Avoid Bad Habits That Make a Work Injury Worse

Once you have received an injury at work, assuming that you filed for worker’s compensation, you should be in the process of getting the benefits you deserve. After you get them, you will have your medical bills completely paid, as well as receive weekly or biweekly payments that will help you sustain your income.

One thing that you should focus on particularly is your recovery. The faster you recover, the quicker you will be able to return to work and enjoy the same privileges you used to have before the injury. You will be able to continue with your normal life (hopefully) as if nothing happened in the first place.

However, there are some bad habits that may slow down your recovery process and even make your injuries worse. They are listed below, in no particular order.

Smoking

There are numerous studies which showed that smoking can reduce the body’s healing effects and have a negative impact on chronic pain, increasing it over time. If you are feeling a lot of pain following your injury, you should try and quit smoking and thus give your body a chance to heal properly and become strong again.

Being Physically Inactive

Even though you may think that being still and physically inactive will help you heal, it will only lead to muscle breakdown. You will lose your body mass and your muscles will start to break down in function. In addition, you will need much more effort to complete the usual tasks. Weak muscles can lead to additional injuries and a poor body balance. As a result, you may fall down and break your leg or receive a serious back injury. Consult with best Los Angeles Workplace Injuries Attorney at JML Law to learn more about how being physically active can help you recover faster, as well as what you can do to secure your worker’s compensation benefits.

Super Active

On the other hand, being extremely active can have negative results on your recovery. Pushing yourself will exhaust your body, lower your immune system and leave you exposed to additional sicknesses and diseases. Also, your body’s regeneration will slow down, leaving you vulnerable to additional chronic injuries. Find a balance between being inactive and being super active.

Alcohol Consumption

Every doctor will tell you to stop using alcohol while recovering from an injury. Alcohol can amplify your pain, or make you feel as if it is gone, until you sober up. Getting that false sense of total recovery comes at a price, as alcohol will reduce the effect of your medication. Not only that, but in combination with certain medication and pills, it may even be lethal.

If you can, stay away from alcohol consumption until you have fully recovered.

A Workplace Injuries Attorneys in Los Angeles offer free counseling and guidance in helping you obtain and secure your worker’s compensation benefits. Contact them right after getting injured to maximize your chances of obtaining the benefits you desperately need.

Riverside’s Festival of Lights Opens on Thanksgiving: How to Ensure Your Safety (And Sue Those Who Cause Injuries)

Riverside announced the opening of the Festival of Lights on Friday, November 24, for the Thanksgiving holiday weekend celebrations. The festival will kick off after the ceremonial switching on of 5 million lights.

Huge crowds, thousands of drunk, turkey-digesting people, lots of glass bottles around, and 5 million lights… What could possibly go wrong, right?

“A lot of things could go wrong in that scenario,” our Riverside personal injury and premises liability attorneys at JML Law warn. If you’re planning to attend the festival this coming Friday, make sure you stay safe and, preferably, have our attorney’s phone number in your smartphone’s ‘Contacts’ in case you get injured.

Write down JML Law’s number – 818-835-5735 – before heading to the Festival of Lights that is full of potential hazards that could cause injury to you or your loved ones (remember: we offer a free initial consultation).

Injuries that could occur during Riverside’s Festival of Lights:

• Human stampedes and crowd crushes (it’s fair to predict that a festival of that scope could have a density of four people per square meter, which is especially dangerous when crowds are large).
  Fact: over 100 people have been killed in human stampedes worldwide this year alone, while festivals are among the deadliest venues where dozens or hundreds of people may get injured.
• Equipment falling on people.
• Colliding with other festival-goers, especially those with jerky moves (think: dancers and drunk people).
• Being hit by glass bottles thrown by others in the crowd.
• Getting into a fight with violent, drunk or drug-impaired festival-goers (the festival organizer may be sued for premises liability for serving alcohol to overly intoxicated people, or for failing to prevent drugs sale at the venue).
• Trips, slips and falls that occur on walkways or in public restrooms that have wet floors (also, beware of objects on the ground, as you may trip over them).
• Dog bites (some festival-goers choose to come to festivals with their pets).
• Stepping on broken glass (festivals are full of broken glass on the ground, it’s a fact).
• One of the 5 million lights catching fire.
  Fact: Fires cause over 15,000 injuries and more than 3,000 deaths every year in the U.S. alone.
• Deafness and other hearing problems due to the extremely loud music.

How to file a personal injury or premises liability claim at the festival?

As seen from the non-exhaustive list above, there are quite a few scenarios that may cause personal injury at festivals and concerts

Premises liability and personal injury claims stemming from festivals may be difficult to litigate, as determining liability at festivals require professional legal representation from a personal injury or premises liability attorney in Riverside.

Here at JML Law, our Riverside attorneys have helped clients collect relevant evidence of premises liability and personal injury in order to make a claim for compensation.

Don’t let the festival’s organizers ruin your Thanksgiving holiday just because they were negligent to ensure everyone’s safety at the Festival of Lights. And don’t let other festival-goers get away with causing you injuries.

