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Do I Need An Attorney If I Am Still In Pain?

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Question:

I was in a car accident 3 weeks ago. I’m still in pain and I don’t know if I need an attorney.

Answer:

If you are still in pain from a car accident that was weeks ago, I recommend that you call an attorney and discuss the accident and the injuries that you suffered. The attorney can help you figure out whether it’s in your best interest to hire a lawyer.

If you’re still in pain several weeks after an accident, the concern is that your injuries could be more than just soft tissue injuries. For example, if you have neck pain that radiates down your arm, with numbness and tingling, that could mean that you have a bulging disk in your neck. Or if you have low back pain that radiates down either leg, you could have a bulging disk in your low back. You would need an MRI to determine if you have a bulging disk.

If you have Kaiser, because MRIs are much more expensive than x-rays, Kaiser likely won’t order an MRI until you report the symptoms for months. An attorney, on the other hand, can get you to a medical provider who can order the MRI on a lien right away. A “lien” means that the medical facility agrees to wait to be paid until your case settles.

On the other hand, if you call us and tell us that the impact was minor, and your initial complaints are still there, but resolving, our advice may very well be that you don’t need an attorney. If that’s the case, we are still happy to give you free advice.

What you don’t want to do: Let months go by, with little to no medical treatment. That delay or gap in getting medical treatment could cause serious harm to your personal injury claim. The insurance company adjuster will use it against you, and claim that your injuries were minimal or you would have sought out more treatment.

Get Started On Your Case Today With Experienced Attorneys

If you’re not sure what to do after an accident, call us for a free consultation. We’ll be straight with you and give you our honest assessment as to whether you need an attorney. If you do hire us, you pay us nothing upfront. We get paid at the end of the case, out of the settlement. You can read more about our No Fee Promise here.

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