My former spouse agreed to pay me 25% (net) of his pending worker's comp claim in our divorce decree. However, he was successful in turning his "pending" comp claim into (2) separate back injuries to keep from paying me an extra $20,000.00. He did this by claiming he "reinjured his back 60 days after our divorce was final.

Any advice on this one? I have sought 4 attorneys who will not touch this. Two of them were divorce attorneys who stated they are not well versed in worker's comp claims. And the 3rd one (worker's comp lawyer) stated he doesn't like to get involved with divorce cases on the basis of their ugliness. And the 4th one stated that beings 3 attorneys before him shot me down doesn't even wish to give me the time of day saying there has to be a solid reason why they won't take this so he believes he probably wouldn't win & make a dime.

Presently I am considering handling this myself. Should I file for a Petition for Rule to Show Cause... what exactly am I doing? I am unfamilar with taking a person to court & the processes. What happens when I file this document? [I know how to obtain this document.]

My divorce states, "The net recovery which the petitioner rcvs on his WCC will be defined as the full amt of comp awarded to petitioner including any pymts to be made over time, less any amts required to be reimbursed for disability pymts already rcvd, petitioner's attorney fees and costs directly associted with the prosecution of his WCC,"

Thanks for any assistance in this matter!

Sandy

Let me see if I have this straight:

So you saw 2 divorce attorneys who said they weren't familiar with this type of law.

Ok, so the you go to worker's comp lawyer (good job).

But he doesn't get involved with divorces.

The 4th one you told about the other 3 (silly mistake).

My advice, go to another worker's comp lawyer and do not tell him about all the other lawyer's. Well, tell him you went to 1 divorce attorney who told you he wasn't familiar with worker's comp.

You say he agreed to make these payments. Where? Was this part of a court approved divorce settlement? If so, you have a signed agreement. What about the attorney who drew up that agreement, what does s/he say? Seems to me the wording of that clause as you quoted it, was written by someone who understood WCC.

If you can't get an attorney to represent you, then go to the family court and talk to the people there and ask how you can get your court order enforced.

You can file the petition on your own if you want. It's your right. However I'm curious as to why 4 lawyers have refused to take your case. It must not be a very solid one, at least not in terms of what can be proven. It would seem simple enough to prove fraud on the part of your ex-husband if he did in fact concoct a second "injury" after your divorce was final. However, if he has sufficient documentation to "prove" his "claim" then it's easy to see why any lawyer would back off on this one, even if you suspect that such documents are fraudulent. There needs to be at least a preponderance of the evidence ; mere suspicion on your part is not enough. Is it possible that he did in fact legitimately sustain a second injury after your divorce? Look into it. Do a little "detective work" on your own and try to find out as much as possible what's actually going on. Talk to people who know him, try to observe him anonymously (without giving the appearance of stalking) and see just what you can substantiate regarding this "injury." However, keep in mind that the initial injury, which apparently was legitimate, makes it very easy to mask a fraudulent second "injury" so you may have some rough going ahead of you. That could also serve to explain why so many lawyers are shying away from this one.

