Attorney involvement in workers compensation claims substantially increases total indemnity benefits paid to workers, a new study of nearly 1 million claims shows.

A study from the Workers Compensation Research Institute sought to find out how attorney involvement impacts indemnity payments workers receive after suffering work-related injuries. It aimed to show the causal effect of legal representation for workers, and take into account hidden factors like attorneys being more likely to engage in cases with more serious injuries or other issues that may lead to disputes. Hidden factors such as these have been the primary obstacle preventing past causal estimates, according to the authors of the study.

The WCRI study analyzed more than 950,000 claims with more than seven days of lost time, finding attorneys increased by $7,700 to $12,400.

The study found that 34 percent of workers that had been absent from work for more than seven days following a work-related injury had an attorney represent them during the claim process. Across different types of claims however, the attorney involvement rate fluctuated.

Across the different types of indemnity payments, claims with TD payments accounted for 61% of the sample size, and of that sample size only 14 percent of workers had an attorney, with an average of $6,918 and median of $2,198 in indemnity benefits. In contrast, claims with PPD/LS payments accounted for 39 percent of the sample size, with 64 percent of workers being represented with an attorney rewarding them with an average of $39,150 and median of $22,653 in indemnity benefits.

There were also large differences between different types of PPD/LS cases:

• PPD only: 38 percent of workers were represented by attorney, with a $22,292 average indemnity payment.
• PPD & LS: 79 percent of workers were represented by attorney, with a $55,001 average indemnity payment.
• LS only: 76 percent of workers were represented by attorney, with $45,583 average indemnity payment.

Additionally, attorneys were more likely to represent claims when the claimants suffered a more severe injury.

• Neurological Pain: 61 percent attorney involvement, with a $40,670 average indemnity benefit
• Inflammations: 43 percent attorney involvement, with a $29,913 average indemnity benefit
• Carpal Tunnel: 40 percent attorney involvement, with a $21,204 indemnity benefit.
• Spine (back and neck) sprains, strains and non-specific pain: 36 percent attorney involvement, with a $15,199 indemnity benefit.

The WCRI study provides understanding of the connections between higher indemnity benefits received and attorney involvement, but the authors say that more concentrated research is needed to conclude whether attorney involvement has a direct correlation to bigger compensation payouts for claimants.

This article was previously published by Claims Journal.