In what courses of law should a workplace injury attorney apply?
I am a pre-law student about to enter law school with an interest in workplace injury law. With this concentration I would probably deal mostly with workers’ comp claims. However, how broad can this idea of workplace injury be taken? For example, would a workplace injury attorney ever be faced with a products liability claim or a medical malpractice claim? How about Social Security Disability, how does that fit into the picture? I’m looking over law school electives and trying to get a sense of which classes would fit my interest. I have another year before I have to worry about it but considering the possibilities is interesting.
The obvious answer is medical law, and employment law classes. What classes are available in each field will depend on your school. A hybrid of those would seem to fit best. Perhaps even talk to the professors in that field and see if you can get paid to do research from them (wait till you are done with your 1L year to ask). Additionally I am sure your law school will have advisers who know about the area of law and can recommend what to take.
My advice to you though is to keep you options and mind open until you are done with at least your 1st year required courses. You may find once you start to study that you don’t want to practice that type of law and instead want to focus on something else. Just keep an open mind, maybe you will end up at the same place but maybe not.
Keep in mind too that in law school you are taught “how” to be a
lawyer…not necessarily taught the “law”. When you are faced with
a particular legal issue you’d be charged with doing the research
to support your contention/stance to the side you are representing
to why you see things and interpret the laws/statutes/rules as you
do. It’s not always what the law says…but how it’s interpreted by
the parties and applied to the situation. WC is governed by an
“Act” in most states, and specific to that state. Where federal
government has a lot to say about labor law…FLSA etc, the feds
have nothing to do with WC. Even OSHA has state level agencies.
Calif has a FEHA that supercedes ADA/EEOC with much more liberal
definition of “disability”. SSA is unique to itself as well as
application of the MSPA/Medicare Secondary Payor Act, both of which
may have application to a WC claim. Good luck to you… you may
also be interested in the pay scale of industrial injury attorneys.
AA/Applicant Attys are paid by a % fee schedule…Calif is average
9% to 12% of the award/settlement. Not a high paying job(but for
deposition fees). DA/Defense Attys are naturally paid by the
hour…a somewhat lucrative business to say the least.