Helena Workplace Injury Lawyers

Helena Workplace Injury lawyer icon, Boland Aarab PLLP

Helena, MontanaHelena Workplace Injury

Helena Workplace Injury Lawyers: On-the-Job Accidents, Construction Injuries and Third-Party Claims in Lewis and Clark County

Boland Aarab PLLP.

If you were hurt at work in Helena, workers’ compensation is usually your only claim against your own employer. That claim runs through Helena-based institutions: the Department of Labor & Industry, Montana State Fund and the Workers’ Compensation Court. If another company caused the injury, you can also sue that company, generally in the First Judicial District Court.

Key Takeaways

Seriously hurt on the job in Helena? Contact Boland Aarab PLLP for a free consultation at (406) 315-3737.

How does a Helena work injury claim move?

Helena is where Montana’s workers’ compensation system is headquartered, so a Helena worker’s claim stays close to home at every stage.

  • The Department of Labor & Industry, which administers the workers’ compensation system, is based in Helena.
  • Montana State Fund, the state-chartered workers’ compensation insurer, has its headquarters at 855 Front Street in Helena.
  • The Workers’ Compensation Court sits at 1625 11th Avenue in Helena. When a benefits dispute cannot be resolved, it goes there. Appeals from the court’s final decisions go directly to the Montana Supreme Court, which also sits in Helena (§ 3-9-107, MCA).

The workers’ comp claim and a third-party lawsuit are two different cases. The comp claim pays set wage-loss and medical benefits, regardless of fault. The third-party case is a negligence lawsuit against someone other than your employer, and it can recover full damages: all lost earnings, future earning capacity, pain and suffering, and the loss of the life you had. Our focus is the third-party case. We coordinate it with your comp claim so that one does not undercut the other.

What kinds of Helena workplace injuries lead to third-party claims?

Helena’s work is broader than its reputation as a government town suggests:

  • Construction. Commercial building, new housing across the Helena Valley, and state and hospital projects put general contractors, subcontractors and equipment suppliers on the same job sites. An injured worker for one subcontractor may have a claim against the general contractor or another trade whose negligence caused the fall, collapse or equipment strike.
  • Highway work zones. MDT, headquartered in Helena, runs projects on I-15 and the Helena interchanges. Flaggers and road crews are hit by passing drivers. The driver and the driver’s insurer are third parties.
  • Driving for work. State employees, delivery drivers, health care workers traveling between sites and utility crews spend their days on I-15, US-12 and Helena’s arterials. A crash caused by another driver is a third-party claim, on top of comp.
  • Health care. St. Peter’s Health, the Fort Harrison VA Medical Center and Helena’s clinics and care facilities employ many workers who lift, transfer and treat patients. Defective lifts, equipment and premises hazards controlled by others can support third-party claims.
  • Premises and products. Falls on ice at a property controlled by someone other than your employer, and injuries from defective machinery or tools (§ 27-1-719, MCA).

Railroad workers are covered by FELA, not workers’ comp. See our Helena railroad and FELA lawyer page.

What happens after a workplace injury in Helena?

  1. Get medical care. Serious work injuries in Helena are usually treated at St. Peter’s Health, which DPHHS designates a State Area Trauma Hospital. Tell every provider it happened at work.
  2. Report it in writing to your employer within 30 days.
  3. File the comp claim within 12 months.
  4. Preserve the evidence. Photos, the equipment involved, the names of other contractors on site, and witnesses. On construction sites, conditions change within days.
  5. Get advice on the third-party claim before giving recorded statements to another company’s insurer.
  6. Know where the lawsuit goes. A third-party case over a Helena injury is generally filed in the First Judicial District Court at the Lewis and Clark County Courthouse, 228 Broadway (§ 3-5-101(1), MCA). If the third party is an out-of-state company, it may move the case to the U.S. District Court’s Helena Division at the Paul G. Hatfield Federal Courthouse, 901 Front Street.

Montana law that applies

Briefly: comp is exclusive against the employer (§ 39-71-411, MCA), except for an injury “specifically and actually intended” by the employer or a co-worker (§ 39-71-413, MCA). Third-party claims survive (§ 39-71-412, MCA). The comp insurer has a lien on a third-party recovery, but Montana limits it: the insurer must share the costs of the case, and it is not repaid in full when your damages exceed what you received (§ 39-71-414, MCA). Fault is apportioned among everyone responsible (§ 27-1-703, MCA). Our Montana workplace injury lawyer page has more.

Why hire a Great Falls firm for a Helena case?

A third-party work injury case is a full personal-injury lawsuit, often against a contractor or manufacturer with its own defense lawyers and insurers. What it needs is a firm that investigates quickly and is prepared to try the case. We are based in Great Falls and handle these cases throughout Montana. Our attorneys travel to Helena job sites, depositions, hearings and trial.

The Boland Aarab Way

  • We try cases. Our firm has tried more than a dozen jury trials, in Cascade, Phillips, Meagher and Yellowstone Counties, and our attorneys have spent more than 4,000 hours in the courtroom.
  • We know federal court. Out-of-state contractors and manufacturers often remove cases. Our attorneys have handled more than 40 cases in the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana.
  • We protect verdicts. The Montana Supreme Court reinstated our client’s $168,500 jury verdict in Voegel v. Salsbery, 2023 MT 137.
  • You work with the lawyers, from the first call through trial.

We also handle spinal cord injury cases in Helena, burn injuries in Helena and other Helena personal injury cases.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is the Montana Workers’ Compensation Court? In Helena, at 1625 11th Avenue. Appeals from its final decisions go directly to the Montana Supreme Court (§ 3-9-107, MCA).

Can I sue my Helena employer for a work injury? Usually not. Workers’ comp is the exclusive remedy against a covered employer, with narrow exceptions for intentional injury (§§ 39-71-411, 39-71-413, MCA). You may be able to sue another company that caused the injury.

I was hit by a driver while working a flagging job on I-15. What claims do I have? A workers’ comp claim through your employer’s insurer, and a separate claim against the driver who hit you (§ 39-71-412, MCA). Your own auto coverage may also be involved.

Will the comp insurer take my third-party recovery? It has a lien, but Montana law limits it and requires the insurer to share the costs of recovery (§ 39-71-414, MCA). We address the lien before any settlement.

I work for the State of Montana. Is my claim different? State employees are covered by workers’ compensation like other employees. A third-party claim against someone other than the State works the same way. Claims involving State negligence carry special notice rules (§ 2-9-301, MCA).

Talk to a Helena Workplace Injury Lawyer

Contact Boland Aarab PLLP for a free consultation at (406) 315-3737.

Our attorneys: Caitlin Boland Aarab · Samir F. Aarab

Sources: § 39-71-411, MCA · § 39-71-412, MCA · § 39-71-413, MCA · § 39-71-414, MCA · § 39-71-601, MCA · § 39-71-603, MCA · § 3-9-107, MCA · § 27-1-719, MCA · § 27-2-204, MCA · Montana Workers’ Compensation Court

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship.