Brockton Workers' Compensation Lawyer

Work-related injuries can upend every part of your life. Between urgent medical care, lost wages, and pressure from a claims adjuster, it is easy to feel overwhelmed, especially when you should be focused on healing. Our Brockton personal injury team at Jeffrey Glassman Injury Lawyers has spent decades standing up for employees across Plymouth County and the wider South Shore, recovering the full workers’ compensation benefits the law promises. Below is an in-depth guide to Massachusetts workers’ compensation, tailored to Brockton workers, updated for 2025, and written to help you decide whether hiring a local workers’ compensation attorney is right for you.

Massachusetts workers’ compensation is a no-fault insurance system created by M.G.L. c. 152. If you are hurt on the job or develop an occupational illness, you do not have to prove your employer was negligent. You only need to show that the injury or disease arose “in the course and scope” of employment. The key statutory benefits are:

• Medical treatment, including emergency care, doctor visits, diagnostic tests, prescriptions, physical therapy, mileage reimbursement, and durable medical equipment—paid in full with no co-pays.
• Temporary total disability (TTD) benefits, 60 % of your average weekly wage (AWW), capped at the state maximum. Payable up to 156 weeks.
• Temporary partial disability (TPD) benefits, up to 75 % of the TTD rate if you can do some work at reduced earnings; payable up to 208 weeks.
• Permanent and total disability (PTD), two-thirds of your AWW for as long as you remain disabled.
• Permanent loss-of-function and disfigurement, one-time payments for scarring on the face, neck, or hands, or loss of bodily function.
• Vocational rehabilitation, tuition, retraining, and job placement help when you cannot return to your former trade.
• Survivor benefits for spouses and children when a worker dies from a job-related injury or illness.

For injuries on or after October 1, 2024, the maximum weekly compensation rate is $1,829.13, and the minimum is $365.83, numbers tied directly to the State Average Weekly Wage.

Brockton’s economy differs from Boston’s financial district or Cape Cod’s tourism corridor. A hometown workers’ compensation lawyer understands the unique hazards of:

• Healthcare and elder-care facilities, such as Signature Healthcare Brockton Hospital and dozens of nursing homes, where nurses and aides face lifting injuries, needle sticks, and workplace violence.
• Distribution and warehousing along the Route 24 corridor (e.g., Amazon, Walmart, and Home Depot fulfillment centers), where conveyor belt mishaps, pallet jack accidents, and repetitive stress injuries are common.
• Construction and trades on public-school renovation projects, commuter-rail improvements, and residential developments that expose workers to falls, trench collapses, and heavy-equipment strikes.
• Food-processing and light manufacturing plants that create crush injuries, amputations, and chemical burns.

An attorney in Brockton will be familiar with local treating physicians, regional Department of Industrial Accidents (DIA) staff in Fall River, and vocational providers who understand the South Shore labor market.

Timing is everything. To protect both your health and your legal rights:

• Report the incident to a supervisor as soon as possible, preferably in writing. Under Massachusetts law, the employer must file a Form 101 with its insurer within seven calendar days if the disability lasts five days or more.
• Request prompt medical care and inform every provider that the injury is work-related, so the bills are routed to the insurer, not your health plan.
• Document everything: photographs, coworker statements, hazard reports, and any communication with the adjuster.
• Follow medical advice; missed appointments and non-compliance allow insurers to stop benefits.
• Consult a workers’ compensation attorney early; deadlines arrive quickly, and a mistake in the first 14 days can delay or deny income benefits.

While many claims are accepted, contested cases move through a formal multi-stage system at the Massachusetts Department of Industrial Accidents:

• Conciliation. An informal meeting where a DIA conciliator tries to broker an agreement.
• Conference. A non-evidentiary hearing before an Administrative Judge who can issue a temporary order.
• Hearing. A full evidentiary trial with sworn testimony, exhibits, and cross-examination.
• Reviewing Board. A three-judge appellate panel that examines errors of law.
• Massachusetts Court of Appeals. Final judicial review.

Each stage has stricter rules of evidence and procedure. Insurance companies retain well-versed attorneys in these forums; having an attorney at your level increases the playing field.

Massachusetts caps and shifts nearly all workers’ compensation attorney fees:

• If the insurer accepts liability for your claim, your lawyer receives up to 20% of any lump-sum settlement.
• If the insurer does not accept liability for your claim as part of the settlement, your lawyer receives no more than 15% of any lump-sum settlement.
• If the insurance company contests your claim in court and loses, it must pay regulated legal fees under M.G.L. c. 152, §13A. For example, $1,900.55 is paid to your attorney when benefits are ordered after a Conference, and $6,651.91 after a full hearing. The insurance company can deduct a portion of the attorney’s fees from your weekly payment for up to 30 days after a Conference Order, but it does not always do so.

Either way, the injured employee never writes a personal check to their attorney.

• Our law firm focuses exclusively on injury law, workers’ compensation, and third-party negligence claims. They are not a sideline practice; they are our core mission.
• A field investigation team that visits job sites, secures surveillance video, and preserves machine-guard evidence before it disappears.
• Deep DIA experience, our attorneys appear weekly at the Fall River and Boston DIA offices and know individual judges’ expectations.
• Integrated approach to third-party cases, if a defectively designed saw, a reckless subcontractor, or a negligent driver caused your injury, we prepare simultaneous personal injury lawsuits for pain and suffering damages that workers’ comp alone cannot cover.
• No-risk representation, free consultations, no retainer, and no fee unless we recover for you.
• Bilingual staff fluent in Spanish, Portuguese, Cape Verdean Creole, and Haitian Kreyòl.

Workers’ compensation bars lawsuits against your employer for pain and suffering, but you can pursue additional damages against negligent third parties, including:

• Manufacturers of defective equipment. E.g., a punch-press without proper guards.
• Property owners or general contractors who fail to provide fall protection on multi-employer worksites.
• Drivers who strike you while making deliveries or traveling between job sites.

A successful third-party case can pay 100 % of lost earnings, physical-pain damages, emotional distress, and loss of quality of life, which the workers’ comp system never covers.

• Four-year statute of limitations on filing a DIA claim, running from the date you knew or should have known the disability was job-related.
• Employers must notify their insurance company within seven days once a worker misses five or more workdays.
• Insurers have 14 days after learning of the injury to start paying, issue a denial, or begin payments “without prejudice” (allowing a six-month investigation, which can be extended to one year).

Missing these timelines can create avoidable hurdles, so prompt legal advice is essential.

• Attend every medical appointment; missed visits lead adjusters to claim you are not injured.
• Keep copies of work-search logs if you receive partial benefits.
• Do not speak with insurance nurses and adjusters; let your attorney handle conversations.
• Consider vocational rehabilitation if you are unable to return to your prior occupation.
• Document potential retaliation, emails, write-ups, or schedule cuts that happen after you report an injury.

• Free, confidential consultation. Virtual, by phone, or in our Brockton meeting space.
• Case evaluation. We calculate the correct AWW, verify coverage, and review medical evidence.
• Notice of representation. Our first letter to the insurer stops direct adjuster contact with you.
• Claim roadmap. We explain the conciliation, conference, and hearing stages so you know what comes next.
• Aggressive advocacy. Whether negotiating a fair lump-sum settlement or litigating through the Reviewing Board, we prioritize maximizing your net recovery.

You have only one chance to secure the wage-loss protection and medical care your family depends on. Let a proven Brockton workers’ compensation attorney guide you. Contact Jeffrey Glassman Injury Lawyers at (617) 777-7777 or submit our online form for a free consultation. We serve injured workers across Brockton, Stoughton, West Bridgewater, Easton, and Plymouth County.