Thanks to S Ciani, Scott Gem, and Captain Forest for your gracious replies to my dilemma! I am having probs w/ my msn server e-mail (why I am late in replying)
My reply: The reasons for attorneys shutting me down are, Divorce attorneys are telling me they are not well versed in Workers comp. And Worker's Comp attorneys are telling me I need a divorce lawyer to take this as it is based upon our final Marital Separation Agreement. I currently have a Worker's comp atty representing me for my carpal tunnel. When I had him take a gander at all of the pprwork... his comment? "This is an obvious attempt at fraud". However, he does NOT like to deal with divorces. Shot down again. Another divorce atty said about my divorce pprs: "Your divorce atty has some real strong language, but I don't specialize in worker's comp." It is cut 'n dry - black 'n white verbiage. It states the following: "The net recovery which the petitioner receives on his worker's compensation claim will be defined as the full amt of compensation awarded to petitioner including any payments to be made over time, less any amts required to be reimbursed for disability payments already received, petitioner's atty fees and costs directly associated with the prosecution of his workers comp claim". His atty has tried to separate a 2nd injury to his back. The original injury was a herniated disc. He has had 3 back injuries since. The state supplied me with all the recorded documents including medical notes. He is alleging that he has several injuries to his back. Another red flag is the fact that he only filed a 2nd separate claim 46 days after the divorce was final but not with any other injuries. In hopes so he could separate what he thinks he will owe me in the end. According to Drs. Notes they state the injuries "relate" to the "original" injury. So I ask, how can he try & separate the Worker's Comp claim? He has so-called separate files & file numbers for the 2. However, in the end (when he settled) there was only 1 claim. And our divorce pprs (that he agreed to) state: "Worker's compensation claim" singular not plural. Our divorce pprs also state before that wording: "Petitioner and Respondent agree that the Respondent will receive 25% of any recovery which the Petitioner receives as a result of his pending worker compensation claim". Gentleman, I don't wish to appear greedy. But I don't like it when people are not a man of their word. This is the way I was raised. You can take what I "say" along with a hand shake to the bank. In fact, when we ended our 31 years together I never went after him for Alimony. Nor did I touch his 401(k) plan. (I was even a stay at home mom while raising our 4 children) And I even took the lesser valued car of the 2 we owned together. Every one in my circle of influence thought I was nuts for doing so. I believe in being equitable and fair. Even my divorce atty said I should go after more than 25% of his net recovery for the worker's comp claim. There are a lot of *****y-greedy, soon to be x-wives out there that take all they can get their hands on. I saw that first hand with my own mother back in the early 70's. But I must interject there are some men out there that walk all over their soon to be x-wives. My x-husband's father did that to my former mother-in-law. Yes, I could file this on my own. And worse comes to worse I will indeed do that. But I feel I stand a stronger case of winning what is justifiably mine if I have representation by a professional. My father taught me to stand up for myself because no one else will be looking out for me. So here is where I currently stand. I am taking your advice & still making phone calls. I am on my 7th attorney. And am keeping my fingers crossed on the current one in hopes of getting a phone call this week saying his firm will take my case. He specializes in WC & his sibling (also an attorney in the same office) specializes in divorce cases. And my personal WC atty (helping me with my current WC for carpal tunnel) told this WC atty via a telephone call to him that he will be the "expert" WC witness for me. So I may just have 3 attorneys working for me should he accept my case. This would be the perfect scenario.
P.S. Why won't my divorce atty fight for my rights? Every single atty has stated this is silly that she won't take it. She claims she doesn't know anything about WC law. But when talking briefly with her paralegal she states: "Karen probably won't want to get involved because she has to periodically work with my ex's WC attorney". If you ask me something is rotten in Denmark there. Too many red flags from that camp. In the beginning they were trying to get me to buy into what his atty "claimed" he received. And then going so far as to discourage me from pursuing obtaining the state recorded documents.
I look forward to hearing back your comments, suggestions, or even a note of encouragement. It is awful when greedy (I believe my x-husband & his wife are the greedy ones in this picture) ppl get away with walking all over others. Make it a great day! Thanks again for taking the time to comment on my dilemma.
SandyC~

The only thing I can say here is that you have an attorney that drew up the agreement. If she is refusing to help you enforce that agreement, I would consult the local bar association to investigate why.

Hello Scott,
Hmmmm, this is something to chew on. Would you do that? Do you believe she has a leg to stand on by stating she is not familiar with Worker's compensation law & therefore wishes to not get involved?

For someone who is not well versed in WC I find it ironic that another attorney had informed me that I have some real strong language in our Marital Separation Agreement pertaining to this area.

In fact, all of the WC verbiage was handwritten on the final documents by her on the day we finalized our divorce. So when one obtains copies of the pprs you will see how it is all handwritten and added alongside the type written font.

She works for a firm that has quite a handful of attorneys on board. And some of them specialize in WC. So what is the REAL reason for turning me down? I may never know. But the more I analyze this the more I keep smelling a rotten fish.

I live in a small area & would not want to stir the waters. But I also don't like it when people play games with little people like me who are layman. It makes me feel walked upon in the name of the law. Not right!

In your estimate what would be the result of consulting the local bar association to investigate this? This may be something I will give considerable thought & consider doing. Especially if this current attorney turns me down & I have to wing it by myself.

Thanks for expediting your reply. I am much obliged!

SandyC~

P.S.
Should I decide to take your last advice, how would I contact my "local" bar assoc?

SandyC~

The phone book

Scott,
Are you a seasoned lawyer? What would be the motivation behind me contacting my local bar assoc? If you were in my shoes would you do that? My divorce attorney would probably inform them what she had told me. (The fact that she is not too familiar with WC law.) Don't you think that sounds good?

SandyC~

First, I'm not a lawyer at all. But when a lawyer takes on a client for an action, I believe, ethically, they are required to see that action through. That's why I suggested the Bar Association. You can approach them with just the question, don't mention names. Or you can go to:
www.abanet.org

You may be able to find someplace there to e-mail the question. The question I would ask is this. If an attorney represents someone in a divorce, drawing up the divorce agreement, shouldn't that attorney help the client enforce the agreement?

If the answer to that question is yes, then I would definitely take it up with the local assn. What I would suspect would happen is someone whispers in your attorney's ear to continue helping you on the case.

I am now looking to inquire with a Neurologist & ask the following question. Can a "reoccurance occur without having an initial injury"? If so, then I stand a high chance of winning my case.

However, the Neurologist who treated me in the past for carpal tunnel will not answer that question for me. Any advice on how I may find an answer to this? That way I can prove my x-husband could possibly be lying about an alleged 2nd injury. This is the verbiage in some of his medical notes by a medical doctor who treated him in the past.

Thanks for your assistance in this matter.
Make it a GREAT day!

SandyC~