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Legally Reviewed by Michael Lerner on June 9, 2025
Philadelphia is Pennsylvania’s largest city and home to one of the most diverse workforces in the state. From healthcare workers across the Penn Medicine, Jefferson, and Temple hospital systems, to construction workers on Center City high-rises, port workers along the Delaware River, transit operators and maintenance crews at SEPTA, hotel and restaurant staff in Old City and University City, warehouse workers in the industrial corridors of South Philadelphia and the Northeast, and tens of thousands of municipal employees keeping the city running. When workers in Philadelphia get hurt on the job, the financial impact hits immediately, often before they fully understand what they are entitled to.
Philadelphia’s insurance carriers are some of the most aggressive in Pennsylvania at denying claims, terminating benefits early, and pushing injured workers into independent medical examinations designed to cut off their wage loss benefits. At Lerner, Steinberg and Associates, we have spent over 51 years of combined experience representing injured workers throughout Pennsylvania, and we have a Philadelphia office at 3415 Race Street in University City to serve workers in the city directly. We know the local industries, the workers’ compensation judges who handle Philadelphia claims, and the defense firms that represent the biggest employers and insurers in the region.
⚠ Time-Sensitive — Pennsylvania Law Limits Your Window to File
Philadelphia workers have 3 years from the date of their injury to file a Claim Petition — missing this deadline permanently bars your benefits.
You work directly with Mike Lerner or Ben Steinberg — never a paralegal. No fee unless we win. Call (215) 714-1500.
Contact Lerner, Steinberg and Associates today by filling out our free consultation form or calling 215-714-1500 to discuss your case and learn how we may be able to help you secure the compensation you deserve. If your claim has already been denied, do not sign anything or accept any settlement before speaking with us.
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Philadelphia’s insurance carriers and self-insured employers are experienced at using the Pennsylvania workers’ compensation system to delay payments, challenge medical treatment, and limit what injured workers receive. Our job is to make sure that does not happen to you. When you hire us, we:
Our Philadelphia office at 3415 Race Street puts us within walking distance of Penn Medicine and Drexel, and a short ride from Center City, the Navy Yard, the port, and SEPTA’s busiest hubs. If traveling is difficult because of your injury, we can come to you — home visits and remote consultations are available.
Pennsylvania law gives you three years from the date of your injury to file a formal Claim Petition with the Bureau of Workers’ Compensation. If a denied or terminated claim is not challenged within that window, your right to benefits is permanently barred. For occupational diseases and conditions that develop gradually, such as hearing loss, repetitive stress injuries, or exposure-related illness, the three-year clock starts when you first knew or reasonably should have known your condition was work-related.
You must also report your injury to your employer within 120 days of the incident. Reporting within 21 days allows you to recover benefits dating back to the day of your injury. Waiting longer does not necessarily eliminate your claim, but it gives the insurance carrier grounds to dispute whether the injury actually happened at work. According to the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry’s Workers’ Compensation guide, nearly every Pennsylvania worker is covered under the Act. If you are unsure whether your injury qualifies or whether your deadline has passed, do not wait. Contact us for a free consultation.
We represent Philadelphia workers suffering from all types of workplace injuries, including:
We represent injured workers across all of Philadelphia’s major industries, with significant experience helping:
Most Philadelphia workers have no idea how much they are actually entitled to under Pennsylvania’s workers’ compensation system until they sit down with an attorney. The system provides more than just a paycheck — it covers medical care, lost wages, partial disability, death benefits for surviving family members, and lump-sum settlements that can secure your future. Below are the core categories of benefits available under the Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Act.
Every reasonable and necessary medical expense related to your work injury must be covered by your employer’s insurance, with no dollar cap and no time limit as long as the treatment is connected to your injury. This includes hospital care, surgery, physical therapy, prescription medications, durable medical equipment, and mileage to and from appointments. For the first 90 days, your employer can require you to see a doctor from their posted list of designated providers. After that, you can choose any doctor you want. We help Philadelphia clients navigate that 90-day rule, find providers across Penn Medicine, Jefferson, Temple, and the many community health systems who properly document work injuries, and push back when carriers try to use Utilization Review to cut off recommended care.
