# Injured at work in *Southern California?* ## Start where you are kicker: Four doors in **Something just happened.** lede: The first days set every clock that follows. You do not need to have done everything right so far — start with what happened. [The first 72 hours](/what-to-do-after-a-work-injury/) · [My employer says I can't file](/answers/my-employer-says-i-cant-file/) · [I didn't report it right away](/answers/i-didnt-report-my-injury-right-away/) · [I'm undocumented](/answers/im-undocumented/) · [I got hurt on my way to work](/answers/does-workers-comp-cover-my-commute/) · [My employer has no insurance](/workers-compensation/uninsured-employer/) **They stopped something.** lede: A denial, a delay, or a missing check is a decision someone made — and most of them can be questioned. [My claim was denied](/workers-compensation/denied-claims/) · [My claim is delayed](/answers/my-claim-is-delayed/) · [My check stopped](/answers/my-workers-comp-check-stopped/) · [They denied my MRI](/answers/they-denied-my-mri/) · [They approved part of my treatment](/answers/they-approved-part-of-my-treatment/) · [My payments are late](/workers-compensation/late-payments-and-penalties/) **Something is about to be decided.** lede: A QME, a rating, or an offer is where the money in a case is actually set. It is worth understanding before you sign. [I got a QME appointment](/workers-compensation/qme-process/) · [My doctor says I'm permanent and stationary](/answers/my-doctor-said-im-permanent-and-stationary/) · [They offered me a settlement](/answers/is-my-settlement-offer-enough/) · [Is my rating right?](/workers-compensation/permanent-disability/) · [I have work restrictions](/workers-compensation/return-to-work/) **Something is wrong with my employer, or my case.** lede: Retaliation, a settled case that got worse, or a lawyer who has gone quiet — these have answers too. [I was fired after my injury](/workers-compensation/retaliation/) · [My case is settled and I got worse](/workers-compensation/already-settled/) · [It built up over years, not one accident](/workers-compensation/cumulative-trauma/) · [Do I need a lawyer?](/resources/triage/) · [I already have a lawyer](/answers/i-dont-like-my-lawyer/) Not sure which? [Take the 2-minute triage →](/resources/triage/) · [En español](/es/) · [한국어](/ko/) --- ## What California workers' comp *may* cover kicker: The Labor Code, plainly Every benefit depends on the facts of your claim. **These are the categories the Labor Code provides**, each with its statute. **[Medical treatment →](/workers-compensation/medical-treatment/)** **All treatment reasonably required to cure or relieve the injury, with no co-pay** — § 4600. Including up to $10,000 while the claim is still being investigated (§ 5402(c)), and the interpreter, mileage, and second-opinion rights that go unclaimed because no one explains them. figure: § 4600 | $10,000 | While the claim is investigated **[Temporary disability →](/workers-compensation/temporary-disability/)** **Two-thirds of your average weekly wage while you cannot work**, within the § 4453 floor and cap for your date of injury — $264.61 to $1,764.11 a week for 2026 injuries. Capped at 104 weeks, or 240 for nine listed conditions. figure: § 4453 | 2/3 | Of your average weekly wage **[Permanent disability →](/workers-compensation/permanent-disability/)** **A rating that converts to weeks under § 4658(d), paid at a rate that has not moved since 2014.** At 70% and above, a life pension follows. The rating is a string of numbers — and it is checkable. figure: § 4658(d) | 70%+ | Rating triggers a life pension **[Job displacement voucher →](/workers-compensation/job-displacement-voucher/)** **$6,000 for retraining under § 4658.7 if you are not offered work within your restrictions**, plus the $5,000 return-to-work supplement under § 139.48 — a separate application — yours to start, and easy to miss. figure: § 4658.7 | $6,000 | Plus a $5,000 supplement **[Mileage reimbursement →](/answers/mileage-and-travel-reimbursement/)** **Every mile to treatment, therapy, the pharmacy, and medical-legal exams** — at the rate in effect on the date you traveled, not your date of injury. 76¢ a mile from July 1, 2026. figure: Mileage | 76¢ | Per mile from July 1, 2026 **[Death benefits →](/workers-compensation/death-benefits/)** **Paid to the people who depended on the person who died — sized by that dependency, not by fault** — § 4702. And under § 4703.5, payments to totally dependent minor children do not stop at the maximum. figure: § 4702 | Dependency | Sized by need, not fault **[Life pension →](/resources/pd-calculator/)** **At a rating of 70% or higher, § 4659(a) pays about 1.5% of earnings for each point above 60 — per week, for life** — after the permanent disability weeks run out. Most people are never told it exists. figure: § 4659(a) | For life | About 1.5% per point above 60 **[Settlements →](/workers-compensation/settlements/)** **Two structures, and they treat your future medical care oppositely.