{"id":955,"date":"2024-05-29T12:55:52","date_gmt":"2024-05-29T16:55:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.joannhoffman.com\/blog\/?p=955"},"modified":"2024-05-31T12:56:46","modified_gmt":"2024-05-31T16:56:46","slug":"settling-vs-taking-a-case-to-trial-in-floridas-workers-compensation-system","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.joannhoffman.com\/blog\/settling-vs-taking-a-case-to-trial-in-floridas-workers-compensation-system\/","title":{"rendered":"Settling vs. taking a case to trial in florida&#8217;s worker&#8217;s compensation system"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>When injured on the job, navigating <a href=\"https:\/\/www.myfloridacfo.com\/division\/wc\">the Worker&#8217;s Compensation system in Florida<\/a> can be quite a daunting task.\u00a0 One of the most crucial decisions is whether to settle or take the case to trial (commonly referred to as a Final Merits Hearing).\u00a0 \u00a0Keep in mind, if the case proceeds to trial, a Judge cannot award a monetary settlement rather medical or indemnity benefits.\u00a0 Regardless, either path has its own advantages and disadvantages, and understanding these can help one make an educated decision.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Understanding Worker\u2019s Compensation in Florida<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Florida\u2019s Worker\u2019s Compensation system is designed to provide benefits to employees who suffer work-related injuries or illnesses.\u00a0 These benefits include medical treatment, indemnity benefits, and last but not least <a href=\"https:\/\/www.joannhoffman.com\/blog\/obtaining-permanent-total-disability-ptd-benefits-floridas-workers-compensation-system\/\">compensation for permanent impairments<\/a>. However, obtaining the aforementioned can be complex and sometimes contentious, leading to disputes between injured workers and their employers\/insurance companies.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What is a Settlement?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>A settlement is an agreement between the injured worker and the employer\u2019s insurance company.\u00a0 When a settlement is entered into, one is essentially receiving a lump sum dollar amount, in exchange for closing the case, and waiving any rights to future claims related to the injury. \u00a0  <a href=\"https:\/\/www.joannhoffman.com\/blog\/settling-vs-taking-a-case-to-trial-in-floridas-workers-compensation-system\/#more-955\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When injured on the job, navigating the Worker&#8217;s Compensation system in Florida can be quite a daunting task.\u00a0 One of the most crucial decisions is whether to settle or take the case to trial (commonly referred to as a Final Merits Hearing).\u00a0 \u00a0Keep in mind, if the case proceeds to trial, a Judge cannot award [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,178],"tags":[23],"class_list":["post-955","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-workers-compensation","category-workers-compensation-lien","tag-workers-compensation-2"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Settling vs. taking a case to trial in florida&#039;s worker&#039;s compensation system &#8212; Florida Injury Attorneys Blog &#8212; May 29, 2024<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"When injured on the job, navigating the Worker&#039;s Compensation system in Florida can be quite a daunting task.\u00a0 One of the most crucial decisions is &#8212; May 29, 2024\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.joannhoffman.com\/blog\/settling-vs-taking-a-case-to-trial-in-floridas-workers-compensation-system\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Settling vs. taking a case to trial in florida&#039;s worker&#039;s compensation system &#8212; Florida Injury Attorneys Blog &#8212; May 29, 2024\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"When injured on the job, navigating the Worker&#039;s Compensation system in Florida can be quite a daunting task.\u00a0 One of the most crucial decisions is &#8212; May 29, 2024\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.joannhoffman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/gavelsmaller-1.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jo Ann Hoffman &amp; Associates, P.A.\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Settling vs. taking a case to trial in florida's worker's compensation system &#8212; Florida Injury Attorneys Blog &#8212; May 29, 2024","description":"When injured on the job, navigating the Worker's Compensation system in Florida can be quite a daunting task.\u00a0 One of the most crucial decisions is &#8212; May 29, 2024","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.joannhoffman.com\/blog\/settling-vs-taking-a-case-to-trial-in-floridas-workers-compensation-system\/","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_title":"Settling vs. taking a case to trial in florida's worker's compensation system &#8212; Florida Injury Attorneys Blog &#8212; May 29, 2024","twitter_description":"When injured on the job, navigating the Worker's Compensation system in Florida can be quite a daunting task.\u00a0 One of the most crucial decisions is &#8212; May 29, 2024","twitter_image":"https:\/\/www.joannhoffman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/gavelsmaller-1.jpg","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Jo Ann Hoffman &amp; Associates, P.A.","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.joannhoffman.com\/blog\/settling-vs-taking-a-case-to-trial-in-floridas-workers-compensation-system\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.joannhoffman.com\/blog\/settling-vs-taking-a-case-to-trial-in-floridas-workers-compensation-system\/"},"author":{"name":"Jo Ann Hoffman &amp; Associates, P.A.","@id":"https:\/\/www.joannhoffman.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/18c7150f3eef0adc9ff3ee4e602d2d75"},"headline":"Settling vs. taking a case to trial in florida&#8217;s worker&#8217;s compensation system","datePublished":"2024-05-29T16:55:52+00:00","dateModified":"2024-05-31T16:56:46+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.joannhoffman.com\/blog\/settling-vs-taking-a-case-to-trial-in-floridas-workers-compensation-system\/"},"wordCount":682,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.joannhoffman.com\/blog\/settling-vs-taking-a-case-to-trial-in-floridas-workers-compensation-system\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.joannhoffman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/gavelsmaller-1.jpg","keywords":["worker's compensation"],"articleSection":["workers compensation","workers compensation lien"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.joannhoffman.com\/blog\/settling-vs-taking-a-case-to-trial-in-floridas-workers-compensation-system\/","url":"https:\/\/www.joannhoffman.com\/blog\/settling-vs-taking-a-case-to-trial-in-floridas-workers-compensation-system\/","name":"Settling vs. taking a case to trial in florida's worker's compensation system &#8212; 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