Pennsylvania calculates your weekly benefit at roughly two-thirds of your average weekly wage before the injury, subject to a 2026 statutory maximum of $1,394 per week. For workers on the lower end of the wage scale, there are minimum benefit floors that ensure you receive a meaningful percentage of your earnings. Total disability benefits run as long as you cannot return to work in any capacity. Partial disability benefits cover the gap when you return to lighter or lower-paying work, and run for up to 500 weeks. Specific loss benefits — for amputations, vision loss, hearing loss, and disfigurement — are paid in addition to wage loss benefits and are calculated based on statutory schedules. Death benefits are available to spouses and dependents when a work injury or occupational disease is fatal.
When a Philadelphia worker dies from a work-related injury or occupational disease, their surviving spouse and dependents are entitled to ongoing wage replacement benefits and burial expenses under the Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Act. These cases are time-sensitive — death benefits claims must be filed within strict deadlines, and surviving family members often need help quickly because the loss of income hits immediately. We handle workers’ compensation death claims for Philadelphia families covering construction fatalities, occupational disease deaths (including long-latency conditions like asbestos exposure and silicosis), workplace assaults, and motor vehicle deaths in the course of employment.
Outright claim denials based on disputed causation or missed procedural deadlines. Independent medical examinations (IMEs) where a doctor hired by the insurance company contradicts your treating physician. Impairment Rating Evaluations (IREs) used after 104 weeks of total disability to try to convert your status from total to partial. Utilization Reviews used to cut off recommended physical therapy, surgery, or pain management. Labor Market Surveys and Earning Power Assessments designed to argue that suitable lower-paying work is available in the Philadelphia market. Termination, suspension, and modification petitions filed by the insurance carrier to end or reduce your benefits. Pressure to give recorded statements that can be used against you later. Surveillance and social media monitoring used to dispute the extent of your injury. We handle all of these challenges every day. Philadelphia’s workers’ compensation defense bar is among the most aggressive in the state — we know who they are and how they operate.
Navigating the workers’ compensation system can be complicated. Here’s an overview of the process:
Pennsylvania law gives you 120 days to report a workplace injury to your employer, but waiting creates problems. Your employer and their insurer will use any delay as grounds to question whether your injury actually happened at work, especially in industries where the workforce turns over frequently or where workers commute long distances into Philadelphia from the surrounding counties. Report your injury in writing as soon as possible and keep a copy for yourself. If you develop a repetitive stress injury or occupational disease, the clock starts when you know — or reasonably should know — that the condition is work-related.
After receiving notice of your injury, your employer must file a First Report of Injury with their insurance carrier. The insurer then has 21 days to accept or deny your claim.
Your claim may be:
If your claim is denied or your benefits are terminated, you can file:
Pennsylvania sets a strict deadline for workers’ compensation claims. Under the Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Act, injured workers have three years from the date of their injury to file a formal Claim Petition with the Bureau of Workers’ Compensation. For occupational diseases and gradually developing conditions, the clock starts when you first knew or should have known your condition was work-related.
You must also report your injury to your employer within 120 days. Missing either deadline can permanently bar your right to benefits. Do not wait — contact Lerner, Steinberg and Associates as soon as possible after your injury.
We have been handling workers’ compensation cases in Pennsylvania for over 34 years, and our Philadelphia office at 3415 Race Street in University City puts us in the heart of the city our clients work in. We are within walking distance of Penn Medicine and Drexel, and a short ride from Center City, the Navy Yard, the port, and SEPTA’s busiest hubs. If traveling is difficult because of your injury, we can come to you — home visits and remote consultations are available. We know the Workers’ Compensation Judges who hear Philadelphia claims, the defense firms that represent the largest insurers and self-insured employers in the city, and the medical providers who document injuries accurately for the claims process.
