Time to Get a Lawyer - Any CA recommendations?
 

Hi all:

I checked on the site, and didn't find anything recent or useful.

I just had the discussion with my WC doctor, and they have DENIED my request to have the QME neurologist review my MRIs - that HE requested.

In reviewing the report, there is moderate and "greater than moderate" degenerative discopathy in C4-C7. Also evidence of osteoarthritis, with anterior and posterior osteophyte formation. Impingement but not compression of the spinal cord.

ALL OF THIS MIGHT HAVE BEEN DIAGNOSED *6* YEARS AGO, IF THEY HAD AGREED TO DO A D*MN BIT OF DIAGNOSTIC WORK, INSTEAD OF TELLING ME IT WAS BILATERIAL TENDINITIS, AND JUST TAKE 9 ADVIL AND NOT CALL THEM IN THE MORNING.

Ahem. I am so d*mned mad right now. I had to ask for the X-ray in November. I had to cajole for an MRI last month. And now it shows I've lost 6+ years when I could have had some treatment, knowledge, and medical care.

OK. So they've refused my request to have the QME review the results. And they've right quick made me an appt. with a spinal bone specialist that they've "worked with frequently in the past."

I'm not dumb. It sounds like they're gearing up to say that since I have a degenerative condition, it's not work-related. Well, it may have been EXACERBATED by the work. Which wasn't accommodated because I haven't gotten a TIMELY diagnosis due to their insistence that I was a whiny hypochondriacal woman who was attention-seeking.

So, I think it's time for a legal consult.

THE QUESTION: Anyone have anyone they can recommend for the Northern CA Bay Area as someone experienced in these issues? Thanks in advance.

Sandi

Here is a link to some wc attys suggested for CA- i don't know if they are near you though.

http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/sh...ad.php?t=15294
and the WC useful sites thread -
http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/showthread.php?t=1117

Hi Jo:

Thanks on this first link. Why in the world I didn't look in the TOS forum, I'll never know. :rolleyes:

On the second "useful sites" link, many of the referral links are broken. Also, they are mainly attorney lists, not recommendations. I'd be VERY grateful for personal recommendations.

Sandi

I am not in your area.

But here is the BEST way to find a work comp attorney.

There are the Work Comp Appeals Board hearing rooms. In So. Cal., they are held in very non-descript government buildings, usually on one floor, such as a fourth floor, or second floor. You can get the address and phone for the WCAB hearing room via 411. Find out when the next general court hearings are. On the primary floor, there will be an "Applicant Waiting Room." This is where all of the injured workers wait for their attorneys.

Go to the Applicant Waiting Room and watch the attorneys go in and out and talk to their clients. You will quickly see those Applicant Attorneys who are on the ball and fast at the game, and those who are kind of dopey or rude, etc. And if they aren't there, then they aren't really the BIG players - and if they ARE there, then they're busy, know the law, and most importantly, know the judges and the insurance co. attorneys (defense attorneys.)

Go right up to one of those Applicant Attorneys and say, "may I have your card, I have a case and no attorney." IF you're too ill, have someone else do this for you. This is by far the BEST way.

NEXT way, there will be POSTED at the same place, the WCAB hearing room or clerk's room, a "Daily Calendar of Cases." These show the attorneys and parties who are there that day. If you see the same name for Applicant Attorneys a couple or more times, then they are BIG players and you WANT them. You WANT active, in the game attorneys whose offices are busy in this system. The judges know them, give them favors, and they negotiate behind the scenes quickly sometimes, rather than dragging on.

Another way, call ANY local union and ask who they recommend. This will usually be a big player. This person might want catastrophic injuries, BUT, they often can recommend another attorney to handle your type of injury.

This isn't easy, but an attorney who is not in the "in" crowd will NOT get you top dollar in my opinion. They will not know all of the ways to benefit your situation, or get you to the best docs, or how the new laws are working, in my opinion. This area of law, much like family law, is WHO you know inside the courtroom, in my opinion.

God bless and assist you in your journey. And don't sign anything you don't want to - demand to see the judge, it's your right, and the judge is there to insure that you don't get ripped off. Watch the judge's face, and make your decision if you are feeling pushed by the attorneys on any pretrial settlement.

great attorney, Bay Area
 

Hi, I tried to post this in private messages, but for some reason couldn't get through.

Jeff Friedman, in Berkeley, is FANTASTIC. Honest, caring, smart.

As I recall, he's on Shattuck, easy to reach via any transportation.

I unfortunately found him after I was on my second attorney, too late. No attorney will take you at that point. I went to him for a second opinion, to get some answers to questions which my own attorney repeatedly did not answer.

He spent an hour with me, answered all my questions, gave me lots of good information, did not charge me. I can't tell you how UNUSUAL this is in a WC attorney, bunch of scum suckers.

when I contacted a WC atty just to get input to see if I wanted to change to them - they wouldn't talk to me at all because I had a WC atty already.

Frazzled:

Thanks for this - I have retained Jeff Friedman, and he's made some progress. The WC adjustger has apparently agreed to the QME that Friedman had requested, and he tells me that this doctor is brutal in evaluating delays in diagnosis and treatment.

What I want is the right to have the doctor I want to do my eventual surgery(ies). And I'm hoping Friedman will help make that happen.

Sandi