When you don't need a lawyer

A law firm telling you when not to hire one is rare enough to be suspicious, so here is the reasoning in the open: a case with nothing in it is not worth anyone's time, including ours — and an accepted claim with benefits flowing and a procedural question is often not a case that needs counsel. It needs the state officer whose whole job this is.

The Information & Assistance officer

Every DWC district office has an Information & Assistance officer — Labor Code § 5450 et seq. — who answers questions and helps with forms at no cost. Free, statewide, and not affiliated with any firm. That is a real resource and it is underused. Which forms to file, how to read a benefit notice, how to unstick a small delay: this is the I&A officer's daily work. Where the district offices are.

Where the line actually is

Reach for the I&A officer when: the claim is accepted, checks are arriving, and the question is procedural — a form, a notice, a scheduling problem.

A free consultation is worth it when: there has been surgery or a permanent disability rating, a settlement is on the table, treatment is being delayed or denied, or the wage figure your checks are computed from looks wrong. These are the situations where what you do next changes the arithmetic — and where a review costs nothing. If there is nothing worth doing, we will tell you that.

Call the same day when: the claim was denied, you were fired or punished for filing (§ 132a runs one year, separately from the comp case), or more than a year has passed with nothing paid. These involve clocks that forgive nothing once missed.

The 2-minute triage sorts your own answers into these three routes — and it will tell you to call the I&A officer when that is the honest answer.