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Solov & Teitell
Workers’ Compensation Los Angeles · Since 1965
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(213) 380-9310
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BENEFITS & PROCESS
What the Labor Code provides, and how a claim moves
The claim, start to finish
Every deadline, in order
Denied claims
What a denial does and does not mean
Temporary disability
Two-thirds of your wage, while you cannot work
Permanent disability
Ratings, weeks, and the life pension
Medical treatment
Your doctors, utilization review, the MPN
Settlements
C&R or Stipulations, and the five years
All benefits & process
INJURIES
What your injury may mean for your claim
Low back
Ratings, surgery, return to work
Shoulder
Rotator cuff and overhead work
Knee
Meniscus, ligaments, kneeling trades
Traumatic brain injury
Concussion through catastrophic
Carpal tunnel & RSI
Cumulative trauma, and when it counts
Catastrophic injuries
240 weeks, life care, life pension
All injuries
YOUR JOB
The injuries your industry sees most
Construction
Falls, heights, third-party claims
Warehouse & logistics
Lifting, forklifts, repetitive strain
Healthcare
Patient handling, needlesticks
Restaurants & food service
Burns, slips, cumulative trauma
Janitorial
Chemicals and repetitive motion
Agriculture
Heat, machinery, pesticides
Every industry
FREE TOOLS
Calculators and guides, nothing to sign up for
Weekly benefits
What you may be owed each week
Permanent disability
Rating to weeks to dollars
Average weekly wage
The number every benefit multiplies from
Medical mileage
76¢ a mile from July 1, 2026
Deadlines
Every clock from your date of injury
Case value
A range, with the statutes
C&R or Stipulations?
Two structures, compared
Should you call a lawyer?
An honest two-minute triage
All of the free tools
NOT SURE WHICH APPLIES?
Tell us what happened.
Free, no obligation. A person calls you back within one business day.
Free case review
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Common Questions
SHORT ANSWERS, NOT ESSAYS
Organized by where you are, not by legal topic. 149 questions, in ten groups — start typing and the list narrows as you go. Every one goes straight to its page and answers in the first sixty words.
Questions with a clock
All six
20
days
What if my employer appeals?
From service of the decision
30
days
I didn't report it right away
Notice to the employer
5
years
Can I reopen my case?
From the date of injury
Answered in the first sixty words
JUMP TO
It just happened 20
Can I even file? 24
They stopped something, or won’t start it 15
Doctors, exams, and records 25
Specific injuries 7
Something is about to be decided 19
Investigation and testimony 9
Work, money, and other benefits 15
Timing, and after it ends 10
Paperwork and lawyers 5
01
The first days, and what the law makes of how it happened.
20 questions
It was my fault
I hurt my back lifting
I fell at work
I was hurt on a ladder
I was hurt in the parking lot
I cut my hand
There were no safety guards
I was hurt during training
I was in a crash while working
I got sick from something at work
A coworker hurt me
A customer attacked me
They say I was horsing around
I got hurt at a company event
I was hurt on my way to work
It was my first day
I got hurt working from home
Nobody saw it happen
I was hurt during my break
How do I prove my injury?
02
Coverage, status, and the employers who say no.
24 questions
My employer says I can't
I'm undocumented
Does this affect my immigration case?
I'm pregnant
I'd been drinking or using
I'd only worked there a few weeks
I work for a small business
I work through a staffing agency
My employer is self-insured
My employer went out of business
My employer changed insurance companies
Is my employer even insured?
I was paid in cash
They say I'm an independent contractor
I was hurt in California but live elsewhere
I didn't report it right away
I have two jobs
I need an interpreter
I'm a union member
Can I still file if I quit?
I'm scared to file
I work for a school district
I'm a firefighter or police officer
They want me to take a drug test
03
Delays, denials, and checks that never came.
15 questions
My check stopped
My benefits went down
My claim is delayed
Nothing is happening
My adjuster won't call me back
They denied my MRI
They approved part of my treatment
I need surgery and they're stalling
Who pays while I wait for surgery?
IMR went against me
They say it's not work-related
They say it's just arthritis
I have diabetes or another condition
They told me to use my own insurance
I can't afford to wait
04
Who examines you, who chooses, and what the report has to say.
25 questions
They want me to see their doctor
Can I see my own doctor?
My doctor won't take workers' comp
Can I get a second opinion?
What is an AME?
I missed my QME appointment
I don't agree with the QME report
What happens at my QME?
Can I choose the QME specialty?
They want me to see a psychiatrist
How do I get my records?
Mileage and travel
I need a ride to my appointments
My interpreter wasn't good
My doctor released me but I can't work
The doctor won't write restrictions
They sent me to a doctor far away
Can I see a chiropractor?
I can't afford my prescriptions
There's a nurse at my appointments
Do I have to go to the company clinic?
Can I get mental health treatment?
I can't sleep since the injury
I need help at home
What if I need surgery?
05
Where the body part changes the answer.
7 questions
I think I have carpal tunnel
My hearing is getting worse
I got a hernia at work
My other side started hurting
My pain is worse than my rating
I have two different injuries
The surgery made it worse
06
Ratings, offers, conferences, and the documents that end a case.
19 questions
My doctor said I'm permanent and stationary
What is a rating string?
What is Almaraz/Guzman?
Can I add body parts?
How much is my case worth?
Is my settlement offer enough?
What is a Compromise and Release?
Should I settle or go to trial?
What happens at a settlement conference?
What happens at trial?
What if my employer appeals?
