If you’ve been seriously injured in an accident caused by somebody else’s negligence or recklessness, you could be facing large out of pocket medical expenses and loss of income from long term disability. California law allows victims to recoup these and other losses from the responsible parties, helping people avoid financial ruin. Personal injury cases can be complicated, and deadlines can be short, so hiring an experienced Irvine personal injury lawyer is the best way to ensure the success of your claim. Handling your personal injury claim yourself may be penny-wise and pound foolish because insurance companies typically offer unrepresented plaintiffs pennies on the dollar. If you want to avoid leaving money on the table, hiring an experienced, local accident attorney is the smartest move you can make.

The Insurance Company Is Not Your Friend

If you’ve been involved in an accident, the insurance company for the responsible parties may be ringing your phone off the hook. Their goal is to get you to give a statement about your injuries and how the accident happened before you have a chance to speak to an attorney. They may even offer to fix your car plus a few hundred dollars extra for pain and suffering. This is a profitable strategy for the insurance company because claimants with attorneys collect five to ten times as much in monetary damages as those that lack representation. There are many different types of personal injury cases with different case law and common law that apply, so there’s a good chance you’ll damage your case if you speak to the insurance company without getting legal advice first. Soft tissue injuries that seem minor at first can sometimes become chronic, requiring rehabilitation and/or surgery down the road. A few days out of work can turn into months of disability, so you shouldn’t settle your case until you’re comfortably back at work.  The best way to find out if you have a case worth pursuing is to speak to a personal injury attorney in Orange County as soon as possible after an accident happens.

Types of Personal Injury Cases

A personal injury case is a claim against a person and/or company for negligent conduct that caused your injury. It’s necessary to show that somebody else’s conduct caused your injuries, and that you’ve required medical attention and suffered as a result. These are some examples of the types of cases that a personal injury attorney handles:

• Motor Vehicle Accidents (cars, trucks, bicycles, motorcycles, pedestrians, scooters, etc.;
• Slip and Fall;
• Boating Accidents;
• Product Liability;
• Dog Bites;
• Assaults;
• Construction Accidents; and
• Nursing home abuse and neglect.

The first step is proving that the responsible party was negligent. For example, if you were involved in a car crash and it’s not clear how it happened, an Irvine car accident attorney might hire an accident reconstruction expert to prepare a report and/or testify at trial. It’s also important for you to be aware of the statute of limitations for your case. In California, you generally have two years to file a lawsuit for a personal injury claim. However, the California Tort Claims Act requires that a notice of claim be filed within six months for claims against any California government, and sovereign immunity limits the types of claims that can be brought. If any deadlines are blown or legal requirements for filing aren’t met, your case could be dismissed. Hiring an experienced Irvine personal injury attorney is the best way to ensure that you collect the money damages you’re entitled to.

How to Maximize Your Recovery

In California, injured victims can make a claim for both economic and non-economic damages. Economic damages are for calculable costs that have arisen as a result of your injury, such as:

• Medical Expenses
  • Hospitals;
  • Doctors;
  • Nurses;
  • Therapists;
  • Prosthetics; and
• Lost Income
  • Lost Earnings;
  • Lost Business Revenue; and
  • Lost Earning Capacity.
• Property Damage
• Accommodations to Home and Vehicle
  • Car drivable with only your hands;
  • Elevator to second floor of your home;
  • Lowering counters for use from wheelchair; or
  • Braille or voice activation of appliances.

An experienced accident and injury attorney will ensure that all of your claims are properly submitted with backup evidence. For example, a claim for lost earning capacity will require an economist to determine what your earnings would have been if you didn’t have an accident. Non-economic damages, on the other hand, are subjective claims based on the impact your injury has had on your life, such as:

• Pain;
• Suffering;
• Mental Anguish;
• Disfigurement; and
• Loss of Enjoyment of Life.

If you’ve been seriously injured, you’re entitled to compensation for the pain of the injury itself, plus the discomfort from the surgeries or other treatments required, such as physical therapy, learning to use prosthetics, etc. You can also make a claim for the loss of enjoyment from activities you can no longer participate in, such as dancing, hiking, or sports.

Are There Caps on Damages in California?

There are no caps on the damages that can be collected by injured victims of motor vehicle accidents, slip and fall accidents, dog bites, and most other types of personal injury cases. However, there are many other statutes, common law principles, and regulations that govern personal injury claims, so it’s important to hire an experienced Irvine personal injury lawyer that knows how to properly handle your claim to achieve the highest possible settlement or verdict available under the law.

Kevin Crockett

Advertising disclosure: We may receive compensation for some of the links in our stories. Thank you for supporting Irvine Weekly and our advertisers.