“I drive a semi-truck for a company out of Alabama; I live in Texas and was hurt in an accident in Tennessee.  So what state do I look to for workers compensation benefits?”

Often in workers compensation cases it can be confusing as to which state law applies.  This can be very important because all state work comp laws are different.  Some states provide more benefits for the employee than the Tennessee act and some provide less.  This issue arises most commonly with people who travel as part of their job.  We see it most often with over the road truck drivers, construction workers and employees in sales.  In order to determine which state laws can be applied it is generally important to know in what state the employer resides, in what state does the employee reside, where did the contract for hire occur and where did the injury occur.  Generally, we can determine which state laws are available once the questions are answered.  We have clients all over the United States that have compensation claims in Tennessee.  When that happens we coordinate everything from Tennessee and try to make the process as easy as possible on the client.  Fortunately, the process has become much easier thanks to technology.  Email, faxes, and cell phones keep us in touch with our clients just as if they were down the street.