#1 COSTA MESA PERSONAL INJURY ATTORNEYS

California law does not force you to work with a personal injury lawyer on your case, but doing so can be a smart decision. The insurance company hires entire teams of claims adjusters, investigators, and defence lawyers who work full-time trying to find ways to pay injured people as little money as possible.

Although you have the right to tackle the multi-billion-dollar insurance corporation and its many employees, handling your case as a DIY project would be like playing against an entire professional basketball team. If you would like to even the playing field, you can work with a personal injury lawyer in Costa Mesa.

One of the first things you should do after an accident is to get medical attention for your injuries. Your medical records will serve multiple functions, like showing the extent and severity of your injuries. With medical records, you will have strong evidence from a third party who described your wounds.

Without that evidence, the claims adjuster or jury might not believe that your injuries came from the accident. That brings us to our second reason to get medical attention right after an accident. The less time between the accident and your trip to the doctor or emergency room, the easier it is to prove the connection between the accident and the harm you suffered. Also, if you can do so safely, try to document the accident scene. For example, if you got hurt in a car accident, you should call 911 and have a law enforcement officer come to the scene and make a police report. 

It can be useful in many different accidents, including slips and falls, to take photos while still at the scene. Landowners tend to correct hazardous conditions quickly after someone gets hurt. You will want to get the names and contact information of everyone involved in or witnessed the accident. Last but not least, you should protect your legal rights by talking to a Costa Mesa personal injury attorney right away. Some deadlines are only a matter of months, and you do not want to lose the right to compensation for your losses.

California has statutes of limitations, which specify the amount of time you have to file certain types of lawsuits if someone else injured you through negligence or an intentional act. The amount of time you have to file your case depends on what type of matter it is. For example, you must start the administrative claim process within six months if you have a claim against a government entity, like a city or a government agency. You must exhaust your administrative remedies before you can file a lawsuit. 

If your claim is against a private individual or business, and the basis of your claim is negligence, in other words, the person harmed you accidentally, not intentionally, through carelessness, the personal injury lawsuit must be filed within two years of when you got hurt. A medical malpractice claim could have a one-year or three-year filing deadline. Sometimes, the law will toll, meaning extend, the statute of limitations a little, but typically, the court will hold you to the standard deadline. Injured children and other people without the legal capacity to file lawsuits for themselves might get temporary extensions.

It is possible to get injured and not feel pain right away. Some injuries do not exhibit noticeable symptoms immediately. If you have been in a significant accident, you should get an evaluation at a doctor’s office or emergency room. Sometimes, the shock or adrenaline of the accident will temporarily block the pain sensation. Also, you might have internal bleeding or a head injury that does not necessarily have detectable signs until you are in a medical crisis.

Some of the most common money damages in a personal injury claim are medical expenses, lost wages, future medical expenses, reduced earning capacity, long-term care, disability, and pain and suffering. Depending on the facts of your situation, you might be able to seek compensation for additional items, like disfigurement from large scars, depression and anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and loss of enjoyment of life if you have a loss of function.

When an attorney represents you on your Costa Mesa personal injury claim, the defendant and their insurer are not supposed to contact you directly. If they call you, tell them that you have a lawyer. Get the name and contact information of the person calling you, then notify your personal injury attorney so that your lawyer can reach out to them. 

If the insurance company or the at-fault party emails you or sends you a letter, you do not have to respond. Instead, notify your Costa Mesa personal injury lawyer and give them a copy of the correspondence. Frequently, a claims adjuster will contact an injured claimant and ask them to give a recorded statement. It is best not to agree to give a recorded statement because these things can only hurt your case and give the insurance company reasons to deny your claim or pay you less money than you deserve. If you get asked to give a recorded statement, you can tell them to talk to your attorney, who can give them the factual information they need.

Many variables can affect how long it takes to settle your Costa Mesa personal injury case. Two of the most important considerations are finishing your medical treatment and not missing the filing deadline.

If you settle your injury claim before completing all of your prescribed treatment, you might get an unpleasant surprise. For example, suppose you go back to your doctor to get released from treatment after entering a settlement. The doctor says that you need additional healthcare services, like surgery, to heal well. In that case, the at-fault party and an insurance company will not pay for that medical treatment.

It is a careful balance between the statute of limitations for your case and completing your medical treatment. Sometimes, we have to file a personal injury lawsuit to protect our client’s right to get compensation if the deadline is near. We can still negotiate and settle after filing a lawsuit.

Intentional injury means that the person committed a wrongful act against you on purpose. For example, if someone walks up to you and punches you, they have committed an intentional act. For example, they could face criminal charges for assault and battery. Also, you could file a civil lawsuit asking the court to award you money from the defendant for your injuries and losses. The criminal case usually does not result in the injured person getting money damages from the defendant so that people can file civil lawsuits.

On the other hand, negligence means that the at-fault party made a mistake that harmed someone else. An example of negligence in personal injury would be if someone ran a red light and caused a crash in the intersection. Anyone injured by the driver could seek money damages for their wounds and losses.

Yes, you can be eligible for money damages even if you were responsible for part of the negligence. California follows the comparative negligence rule, which means that your financial recovery will reduce your amount of the total fault in the accident.

Let’s say that you had $200,000 in damages and you were 10 percent at fault in the accident. Your negligence would reduce your damages by 10 percent, which is $20,000. You could collect $180,000.

Every case is different, so there is no way to tell at the beginning how long your personal injury case in Costa Mesa will take. We can try to settle your case by negotiating with the negligent party and their liability insurance company. Most personal injury cases get resolved by settlement rather than trial. However, we can file a lawsuit if the other side refuses to pay a fair amount to settle your injury claim.

We handle personal injury cases on a contingency basis, so you do not pay any upfront legal fees or fees during the case. Instead, we receive a percentage of the settlement proceeds or jury award. We discuss the percentage with you at the beginning of the case so that you know what to expect.

Contact a Costa Mesa personal injury lawyer at Nordean Law today to discuss your injuries and losses. We work tirelessly for our clients.