Workers’ Compensation Attorney Who Opened His Firm in 1995 Unveils Work Injury Notice Standard

Stewart Law Offices details the first-days claim steps behind its South Carolina workers’ compensation cases.

ROCK HILL, SC, UNITED STATES, October 26, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — Stewart Law Offices today unveiled the Work Injury Notice Standard, the order of steps the firm walks injured employees through in the first days after an on-the-job accident. Brent Stewart, founder of the firm and a workers’ compensation attorney who opened his first office in Rock Hill, South Carolina, in 1995, built the standard around the part of the system injured workers learn about too late. Stewart Law Offices serves injured workers and accident victims from offices across South Carolina and Charlotte, North Carolina.

Stewart detailed the standard during a new appearance on The Freight Coach podcast with host Chris Jolly, in an episode about what carriers do once a claim reaches them.

Freight and trucking jobs keep people on the road and around heavy equipment. Stewart said injured employees in those jobs routinely assume the employer is handling the claim for them, and that the assumption costs them time they cannot get back.

A workers’ compensation claim also runs on a different set of rules than a case against a driver who caused a wreck. Stewart said negligence does not matter in a comp case and there are no punitive damages, which surprises employees who warned an employer repeatedly about bad brakes or an unsafe load.

The categories of loss are different too. Pain and suffering and a spouse’s claim for loss of services sit outside a comp claim, which turns instead on medical bills, lost earnings and the ability to get back to work.

The Work Injury Notice Standard starts where the rules do, with notice. Stewart said the report to the employer comes before anything else, and that South Carolina puts a clock on it.

“So when you get hurt on the job, the most important thing, A, is to report it to your employer. Your employer has the right to investigate the case. And if you don’t give them the notice required, which is 90 days in South Carolina, and that prejudices them, you may lose your claim,” Brent Stewart said during his appearance on The Freight Coach podcast.

The second step is medical care. Stewart said the employer has the right to investigate the claim and the right to pick the treating doctor, and he tells injured workers to let that process run instead of fighting it.

The third step is the record. Stewart said insurance adjusters are trained interviewers who attend seminars on how to ask questions, and that a reflex answer in an early phone call can be read back later as proof the injury was minor.

Stewart came back to that duty later in the interview, in the wider context of injury claims.

“Just being hurt doesn’t mean you’re going to be paid. You have to prove everything. The person that injured you can sit back, say absolutely nothing, and you have the burden of proof,” Stewart said.

That is the reasoning behind the standard. A worker who reports on time, treats inside the system and keeps a clean record is collecting the proof the claim will demand later, instead of rebuilding it out of memory.

Brent Stewart, a workers’ compensation attorney licensed in South Carolina, West Virginia and multiple federal courts, began his legal career at Bordas, Bordas and Jividen in Wheeling, West Virginia, and opened the first Stewart Law Offices location in Rock Hill in 1995. He holds the “AV Preeminent”^® rating from Martindale-Hubbell^®, a rating based on peer review of legal ability and ethical standards by other attorneys and judges.* His principal office sits at 1242 Ebenezer Road, Rock Hill, South Carolina 29732.

Stewart Law Offices reports $3,500,000 in a tractor-trailer accident case, $1,578,210 in a motorcycle accident case and $833,333 in a medical malpractice case.* The firm handles injury and workers’ compensation matters on a contingency fee basis.

Stewart is expanding the firm’s education work for injured workers, the group he says waits longest to call because they believe someone else is filing.
Injured workers in the Carolinas can read more about the Work Injury Notice Standard and request a free consultation at www.stewartlawoffices.net.

About Stewart Law Offices

Stewart Law Offices is a personal injury law firm and workers’ compensation practice founded in 1995 by workers’ compensation attorney Brent Stewart, serving injured workers and accident victims from offices across South Carolina and Charlotte, North Carolina. The firm represents clients in workers’ compensation claims, tractor-trailer wrecks, car accidents, motorcycle accidents, medical malpractice and wrongful death matters on a contingency fee basis. Attorneys and long-tenured support staff work those files under the Work Injury Notice Standard, the firm’s order of steps for the first days of a work injury claim.

*Listed case results are before deduction of fees and costs. Attorney fees calculated prior to deduction of expenses. Case results vary. Prior results do not guarantee any future outcomes. Information about the “AV Preeminent”^® rating and its peer review criteria is published by Martindale-Hubbell at martindale.com. This release is general information about the workers’ compensation system in South Carolina and is not legal advice.

Media Contact:

Brent Stewart
Stewart Law Offices
brent@stewartlawoffices.net
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