We have represented healthcare workers from Penn, Jefferson, Temple, and the regional hospital systems, construction workers on job sites throughout Center City and University City, SEPTA bus and rail employees, City of Philadelphia workers, port and longshore workers along the Delaware River, hotel and restaurant staff in Old City and Center City, and warehouse workers in South Philadelphia and the Northeast. Whatever your industry and whatever your injury, we have likely seen it before — including the long-latency occupational disease cases, mental injury claims, and third-party cases that less experienced firms turn away.
Lerner, Steinberg and Associates is a two-attorney firm by design. Every Philadelphia client works directly with Mike Lerner or Ben Steinberg throughout their entire case. You will not be handed off to a paralegal or a junior associate. You will not be one of a thousand case files in a high-volume mill firm. You get experienced attorneys answering your calls, attending your hearings, and negotiating your settlement personally.
There is no upfront cost to hire us. We work entirely on contingency. If we do not recover benefits for you, you owe us nothing.
If you were injured while performing duties related to your job — whether at your employer’s location, a job site, or any other work-related setting — you may have a valid claim under the Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Act. Almost every Pennsylvania worker is covered regardless of fault. Even if your employer disputes the cause of your injury, you have the right to file a claim petition and present your case before a Workers’ Compensation Judge. The best first step is a free consultation with an attorney who can review the specific facts of your situation.
Pennsylvania sets a three-year statute of limitations for filing a formal Claim Petition from the date of your injury. For occupational diseases and gradually developing conditions, the three-year clock starts when you first knew or should have known the condition was work-related. You must also report your injury to your employer within 120 days. Missing either deadline can permanently bar you from receiving benefits.
Nothing upfront. Lerner, Steinberg and Associates works entirely on contingency. You owe no attorney fees unless we recover benefits for you. When we do recover, attorney fees in Pennsylvania workers’ compensation cases are set by statute and approved by a Workers’ Compensation Judge — so you will always know exactly what the arrangement is before we begin.
Under the Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Act, you may be entitled to full coverage of all reasonable and necessary medical expenses related to your injury, weekly wage loss benefits of approximately two-thirds of your average weekly wage (up to the 2026 statutory maximum of $1,394 per week), partial disability benefits if you return to lighter or lower-paying work, death benefits for surviving family members, and lump-sum Compromise and Release settlements.
Report the injury to your supervisor in writing as soon as possible and keep a copy. Seek medical treatment right away — a documented medical record from the day of the accident is critical evidence. Photograph your injuries and the scene if you are able. Do not give a recorded statement to the insurance company without first speaking to an attorney, and do not post about your injury on social media. Insurance investigators monitor these accounts and can use the content against your claim.
Yes. A claim denial does not end your right to benefits. If your employer or their insurance carrier denies your claim, you have the right to file a Claim Petition with the Bureau of Workers’ Compensation. Your case will be assigned to a Workers’ Compensation Judge who will hold hearings and review the evidence. Appeals are available to the Workers’ Compensation Appeal Board and the Commonwealth Court. We handle denied claims regularly and will fight to protect your rights at every stage.
Report the injury to your supervisor in writing immediately and keep a copy for yourself
Seek medical treatment right away. even if you think the injury is minor, a documented medical record from the day of the accident is critical evidence
Photograph your injuries and the scene of the accident if you are able
Do not give a recorded statement to the insurance company without speaking to an attorney first — anything you say can and will be used to reduce your benefits
Do not post about your injury or your daily activities on social media — insurance investigators monitor these accounts
Contact Lerner, Steinberg & Associates before signing anything the insurance company puts in front of you
If you’ve been injured in a slip and fall accident due to a property owner’s negligence, you need skilled legal representation to protect your rights. Insurance companies often minimize these injuries or try to blame the victim, making it difficult to receive fair compensation without proper legal help.
Let our experienced slip and fall attorneys at Lerner Steinberg & Associates fight for the maximum compensation you deserve while you focus on your recovery. We understand the challenges these cases present and have the knowledge, resources, and determination to help you rebuild your life after a serious injury.
