Levinson Axelrod, P.A. Partner Todd Wachtel recently prevailed in a Second Injury Fund case out of our Flemington office by securing a six-figure settlement and lifetime permanent total disability payments for an injured worker.
As shown in court documents, Todd represented a worker who had injured his back while pulling a hose in the course of his employment. The injury resulted in our client undergoing major back surgery.
Todd has previously represented this client in multiple earlier claims involving injuries to his back. And because his client had been able to return to work after these injuries, Todd was able to secure awards for “partial total disability,” meaning that he was compensated based on a percentage of disability.
However, the client’s latest accident was the “straw that broke the camel’s back,” and resulted in him becoming totally and permanently disabled and unable to return to work. As a result, the case was handled with the Second Injury Fund of the State of New Jersey, which assumes the obligation of paying permanent disability benefits to disabled workers following an initial period of payments made by their employers.
While Second Injury Fund cases are complex, Todd was able to secure a positive outcome that entitles his client to a $243,810 settlement from his employer’s workers’ compensation insurance carrier and weekly payments of $903 per week for the rest of his life from the SIF.
Todd’s case is a powerful illustration of the distinction between “partial total” awards and “permanent total” awards and speaks volumes about the importance of working with experienced counsel in workers’ compensation cases involving the New Jersey Second Injury Fund.
Todd D. Wachtel is a NJ Supreme Court Certified Workers’ Compensation Attorney and former Deputy Attorney General who represented the State of New Jersey in Workers’ Compensation proceedings. In his work fighting for claimants, Todd has leveraged his unique insight to help workers and families recover millions in compensation following work-related injuries and illnesses. Todd is an inducted Fellow in the College Of Workers’ Compensation Lawyers and serves on the State Bar’s Executive Committee of the Workers’ Compensation Section, where he assists in reviewing issues and proposed laws critical to the practice of Workers’ Compensation in New Jersey.