Idaho Falls and Workplace Injuries

In case you are injured on the job you might be eligible for worker's compensation benefits. You need to first seek medical care for your injury, and then quickly notify your employer. You could be entitled to four types of worker's compensation benefits. Let Thomsen Holman Wheiler PLLC help with any legal issues for Idaho Falls Workplace Injuries.


The very first is medical benefits. Your employer's insurance company should pay all costs of reasonable medical or chiropractic care caused by your injury, for as long as it requires to get you well. This consists of physical therapy and medication.



The second kind of benefit is the temporary total disability benefit or TTD. This is an income replacement which takes over after a five day waiting period. It is meant to compensate you for lost income while you are healing from your injury. The TTD benefit will often pay you about two-thirds of what you had been earning before your injury. The TTD benefit will carry on until your doctor releases you to go back to work.



The third form of benefit is the impairment benefit. If your injury leads to loss of bodily function, like a decreased capacity to lift heavy weights, a loss of range of motion or the like, then you'll be eligible for a cash award. The amount of the award will be based upon the seriousness of your impairment. A doctor determines the severity of the impairment.



The fourth form of benefit is the disability award. If your impairment produces a loss of opportunity to earn income, then this loss can be compensated by a disability award. The amount of the disability award is determined by a number of factors, including the degree of impairment, your education and job skills, and the accessibility to employment in your area. A THW Law attorney can assist you to receive a disability evaluation and disability award.



Worker's compensation is a complex area of the law, but THW Law can help. If you've been injured on the job and are worried about your rights, contact Thomsen Holman Wheiler PLLC for a free consultation. We will explain your rights and options.

Intellectual Property and THW Law

What is Intellectual Property?

Intellectual property handles ownership of certain ideas, inventions, trade secrets, patents, copyrights, trade dress, service marks, trade marks, or trade names, and also the legal or illegal use of this property. The four main kinds of intellectual property are:

Trademark

A trademark could be a logo, name, symbol, design, or device used to differentiate a product or service of one business from that of another. Example: Nike's swoosh. Ownership of a trademark is produced not by registration, but by use in commerce. Generally, registration of a trademark is not needed. However, registration with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has certain benefits. Protection of a registered trademark lasts for ten years after registration, and it is renewable.

Patent

A patent is definitely the right to exclude others from making, using, selling, or recording an invention or discovery, including new and improved products and processes. Patents may be registered in foreign countries, last for twenty (20) years, and are renewable. But, if the patent expires, distinctive rights to use, sell, or import the invention or discovery is lost. Unlike trademarks, patent rights really do not exist unless and until the patent is registered.

Trade Secrets

Trade secrets (included in state instead of federal laws) include formulas, patterns, compilations, programs, devices, methods, techniques, or processes, which includes some economic value because of its not generally known or readily discoverable by competitors. The owner should also use reasonable efforts to keep the secrecy of the trade secrets. Trade secrets cover a much broader array of marketable ideas than patents, and they steer clear of the expensive patent registration process. Unlike patents, a legitimate trade secret lasts so long as you use reasonable efforts to keep it secret. Examples of a trade secret comprise of Coca Cola's formula for its soft drink, customer lists and files, software source code, strategic business plans, annual operating plans, marketing plans, machine designs, customer information, pricing lists, bid information, profit margins, etc. Reasonable strategies to secrecy can include computer passwords, locked file drawers, confidentiality agreements, etc.

Copyright

A copyright safeguards original works of authorship including literary, dramatic, musical, and artistic works, including poetry, novels, movies, songs, computer software, television shows, and architecture. Copyright does not protect facts, ideas, systems, or methods of operation, even though it may protect the way these things are expressed. Just like a trademark, a copyright is established when the work of authorship is created. Unlike a trademark, to be able to file a lawsuit for infringement of a copyright, the copyright must first be registered.

Do I Need an Intellectual Property Attorney?

