When Is It Right to Get a Personal Injury Lawyer?

If you have been injured in a car accident, a workplace accident or a slip-and-fall accident, odds are you probably feel like you are in uncharted territory without a map or a compass. Even though such accidents are common, resources for accident victims can be extremely difficult to locate and often leave many basic substantive and procedural questions unanswered.

If you want to be sure of what all your rights are and how you can assert them, a Los Angeles accident attorney at West Coast Trial Lawyers is your best resource. Here are a few signs that the time is right for you to get a personal injury attorney:

You Have Been in an Accident That Has Left You Feeling a Little Sore

Every accident–yes, even an accident that only seemed minor and just left you feeling a little sore–should be a cause for concern. Even if a bit of minor soreness in your neck or your back is the only symptom you notice immediately, you should find a medical professional and get yourself checked out.

You may have suffered some injuries that have not manifested themselves in the form of outwardly apparent symptoms yet, but that could end up being just as harmful as the ones you notice right away.

Your first stop after the accident occurs should be a hospital’s emergency department, your primary care doctor’s office or a nearby urgent-care facility. Even if all you have is some lingering muscle soreness or tightness, an auto injury attorney will let you know who all the responsible parties are and which of your accident-related costs the responsible parties’ insurance companies should be obligated to pay.

Do not play the risky game of allowing any of your injuries to go without being diagnosed and treated. If you do, you could end up suffering from the permanent effects of injuries that could have been resolved in relatively short order with quicker treatment.

The Injuries You Suffered in Your Accident Have Required You to Go to the Doctor More Than Once

When you are dismissed from your initial post-accident medical checkup, the medical professional who examined you will probably give you instructions to come back for another appointment if you are not feeling completely better within one or two weeks.

If your injuries are relatively minor, another appointment with your primary care physician and some more exercises to do at home or another round of prescription medication may be all you need to get yourself back to your pre-accident health baseline. If your injuries are more severe, though, your primary medical provider will probably refer you to an orthopedist, a neurologist or some other type of specialist who has more in-depth knowledge about how to treat you.

Specialists’ specialized knowledge makes them more expensive to see, so your treatment costs will probably increase at this point. The specialist could recommend imaging or even surgery, and neither one of those is cheap. When you get a referral to a specialist, you should start to think hard about contacting an experienced personal injury attorney who can tell you which doctor or doctors should care for you and let you know how you can be compensated for your injuries.

Your Injuries Are Having a Negative Impact on Your Performance at Work

Injuries from an accident can have all kinds of negative effects that make it more difficult for you to excel or even just get through a day at work. You may have physical limitations that keep you from lifting, bending, twisting, standing, sitting, typing and holding objects, just to name a few commonly required workplace activities.

You may even be under doctor’s orders to work only part of the time or not at all. The stress from not being able to do these basic activities without experiencing some pain or from giving yourself anxiety about making your injuries even worse than they already are can distract you and take a toll on your psyche.

When your injuries hamper your ability to do your job for long enough, your employer will begin to notice. Your performance reviews may get worse, you may stop being scheduled for shifts, you may be passed over for a promotion or a raise and you may start to notice management getting more annoyed every time you have to leave or take time off for a medical appointment.

If your injuries have negatively affected your career, consult a Los Angeles accident attorney to see what amount of your lost wages or earnings the responsible party’s insurance company should be paying you as compensation. An auto injury attorney will know how employers often try to shortchange their employees in situations like yours and how you can make sure you get the reimbursement you deserve.

Your Injuries Have Started to Have a Negative Impact on Your Personal Life

Physical limitations, along with pain, increased difficulty at work and lost earnings all compound quickly to create excess stress for you and those around you. If you have financial obligations to your family or are a primary caregiver for anyone, your physical and financial difficulties will have negative effects on your dependents before long.

Through no fault of yours, your loved ones could be subjected to their own stressors and forced to cope with them without your full support.

If all the limitations you experience are not resolved in a timely manner, the stress they create for you and those around you could force those affected to seek counseling and incur even more treatment expenses.

The longer these problems last, the worse they become for everyone who is involved or implicated. It is best to find a personal injury attorney before you reach this point, but if you make it this far without one, you absolutely should not wait any longer. An auto injury attorney can ease your concerns and get you on the path to recovering the compensation the responsible parties owe you.

There is no need for you to delay the healing process. Contact a Los Angeles accident attorney at West Coast Trial Lawyers today to find out what your rights are.