Debt Collections

In New Jersey, an employee who is injured while at work is entitled to free medical benefits, temporary disability benefits, and (if appropriate) an award for permanent disability. The first two benefits are generally provided by the employer immediately after the injury without the assistance of legal counsel. However, the third aspect, concerning the permanency of the injury, is often highly contested. It is at this stage that selecting the right attorney to pursue your claim is invaluable.

Your attorney will begin the litigation process by filing a formal Claim Petition. Once the claim is filed, the process of accumulating the records from the treating doctors begins. Pursuant to the laws of New Jersey, your employer will provide all records in their possession to your attorney free of charge. Once all of the records are received, they will be sent to a neutral doctor who will perform an evaluation to determine your degree of permanent disability. In addition, your employer will also require that you attend a physical or mental examination with a physician of their choice for an estimation of disability.

Once the separate reports are received, the negotiation process begins and each party’s respective positions as to permanent disability are presented to the Judge of Compensation. He or she will review these reports and make a recommendation as to the percentage of the disability. If the parties agree with the Court’s determination, the matter is scheduled for a date in which the Court can formally approve the settlement. In New Jersey law, all workers’ compensation settlements must be approved by a Judge of Compensation in open court. If the parties cannot agree on a settlement, a formal trial will be conducted at which time testimony of witnesses will be heard. At the conclusion of all of the testimony, the Judge will deliver a decision regarding permanent disability, which is binding on all parties.

As always, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us at Kamensky Cohen for assistance with all of your Workers’ Compensation questions.

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In Pennsylvania, many small businesses incorporate or form limited liability companies unaware that simply creating the corporate entity is not enough to effectively defer the liability or risk.  The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has articulated factors it will consider in determining whether or not it will disregard the corporate form or “pierce the corporate veil.” The factors to be considered in disregarding the corporate form are “undercapitalization, failure to adhere to corporate formalities, substantial intermingling of corporate and personal affairs, and use of the corporate form to perpetrate a fraud.”  Lumax Industries v. Aultman, 543 Pa. 38, 42 (1995).  Fully understanding these factors and their application is essential knowledge for any corporate business owner.

It is important to know the current state of Pennsylvania law or the efforts to incorporate or form a limited liability company may be worthless if a court “pierces the corporate veil.”  At Kamensky Cohen & Associates, we can counsel you on the current state of Pennsylvania law in connection with “piercing the corporate veil” and other corporate issues.  Please contact us today.  We look forward to speaking with you.

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Our office is presently involved in two cases involving millions of dollars in damages to innocent persons and companies.  These cases represent examples of the disastrous effects of failing to respond to legal documents.

The first case involves a business that was served with papers naming them as defendants in a lawsuit.  The manner in which the business was conducted apparently left a gaping hole for the transfer of documents from the day-to-day operations of the business to the management of the company.  On several occasions papers involving the lawsuit failed to reach management which resulted in a default judgment in an amount in excess of $1 million.  The most salient factor about this case is that, had our clients responded initially, there was no likelihood that the plaintiffs would have had any recovery against our clients and the cost of representing them would have been about one tenth of what it will cost them to dig them out of the hole they are in.  We are now involved in an expensive battle to vacate that judgment which is certainly not a sure thing.  The lesson   —  whether you are a business or an individual it is your responsibility to see to it that legal documents received by you are reviewed by a competent attorney and a determination made as to what is necessary in order to protect your interests.  The cost of that review is minimal, especially when compared to the losses that can be encountered if you fail to respond.

Approximately 2 weeks after we began work on the above matter a similar case came to us from our forwarding counsel in Australia.  The client is a sophisticated world businessman with interests in the United States, Europe and the Middle East.  This client has had his Real Estate (valued in excess of  $2 million) seized by an individual that he believed was his managing agent at that property.  The short version of what had occurred is a business associate of our client was installed in the U.S. to manage his business interests at a particular horse location used for the training of race horses.  The business associate filed a lawsuit making fraudulent claims and then intercepted all of the legal documents. As a result a judgment was obtained and a sheriff’s sale resulted in the sale of the property to the same individual who engaged in the fraudulent activity.  This case is pending before the courts, with a lis pendens placed on the property by our offices which will protect the property from being conveyed to any innocent third party while we conclude our fraud claims against the former perpetrator of the fraud.  The lesson—you must have trustworthy people reviewing your mail and acting on your behalf.  It is recommended that more than one person be involved in the receipt and review of mail. There is no sure way to protect against fraud but checks and balances will help.  Call us if you need assistance protecting your business, whether before or after the disaster occurs.

For more information, please visit http://kc-law.net