Idaho Intellectual property attorneys cover an extensive area of legal issues involved with contracts, patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets, trade dress, agreements, and other related issues. There are numerous pitfalls that a qualified intellectual property attorney can help you avoid, and many benefits a Idaho intellectual property attorney can help you acquire. If you are associated with any of the above intellectual property issues, or even if you are wondering whether any of your ideas, works, business names, designs, or logos, or other information, is or could become qualified for legal protection, you ought to consult with a qualified THW Law intellectual property legal professional.

Mediation and Idaho Falls

Mediation is surely an alternative means of resolving disputes instead of filing a lawsuit or, in case a lawsuit has already been filed, rather than going to trial. Quite often in Idaho, if a lawsuit has actually been filed, judges will order that the case be mediated before the case is permitted to proceed to trial. Mediation is essentially a procedure where a trained independent person gets the parties to a dispute together and helps them come to a mutual resolution of their dispute. Thomsen Holman Wheiler, PLLC, has considerable experience representing individuals in mediation in Idaho Falls. Further, Curt R. Thomsen and James D. Holman of the firm are skillfully trained mediators and on the Idaho Federal Court and Idaho Supreme Court list of authorized civil mediators for the State of Idaho. Mr. Thomsen and Mr. Holman not only represent clients as an advocate in mediation but are also designated by judges to act as the mediators of a dispute and are hired by individuals, other law firms and companies to act as an independent mediator to assist parties resolve their disputes.



Many reasons exist for why mediation is preferable to litigation. The list actually could nearly be endless but take into account the following:



1. Substantial expense is saved.

2. The risk of trial, which includes adverse verdicts and appeals, is avoided.

3. A settlement obtained through mediation is under the control of the parties at the mediation. No settlement can occur unless everyone agrees.

4. Remedies can be fashioned that the judicial system cannot provide.

5. A resolution can be reached much sooner than waiting for trial, and then sometimes appeals, so people can go on with their lives.

6. Many times through mediation hard feelings can be overcome and relationships preserved that litigation may destroy.

Some other Disputes in Idaho Falls

Automobile Insurance

The State of Idaho mandates that anybody who registers an automobile in the State of Idaho have liability insurance. Liability insurance is necessary by law, but there are numerous other types of automobile insurance that ought to be considered; those include comprehensive, collision, uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage. Idaho law makes it necessary that somebody who registers a vehicle to operate on the highways in Idaho carry a minimum of $25,000/$50,000 liability insurance. Liability insurance provides liability coverage for up to $25,000 for just one injured person and no more than $50,000 for all persons injured in a single accident. However, some individuals in violation of the law do not carry automobile liability insurance and, therefore, it is prudent for those who operate automobiles on the highways to carry both uninsured motorist and underinsured motorist coverage. Uninsured motorist coverage pays only when the person that causes your injury through their negligence doesn't have insurance. Underinsured coverage provides coverage to a person injured by the negligence of another if the other person's insurance coverage is under the underinsured motorist coverage carried by the injured person. For instance, if Party A was injured by the negligence of Party B and Party B had $25,000 of insurance but Party A's medical bills were $50,000, then if Party A had uninsured motorist coverage it wouldn't help him because Party B had insurance. However, if Party A had underinsured motorist coverage with a policy limit of $50,000, he would be capable of obtain another $25,000 from his own insurance company as well as the $25,000 available from the insurance company of Party B who caused the injury. Comprehensive insurance is insurance to cover damages to a person's automobile that may be caused by things like hail or vandalism. Collision insurance would pay for the property damage to the policyholder's car occurring in a collision, whether or not the collision was caused by the negligence of the policyholder.

Life Insurance

According to law of Idaho, life insurance pays to the named beneficiary the sum of the policy upon the death of the individual whose life was insured.

Accident Insurance

There are many kinds of accident insurance in Idaho law, but typically it offers additional insurance coverage when the insured's death is caused by an accident.

Health Insurance

Health insurance, whether it's group or individual insurance, is supposed to cover particular types of medical expenses incurred by an individual or that individual's family if there is family coverage. There are numerous forms of health insurance, with many different amounts of coverage, deductibles, etc.