The Workers’ Compensation Research Institute (WCRI) published a new study which examines the relationship between attorney representation and injured workers’ physical recovery and medical payments.
On behalf of the WCRI, Mathematic Policy Research conducted 28 rounds of 400 telephone surveys with injured workers across 15 states who had more than seven days of lost time from work. The surveys assessed physical health and function approximately three years after injury. Survey responses were linked to administrative claims data to examine medical payments per claim, allowing researchers to explore the relationship between attorney representation, recovery, and medical costs.
Approximately 21% of injured workers in the survey sample had attorney representation. Demographically, the percent of workers with an attorney decreased with higher levels of education, while it saw a bell curve across age. Shorter tenure was associated with greater rates of attorney involvement, as was a lack of health insurance. The industry with the greatest rate of attorney representation was construction at 26%.
Workers whose supervisor thought they were faking or exaggerating their injury were more likely to have attorney representation, as were workers who thought they could be fired or laid off after reporting their injury. Approximately 53% of workers whose claim was initially denied had attorney representation.
Compared with workers without attorney representation, workers with attorney representation reported a 10-point lower score in physical health and recovery. According to the WCRI, this finding can be interpreted in two ways. First, attorney involvement may worsen physical recovery. Second, more complex injuries that are less likely to see significant recovery could increase the likelihood that injured workers seek legal representation.
The WCRI states that their analysis points more to the first interpretation, noting several influences that arise from litigation, such as length of resolution, stress from an adversarial approach, and strategic behavior by attorneys to emphasize remaining disability and increase settlement payments.
Additionally, the WCRI found that there are minimal differences in average medical payments due to attorney representation.
The findings may help clarify when legal representation may be beneficial to injured workers and identify opportunities to streamline the process when attorneys become involved. The study may also inform strategies to better align incentives between attorneys and workers, with the goal of ensuring that workers’ health, recovery, and access to appropriate care remain central priorities.