** A judge must approve either. What decides which is right is the § 5410 five years — which run from the date of injury, not the award. figure: § 5410 | 5 years | From the date of injury to reopen --- ## The ten stages, *in order* kicker: The process, start to finish Every statutory deadline, in sequence — and the three moments where cases quietly die. {{diagram:claim-timeline}} **1. The injury.** A single event, or a condition that built up over years — cumulative trauma counts, and § 5412 sets its legal date. [What counts.](/workers-compensation/cumulative-trauma/) **2. Report it — in writing.** Written notice to your employer within 30 days (§ 5400). A text or email with a date is enough. [If you didn't report right away.](/answers/i-didnt-report-my-injury-right-away/) **3. The DWC-1 claim form.** Your employer must hand it to you within one working day (§ 5401). Filing it starts every clock in your favor. [The form, and what it starts.](/resources/forms/) **4. Treatment begins.** Up to $10,000 of treatment must be authorized within one working day of the claim form — while the claim is investigated (§ 5402(c)). [How medical treatment works.](/workers-compensation/medical-treatment/) **5. The insurer decides.** Accept, deny, or delay — 90 days, or the claim is presumed compensable (§ 5402(b)); 75 for public-safety presumptions. [If it is denied.](/workers-compensation/denied-claims/) **6. Benefits flow, or don't.** Temporary disability at two-thirds of your wage, medical care through the MPN, mileage as you go. [What you are owed.](/resources/benefits-calculator/) **7. Disputes.** Utilization review and IMR for treatment; the QME process for the medical questions the parties cannot agree on. [The QME process.](/workers-compensation/qme-process/) **8. Permanent and stationary.** The doctor declares maximum medical improvement, and the rating string that decides your money is written. [Decode yours.](/resources/rating-string-decoder/) **9. Settlement or trial.** Stipulations or a Compromise & Release, approved by a judge — or a hearing at one of thirteen Southern California district offices. [Settlements.](/workers-compensation/settlements/) · [Hearings.](/workers-compensation/hearings-and-trial/) **10. After.** Five years from the date of injury to reopen if you get worse (§ 5410) — and the life pension, if the rating reached 70%. [Already settled.](/workers-compensation/already-settled/) **[The claim process, every deadline in one table →](/workers-compensation/claim-process/)** --- ## Free tools, nothing to sign up for kicker: Calculators & guides Every number carries its Labor Code section, and **every tool tells you when your input is probably wrong** — which is the part that changes outcomes. Nothing you type leaves your browser. **[What am I owed? →](/resources/benefits-calculator/)** Temporary disability, permanent disability, the life pension, mileage, and the penalties for paying you late — with the statute beside every number. **[Should you call a lawyer? →](/resources/triage/)** Eight factual questions and an honest sort into three routes — including the one where the free state I&A officer can probably handle it. **[Decode my rating string →](/resources/rating-string-decoder/)** Paste `15.03.01.00 – 8 – [1.4]11 – 340G – 13 – 15` and we explain all six parts, check the arithmetic, and convert it to dollars. **We built it because we could not find it published anywhere else.** **[What are my deadlines? →](/resources/deadline-calculator/)** Your date of injury in, every clock that applies to you out — sorted by urgency, including the two miscounted most often. **[Your average weekly wage →](/resources/aww-calculator/)** Every benefit multiplies out of this one number, and § 4453(c) gives four ways to compute it. The carrier picked one. **[Permanent disability: weeks and dollars →](/resources/pd-calculator/)** Your final percentage becomes weeks, each week pays a rate capped at $290 since 2014, and the tool says when the rating itself looks wrong. **[All of the free tools →](/resources/tools/)** --- ## The things most people are *never told* kicker: Worth knowing before you sign anything **§ 5402(c) — $10,000 in medical treatment** your employer must authorize within one working day of your claim form, **while your claim is being investigated or denied.** [More.](/answers/my-claim-is-delayed/) **§ 4650(d) — an automatic 10%** added to any late indemnity payment, **"without application."** You do not have to ask. It is routinely not added. [More.](/workers-compensation/late-payments-and-penalties/) **§ 4656(c)(3) — 240 weeks instead of 104** of temporary disability for nine listed conditions. **136 extra weeks. Up to about $240,000.** [More.](/injuries/catastrophic/) **§ 4553 — one-half more, paid by the employer personally**, where the employer knew about the danger. **Twelve-month deadline.** [More.](/workers-compensation/serious-and-willful-misconduct/) **And the third-party claim.