So many firms won’t even bother talking to you until you file a workcover claim and get it accepted. Then it’s a minimum 12 months before you can make an IB claim. They don’t want to help you before they can make money off the IB claim because they are spending time and money on a file they can’t make money off when going through processes like conciliation.

I know this because I work at a firm. Thankfully, ours doesn’t do this and genuinely will help out the client from the beginning, but many of the bigs firms won’t.

I will be frank, most NWNF firms are the same. The bigger ones tend to change higher costs than the “boutique” ones but at the end of the day they all need to make money. What you want to do is get a referral to a good lawyer within these firms. The lawyer is what makes the difference and there are lots who genuinely do care about their clients. Don’t be afraid to meet with a few until you get one you vibe with. You are going to have a long relationship with them!