Consult our premises liability attorney here at JML Law by calling our Riverside offices at 816-610-8800 today or send an email to schedule a free initial consultation.

How Many Injured Workers to Lose Compensation Benefits this Year and How We Can Help?

After an injury, many employees aren’t aware of their benefits and often lose compensation by not meeting deadlines or having a Los Angeles workers’ compensation attorney fighting for their rights. It is estimated that thousands of injured workers lose benefits each year for a variety of reasons. 

Steps to take after your accident

First and foremost you need to seek medical attention for your injuries. Emergencies that require a hospital visit will be reimbursed by the employer. The employer may provide the name and information of a doctor or emergency room where to get treatment. When at the medical facility inform the staff that this is a workers’ comp case. Some employees lose benefits by not informing the doctor who has to take additional steps in a workers’ comp claim. California workers’ comp injuries need to be reported within 30 days. Failure to report the injury within the time frame can result in loss of benefits compensation. Contacting a Los Angeles workers comp attorney will help keep you within the statutes of limitations and avoid any discrepancies. 

 Filing a Workers’ Comp Claim

California workers’ comp claims have two major steps involved. The first step is to report the injury sustained to your employer. They will then give you a workers’ comp claim form to send to the employer’s insurance carrier. The next step is to contact a Los Angeles workers’ compensation attorney who will complete the workers’ comp application through the court. These need to be done to get all eligible benefits. Within 14 days of filing a claim, the insurance company will be contacting you denying your claim, stating it is under investigation or issuing temporary disability payments. 

Mistakes to Avoid when filing a claim

There are a few common mistakes people make when filing a claim that costs them thousands in lost benefits. The first mistake is not reporting the incident, to begin with, or improperly reporting it. The employer of the insurance company will deny the claim stating the incident was not properly reported. Injured employees feel that disclosing prior medical history can hurt their case but the opposite is true.  Even though you feel better, you need to finish and comply with all medical treatment advised. This can easily find you are uncooperative and deny your benefits. The most important mistake people make is failing to hire an experienced lawyer. The attorney is here to protect your rights and benefits. They can instruct you on how to avoid the other common mistakes to get maximum compensation. 

How a Los Angeles attorney can help

A Los Angeles workers’ compensation attorney can file a claim form and application or review a filed claim and file a new application. It is important to keep in mind that filing a claim and filing an application is very different. Attorneys can identify potential problems with your claim like deadline issues or pre-existing conditions. If you failed to contact an attorney prior to filing a claim and it was denied it can be looked over 

How long will a personal injury claim take?

Being injured can be traumatic and then figuring out what to do next adds more stress to the situation. Personal injury attorney works diligently to settle the case as soon as possible. Some cases can take years especially those where there is the permanent injury. Smaller personal injury claims can be resolved within a few months. JML Law is staffed with experienced Los Angeles personal injury attorney that can look at your accident and determine the best plan of action.

Medical Treatment

Before anything else, seek medical treatment for your injuries. This is crucial to your health and to your case. Insurance adjusters will argue about the seriousness of your injuries if medical attention is not obtained within the allotted time period. If the case were to go to trial, the jury may also find that you could not have been seriously injured if you waited so long to seek help. This will also help the lawyer determine if there is a case.

Discussing the case with a Lawyer

Find a Los Angeles personal injury attorney to discuss the incident. The attorneys at JML Law have years of experience related to personal injury cases and can help you decide the best route to take.during an initial consultation, the attorney will interview you about the accident, medical treatment sought and will need a  little background about yourself. It is important to be forthcoming with all information because the lawyer does have your best interests in mind and is seeking all this information to win the case. If you are not initially forthcoming and they later find information to the contrary, this can harm your case. After the interview is complete, the attorney will ask for all medical records related to the injury as well as documents about your medical history. The personal injury attorney in Los Angeles will review the documents and determine how to proceed.

Making a Demand and Negotiations

At this point, the personal injury attorney will have a clear idea whether to drop the case, settle or file a lawsuit. Smaller personal injury cases are usually settled outside of court. Your personal injury attorney will file a demand with the other party's insurance company or corresponding attorney.  A lawsuit will be filed without question if the incident caused permanent injury or impairment. These types of cases will take longer especially when waiting for you to reach maximum medical improvement. The payout is much larger in this instance and will prevent the jury from undervaluing the case if you have not recovered entirely by the time the case goes to court.

Lawsuit

A personal injury claim can take one to two years after being filed before going to trial. The first six months to a year will consist of both attorneys collecting depositions, interrogations, and any relevant documentation. The amount of time spent on discovery depends on the complexity of the case.

Mediation and Trial

Los Angeles personal injury attorney will attempt mediation with the rival attorney first. If a settlement cannot be reached they will bring a mediator that will attempt to come to a settlement between both clients and both personal injury attorneys. When mediation does not work, the case will go to trial. The trail can last days, weeks or months depending on the court, judge, and case.