Why a Local Attorney Has an Advantage in a Workers’ Compensation Case

A local workers’ compensation attorney has a real advantage over a large statewide or national firm for a simple reason: your case will be decided by local judges, in a local courthouse, and the attorney who appears before those judges year after year knows things an out-of-town lawyer simply can’t. It’s impossible to go through your day without hearing an advertisement for workers’ compensation attorneys, whether on TV, on the radio, on your computer screen, or on billboards and bus stops. But advertising reach and courtroom familiarity are two very different things, and when your health and job are on the line, the second one matters far more.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

The biggest advertisers in workers’ comp are often large firms with offices all over the state, or even the country, and the lawyer who actually appears on your case may be someone “dropping in” who has never even met the judge on your case.

A local workers’ compensation attorney works like a local tour guide: they know the terrain because they live in it, and that familiarity makes the trip through your case more efficient and effective.

Orange County has two workers’ compensation courts, and I personally appear at both.

Judges are human beings with their own preferences and views about how the law should be applied. Knowing those tendencies after years of appearances is an advantage no “billboard lawyer” can match.

A big firm isn’t automatically the wrong choice. But before you hire anyone, ask one question: who would you rather have on your side? A local attorney, or someone who may have never been to the courthouse your case is in?

A WORKERS’ COMP ATTORNEY IS LIKE A TOUR GUIDE

You can think of a workers’ compensation attorney as a tour guide. When you’re traveling, a good tour guide directs you through the area efficiently because they’re familiar with it. They know the routes, the shortcuts, and the places where travelers get stuck. You could wander the same city with a guidebook, but the person who walks those streets every day will get you where you’re going faster and with fewer wrong turns.

A workers’ compensation case works in a similar way. An attorney who regularly appears before the judges at the local courthouses has a distinct advantage over one who isn’t familiar with the nuances of appearing at a particular courthouse. Every courthouse has its own rhythms: how calendars are run, how the judges like issues presented, what the local defense attorneys tend to do. None of that is written in any rulebook. You learn it by being there, over and over, for years.

ORANGE COUNTY HAS TWO WORKERS’ COMPENSATION COURTS, AND I APPEAR AT BOTH

In Orange County, there are two workers’ compensation courts, and I appear at both of them personally. That word, personally, matters. At many large firms, the attorney whose face is on the advertisement is not the person handling your file, and the person actually handling your file may not be the one standing next to you at future appointments with the court.

Often, the firms that represent insurance companies send their lawyers from all over the state. I see it constantly. The defense attorney across the aisle may be appearing in an Orange County courtroom for the first time, in front of a judge they’ve never met. When your attorney knows the courthouse and theirs doesn’t, that usually works in your favor.

JUDGES ARE HUMAN BEINGS, AND THAT MATTERS MORE THAN PEOPLE THINK

Judges are obviously human beings. They have their preferences, and their own views about the law and how it should be applied. Two judges can look at the same medical record, the same testimony, and the same dispute, and weigh them differently. That isn’t because either is wrong, but because judging involves human judgment. It’s not a flaw in the system; it’s the nature of any system run by actual human beings.

After appearing before Orange County workers’ compensation judges over the last 30 years, I am very familiar with the judges that would hear an Orange County case: how they run their courtrooms, what they expect from the attorneys in front of them, and how they tend to approach the issues that come up again and again in these cases. Orange County is my “home turf”!

When you are considering which lawyer would best represent your interests in Orange County, keep in mind that having a local attorney may be a great advantage over a statewide or even national firm dropping in to represent your interests before a judge here. I’ve spent over 30 years appearing before Orange County workers’ compensation judges from my office in Santa Ana, and I know the difference it can make.

This article is general information about California workers’ compensation and is not legal advice for any individual case. Every case is different, and the outcomes differ.

Thomas F. Martin, PLC offers a free 30-minute case evaluation. Call (714) 547-5025.