** Workers' compensation pays nothing for pain and suffering. **A case against anyone other than your employer does**, and it is frequently the larger of the two. [More.](/workers-compensation/third-party-claims/) **And sometimes you don't need a lawyer at all.** The state's Information & Assistance officers are free, and our triage sorts honestly — including the route where you handle it yourself. [When you probably don't need one.](/answers/do-i-need-a-lawyer/) --- ## Recoveries that *changed lives* kicker: Representative results **Four representative recoveries, as published by the firm.** Every case is decided on its own facts and law. **Nothing here predicts what will happen in yours.** | Amount | Case | |---|---| | **$3,500,000** | **Roofer · traumatic brain injury.** Our client fell from a height on a Southern California residential roofing project and lived through a traumatic brain injury and a full year of inpatient rehabilitation. | | **$1,800,000** | **Catastrophic injury · lifetime home care.** Our client's industrial injuries left them needing twelve hours a day of in-home care, for life. | | **$850,000** | **Failed back syndrome · upper-extremity surgeries.** Our client developed failed back syndrome and went through two unsuccessful upper-extremity surgeries. | | **$725,000** | **Back surgery complications.** Our client's back surgery resulted in an incisional hernia and progressive deterioration. | > **Required disclosure — Business and Professions Code § 6158.3.** **The result portrayed in this advertisement was dependent on the facts of that case, and the results will differ if based on different facts.** Every case starts the same way: **[tell us what happened →](/contact/)** — free, no obligation — or call **[(213) 380-9310](tel:+12133809310)**. **[All five results, with the facts that produced them →](/firm/results/)** --- ## Who we are kicker: Since 1965 **Law Offices of Solov & Teitell, APC.** Lessing Solov came home from the U.S. Army, took his law degree at Hastings, and opened this firm in 1965. Sixty years later it is still built for the same person — the injured Californian — in English, Spanish and Korean, with home and hospital visits when you cannot come to us. ## **[Lessing Solov →](/firm/attorneys/lessing-solov/)** UCLA, the U.S. Army, then Hastings College of the Law. Founded this firm in 1965. ## **[Jamey Teitell →](/firm/attorneys/jamey-teitell/)** Partner and Trial Attorney. USC, then a J.D. in 1996. [Selected to Super Lawyers, 2026](https://profiles.superlawyers.com/california/los-angeles/lawyer/jamey-teitell/e258f252-6c75-4734-ab24-0b8d7e0b0410.html). **[Meet the attorneys →](/firm/attorneys/)** · **[About the firm →](/firm/about/)** · **[How we research this site →](/firm/how-we-write/)** --- ## Where your case is heard kicker: From the harbor to the high desert **Representing injured workers in Southern California since 1965. Venue is assigned by ZIP code, and we publish a practical guide to every district office — parking, transit, security, and the local rules that catch people.** **[Los Angeles County →](/locations/los-angeles-county/)** **Our office is here.** Five district offices — Los Angeles, Van Nuys, Marina del Rey, Long Beach, Pomona — and the largest workers' comp court in California. **[Orange County →](/locations/orange-county/)** Santa Ana and Anaheim. Santa Ana has the most expensive parking in the system; Anaheim is free, with Metrolink behind the building. **[Riverside County →](/locations/riverside-county/)** The Riverside office, and the Inland Empire's warehouse and logistics workforce. **[San Bernardino County →](/locations/san-bernardino-county/)** San Bernardino — the cheapest parking in the system — and the trucking, logistics, and manufacturing injuries of the Inland Empire. **[Ventura County →](/locations/ventura-county/)** The Oxnard office, and one of California's most significant agricultural regions alongside a coastal and industrial economy. **[Kern County →](/locations/kern-county/)** Bakersfield: no calendar on Mondays, and an unrepresented worker cannot get past the lobby without an escort. **[The district offices, with parking and transit →](/locations/wcab/)** --- ## Not sure what to do *next?* **Free case review. No fee unless we recover. You are not responsible for costs we advance if there is no recovery. English, Spanish, and Korean.** **(213) 380-9310** Or [tell us what happened](/contact/) — seven questions, no obligation, and a person calls you back within one business day. **Consultas gratis en español.** · **한국어 무료 상담.** **We make home and hospital visits.** If you cannot come to us, say so when you call. **Law Offices of Solov & Teitell, APC** 1625 W. Olympic Boulevard, Suite 802 Los Angeles, CA 90015 **Monday–Friday, 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.** · Outside those hours, leave a message — it is heard the next business morning. [Map and directions](https://maps.google.com/maps?q=1625+W+Olympic+Blvd+Suite+802+Los+Angeles+CA+90015)