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move into defend mode. Their goal is to use whatever documentation
they have gathered to discredit your claim and support a settlement offer

for the least amount possible. For example, the insurance company will
use an authorization to request medical records against you by looking
through voluminous amounts of prior records in an effort to find some

reference to a condition it will contend contributed to your injury. The
most common defense asserted by the insurance company is that you had
a “pre-existing condition” that reduces its obligation to pay the full

benefits the employee may otherwise be entitled to receive.
The bottom line: Many insurance companies will try to take
advantage of you if you do not have an attorney. They know you do not

have the training in the rules of civil procedure, evidence, or
knowledge of workers’ compensation law. It is not easy for you to

convince them to do the right thing and pay your benefits. Having a
lawyer on your side early in the process places the insurance company
on notice that you have an advocate with the ability to protect your

rights in a courtroom. Having an experienced workers’ compensation
lawyer on your side levels the playing field and is likely to add

significant value to your claim.

§7.2 What will an Attorney Cost?
An attorney who undertakes to represent a claimant in a

workers’ compensation claim is employed under a contingency
agreement. This means the attorney will not collect anything until he or
she secures an award of weekly benefits or settlement of the claim.

Under Georgia law, an attorney may not charge more than 25 percent of
your weekly benefits or settlement for any accident that occurred on or

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