If you do want to attempt to do legal research on your own, here are links to look up the laws, regulations and cases that might address your particular issue. Keep in mind that laws and regulations must be interpreted, and what lawyers do for a living, after three years of law school, is argue alternate interpretations of the law. The DIR website also has basic information for injured workers.
Many of the laws in Chapter 616 (the Nevada Industrial Insurance Act) are poorly written. Look at the law that discusses medical care on denied claims, NRS 616C.090. Would you have any idea after reading that law how an injured worker can get reimbursed for deductibles or co-payments that he paid after his claim was denied once an appeals officer orders the claim accepted?
It is important to know how local appeals officers interpret laws and how they might apply the Nevada Supreme Court decisions that discuss workers’ compensation claims to your particular fact situation. There isn’t any public repository of appeals officer decisions. You must have experience arguing cases before the appeals officers before you can predict a likely outcome in your case. Most cases are not decided on a question of law, but instead are decided on whether the appeals officer thinks that you or your witnesses appear to be telling the truth.
The Nevada Attorney for Injured Workers is a free state agency created for the purpose of representing injured workers during the second level of the appeals process.