I got a letter about a lien
Can my settlement be garnished?
They want me to sign something
My settlement check was less than I expected
I signed something I shouldn't have
They offered me severance
My health insurance wants to be paid back
I'm on Medicare
07
Statements, surveillance, and your own file.
9 questions
They want a recorded statement
I think they're following me
Do they get my social media?
Can I get the surveillance video?
Can I see my own file?
What if my employer lies?
I had a workers' comp case before
They're asking about my immigration status
I have an old injury and a new one
08
What arrives while you are off, and what happens to the job.
15 questions
How much do I get while off work?
Do I have to use my sick time?
Do I pay taxes on it?
I'm on Social Security disability
I can't go back to my old job
They're pressuring me to come back
Light duty with nothing to do
Can I be fired?
Can I work a different job while on comp?
I was fired before I filed
Do I have to tell a new employer?
Can my family get anything?
Can I get unemployment instead?
What happens to my health insurance?
I'm a veteran with VA benefits
09
How long it takes, and what can still be done later.
10 questions
How long will this take?
My case is taking years
I think I missed a deadline
Can I reopen my case?
I got hurt again at the same job
I got hurt again at a new job
What if I move out of state?
What if I die before my case ends?
My case was dismissed
How do I get this heard faster?
10
Including when you probably do not need one.
5 questions
I can't read the paperwork they sent me
Do I need a lawyer?
including when you probably don’t
What does one cost?
I want to change lawyers
Can my lawyer drop my case?
ALSO
The claim, start to finish
Ten stages, every statutory deadline, in order.
Every deadline in one place
Each clock with the statute that sets it.
Articles
Longer analysis, every figure with its statute.
SIX QUESTIONS WITH A CLOCK BEHIND THEM
Most questions on this page can wait a day. These six cannot always wait a month. Each one is on the list above; here is the clock behind it, in its answer’s own words.
20
days
What if my employer appeals?
Their petition for reconsideration is due within 20 days of service. It is not a retrial, and it does not automatically stop what you are owed.
Read the answer
20
days
I signed something I shouldn't have
Most of what you can be handed is not final. What matters is which document it was and how long ago, and some of those clocks are 20 days.
Read the answer
30
days
I didn't report it right away
The law asks for notice within 30 days. A supervisor who knew counts as notice, and late notice does not bar the claim unless it actually misled or prejudiced the employer.
Read the answer
30
days
IMR went against me
An appeal is due within 30 days of the decision’s mailing, on narrow grounds that do not include disagreeing with the medical result. Other routes still work.
Read the answer
1
year
Can I be fired?
Not because of the claim. A claim for being fired or punished for filing has one year from the act or the firing.
Read the answer
5
years
Can I reopen my case?
For new and further disability, within five years of the date of injury. Not five years from the settlement, and not from the award.
Read the answer
Think you already missed one? Check before you decide. More valid claims die from a worker deciding they missed a deadline than from anyone actually missing one.
(213) 380-9310
WHAT A SHORT ANSWER CANNOT KNOW
Each page answers in its first sixty words, and every one of them is reviewed by a California workers’ compensation attorney. What none of them can know is what happened to you, and that is usually where the answer turns.
That is what the first call is for. (213) 380-9310
When you were hurt, when you told someone, when a paper was served. Most of the clocks on these pages run from one of them.
What the letter actually says, what you signed, and what you were never sent.
What your doctors wrote, and what they left out. A rating, a denial, and a settlement all start there.
Your wage, your employer and its insurer, and whether you still work there. Each one changes which answer applies.
NOT ON THE LIST?
These pages cover the questions people ask most often, not every question. Yours may be one nobody has written down yet.
In your own words, by phone or with the free case review. You do not need your paperwork to start.
Within one business day, in English, Spanish, or Korean. Not a call center or a referral service.
If there is something worth doing, we say what and why. If there is nothing worth doing, we will tell you that. When you probably do not need a lawyer
You sign nothing until we recommend it. If the case goes forward, a judge sets the fee, and it comes out of the recovery.
FREE · ABOUT FIFTEEN MINUTES
The first call costs nothing and commits you to nothing. No fee unless we recover.
(213) 380-9310
Or send a free case review, and a person calls you back within one business day.
Every answer on this page is reviewed by Jamey Teitell, Partner & Trial Attorney. Admitted in California in 1996, with more than twenty-five years of California workers’ compensation law. Both attorneys, both State Bar records
YOUR QUESTION MAY NOT BE ON THIS LIST
A short call costs nothing and commits you to nothing. No fee unless we recover, and you are not responsible for costs we advance if there is no recovery. Free consultation in English, Spanish, or Korean.
Free case review
(213) 380-9310
Solov & Teitell
Workers’ Compensation
Los Angeles · Since 1965
Free case review
Call (213) 380-9310
1625 W. Olympic Blvd, Suite 802 Los Angeles, CA 90015 (213) 380-9310
Monday–Friday, 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Free consultation. No fee unless we recover. Home & hospital visits available.
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Making a false or fraudulent workers' compensation claim is a felony subject to up to 5 years in prison or a fine of up to $50,000 or double the value of the fraud, whichever is greater, or by both imprisonment and fine.
© 2026 Law Offices of Solov & Teitell, APC. Attorney advertising. The information on this site is general information about California law, not legal advice about your case, and does not create an attorney–client relationship. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Spanish- and Korean-language services are provided by attorneys and staff of this firm who are fluent in those languages. 1625 W. Olympic Blvd, Suite 802, Los Angeles, CA 90015.
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