My office receives at least one phone call a week from an injured worker who is unhappy with how their attorney handled their contested case at a hearing.\u00a0 Unfortunately, it is usually too late for me to help those callers.\u00a0 A recent decision from the Nevada Supreme Court illustrates one reason why it is too late for me to help.<\/p>\n
Kathy Garcia, an employee of Scolari’s Food & Drug in northern Nevada, filed an occupational disease claim, asking for medical care for pain in her arms and shoulder that she thought was aggravated by her work duties.\u00a0 Her claim was denied.\u00a0 Garcia’s lawyer decided not to use medical reports at the appeals hearing that might have helped Garcia win her appeal, and Garcia lost her case.\u00a0 Garcia then asked a \u00a0district court to send her case back for another appeals hearing so that she could use the medical reports while acting as her own attorney.<\/p>\n
The Nevada Supreme Court decided against Garcia, with a majority of the justices ruling that any negligence of Garcia’s attorney in not putting the reports into evidence did not amount to a “good reason” to remand the case for another hearing.\u00a0 Two dissenting justices disagreed and wrote that an injured worker should get their day in court with all relevant evidence if they can show that their attorney was negligent.\u00a0 Garcia v. Scolari’s Food & Drug<\/span><\/a>, 125 Nev. Adv. Op. 6 (1\/29\/09).\u00a0 The moral of this story is that an injured worker needs to be\u00a0careful when \u00a0selecting an attorney.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" My office receives at least one phone call a week from an injured worker who is unhappy with how their attorney handled their contested case at a hearing.\u00a0 Unfortunately, it is usually too late for me to help those callers.\u00a0 A recent decision from the Nevada Supreme Court illustrates one reason why it is too … Continue reading Injured Workers Are Stuck with Their Attorneys’ Negligence<\/span>