation refuses to make payment. See Workers' Compensation (ICLE ).
If you are injured while working, we recommend you immediately speak with an experienced attorney.
Call Kenneth Vercammen to schedule an appointment 732-572-0500
2 Drug DWI Still Needs More Than Lay Opinion, But Police Can Testify. State v. Bealor 187 NJ 574 (2006) Although evidentially competent lay observations of the fact of intoxication are always admissible, lay opinion in respect of the cause of intoxication other than from alcohol consumption is not admissible. However, competent lay observations of the fact of intoxication, coupled with additional independent proofs tending to demonstrate a defendant's consumption of narcotic, hallucinogenic, or habit-producing drugs as of the time of his arrest, constitute proofs sufficient to allow the fact-finder to conclude that defendant was intoxicated beyond a reasonable doubt and thus to sustain a conviction for driving under the influence in violation of N.J.S.A. 39:4-50.
Source: Facts-on-Call Order No. 93118 3. Person May Not Flee Officer Request to Stop. State v. Crawley 187 NJ 440 (2006) When a police officer, acting in objective good faith and under color of his authority, seeks to make an investigatory stop, a person may not flee without violating N.J.S.A. 2C:29-1, despite a later finding that the stop was unconstitutional.
Source: Facts-on-Call Order No. 19382 4. Mental Defect Prevents "Knowing" Standard From Fictitious Report Statute. State v. Taylor 387 NJ Super 55 (Law Div. 2006) The Law Division (1) applied the "mental disease or defect" statute, N.J.S.A. 2C:4-2m to the case of a defendant who, while in a hallucinatory state, had reported an offense to the police that had not occurred and (2) concluded that the State had not proved that the defendant had acted with the "knowing" mental state required by the fictitious reports statute, N.J.S.A. 2C:28-4b(1). Source: Facts-on-Call Order No. 93068
5 Professional Office Space For Rent-
PROFESSIONAL OFFICE SPACE IS AVAILABLE IN EDISON LAW OFFICE.
The offices are located on the 1st floor of the building .
Front window office 12.1 x 7.5 - 90 square feet
connecting office 12.4 x 9.4 - 116 square feet
plus client use of reception room 16.6 x 7.2
$500 per month
Owner of building is local attorney, Kenneth Vercammen who handles Personal Injury, Elder Law, Criminal Law.
The following is included with rental:
1. Lighting/ Utilities
2. Bathroom Supplies
3. Landscaping / Snow Removal
4. Cleaning of Common Area
5. cold water, hot water, municipal water/sewer charges
6. Use of conference table for meetings or depositions
7. Permit you to put a sign in the front window
8. Use of our audio tape and video library.
9. Use of the front room reception area
Location is on high traffic street near Route 1 and Raritan Center.
Great space for Attorney, Financial Planner, Accountant, Insurance Agent and other Business Professionals.
We also have available additional approximately 700 square feet of office space for $1,000.00 per month
Call Kenneth Vercammen Law Office at 732-572-0500 to schedule an appointment
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Thank you for reading our newsletter! God Bless America USA #1
Kenneth Vercammen, Esq.
We appreciate continued referrals. We want to take the time to extend to our friends and clients our sincere gratitude because it is good friends and clients that make our business grow. Client recommendation is a very important source of new clients to us. We are grateful for the recommendation of new clients. We will do our best to give all clients excellent care. We shall do our best to justify all recommendations.
"Celebrating more than 20 years of providing excellent service to clients 1985-2006" Former Prosecutor
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KENNETH VERCAMMEN & ASSOCIATES, PC
ATTORNEY AT LAW
2053 Woodbridge Ave.
Edison, NJ 08817
(Phone) 732-572-0500
(Fax) 732-572-0030
website: www.njlaws.com
