You do not say if you are with the same employer, or doing the same work you did when you first discovered your herniated discs. And it is true, you have missed the statute by a mile. Unless California W/C has provisions for spinal/back injuries falling under "occupational disease" and allowing filing following a period of exposure to work which brought on the condition, your options are limited. Even then, you have a limited time in which to report that you have learned an injury or disease is work related. Has a doctor at any time indicated that your condition is or could be work related?

Can you elaborate as to why the spinal specialist felt your herniated discs were not work related? Did anything else occur during the period before your diagnosis, like a car accident, slip and fall, etc., that would put into question how you herniated your discs? I am puzzled that you did not just report the injury to your employer. Have you had further aggravations of your injury (more or worsening of the herniations) caused by work?

Yours is a complex case, compounded by untimely reporting or failure to act within the statutory periods for securing benefits. The fact that you can not find an attorney who will readily take up your case is an indication that your chances for a successful outcome may be pretty slim. I wish you well, but am not sure I have any real hope to offer.