IN CA wants to change lawyers

[kjoy368]

My husband was injured 2 years ago in a fall. He was given 6 pt treatments for his neck injury. After a year and a half of his primary WC orthopedic surgeon requesting an MRI he was granted it two weeks ago. His Dr says it positivly shows the injury is from the fall. The wc people and his AME have been blaming his problems on D.I.S.H a bone disease he has, but had not been disabled from. He was rated before the MRI and told he was overpaid for 11 months for his temp disability payments. Turns out, the rating was done without a years worth of Dr reports sent from his Dr. He had attended all required appointments but they didn't have a record of that.They appear to be lost! His lawyer seems to be unsupportive and working against my husband. At what point can we no longer change lawyers. (providing we can get another to accept his case) His Dr is requesting an epidural and surgery is likely.
He has a ruptured disk that is poking into his spinal cord. My husband is turning 70 in Sept and had remained very active until this injury. Retired from the movie industry, this was a new career of 3 years when injured. Also, to pursue the lost records, do we need a different lawyer, such as for labor laws. It's so confusing, I hope someone can guide us in the right direction. This man has been in so much pain. All he was ever asking for was physical therapy and an MRI so the Dr would know how to treat him.

[dmma]

kjoy368 Wrote:My husband was injured 2 years ago in a fall. He was given 6 pt treatments for his neck injury. After a year and a half of his primary WC orthopedic surgeon requesting an MRI he was granted it two weeks ago. His Dr says it positivly shows the injury is from the fall. The wc people and his AME have been blaming his problems on D.I.S.H a bone disease he has, but had not been disabled from. He was rated before the MRI and told he was overpaid for 11 months for his temp disability payments. Turns out, the rating was done without a years worth of Dr reports sent from his Dr. He had attended all required appointments but they didn't have a record of that.They appear to be lost! His lawyer seems to be unsupportive and working against my husband. At what point can we no longer change lawyers. (providing we can get another to accept his case) His Dr is requesting an epidural and surgery is likely.
He has a ruptured disk that is poking into his spinal cord. My husband is turning 70 in Sept and had remained very active until this injury. Retired from the movie industry, this was a new career of 3 years when injured. Also, to pursue the lost records, do we need a different lawyer, such as for labor laws. It's so confusing, I hope someone can guide us in the right direction. This man has been in so much pain. All he was ever asking for was physical therapy and an MRI so the Dr would know how to treat him.

I am not sure about the laws in Cali, but I changed attorneys when I felt that I did more work then he did. Before changing attorneys I went and interviewed a few and let them know what my intentions were to see if it was worth doing so. I was told that my first attorney could go after any winnings I may get, but since I did most of the work and they were not out of pocket for anything other than postage, he did put up a fuss. I simply wrote him a certified letter explaining that I was not happy with the service and did not want to continue with his firm. I only did this once I was sure that my new attorney would take my case. My PT always gave me a copy of my records for the asking. Even if your husband's records were lost, I am sure that if they billed WC or whatever insurance was billed, they have the bill for the services provided. Someone got paid for his PT visits, so someone has the bills to show that services were rendered! Hope this helps some.

[kjoy368]

dmma Wrote:

kjoy368 Wrote:My husband was injured 2 years ago in a fall. He was given 6 pt treatments for his neck injury. After a year and a half of his primary WC orthopedic surgeon requesting an MRI he was granted it two weeks ago. His Dr says it positivly shows the injury is from the fall. The wc people and his AME have been blaming his problems on D.I.S.H a bone disease he has, but had not been disabled from. He was rated before the MRI and told he was overpaid for 11 months for his temp disability payments. Turns out, the rating was done without a years worth of Dr reports sent from his Dr. He had attended all required appointments but they didn't have a record of that.They appear to be lost! His lawyer seems to be unsupportive and working against my husband. At what point can we no longer change lawyers. (providing we can get another to accept his case) His Dr is requesting an epidural and surgery is likely.
He has a ruptured disk that is poking into his spinal cord. My husband is turning 70 in Sept and had remained very active until this injury. Retired from the movie industry, this was a new career of 3 years when injured. Also, to pursue the lost records, do we need a different lawyer, such as for labor laws. It's so confusing, I hope someone can guide us in the right direction. This man has been in so much pain. All he was ever asking for was physical therapy and an MRI so the Dr would know how to treat him.

I am not sure about the laws in Cali, but I changed attorneys when I felt that I did more work then he did. Before changing attorneys I went and interviewed a few and let them know what my intentions were to see if it was worth doing so. I was told that my first attorney could go after any winnings I may get, but since I did most of the work and they were not out of pocket for anything other than postage, he did put up a fuss. I simply wrote him a certified letter explaining that I was not happy with the service and did not want to continue with his firm. I only did this once I was sure that my new attorney would take my case. My PT always gave me a copy of my records for the asking. Even if your husband's records were lost, I am sure that if they billed WC or whatever insurance was billed, they have the bill for the services provided. Someone got paid for his PT visits, so someone has the bills to show that services were rendered! Hope this helps some.

Thanks for your response. I was thinking along the same lines that we need to have an attorney on board before we notify the current one.

[1171]

yes you can change attys at any time
go here for a list of california certified work comp specialists by zip code
http://caaa.org/cs/zip/zipsearch.aspx
he needs to be re-evaluated by the AME with full medical history and the MRI results.
the records can be subpoenaed from the doctors or the carrier.

[kjoy368]

1171 Wrote:yes you can change attys at any time
go here for a list of california certified work comp specialists by zip code
http://caaa.org/cs/zip/zipsearch.aspx
he needs to be re-evaluated by the AME with full medical history and the MRI results.
the records can be subpoenaed from the doctors or the carrier.

Do we have to use the same AME? What he told us at the AME exam was different from what he wrote in the report. It took us 5 months to get the report. Thank you for your help!

[1171]

yes, same AME.