Personal Injury Claims – Frequently Asked Questions
March 14, 2025
If you’ve been injured by the negligence of someone else, you may have a personal injury claim. A personal injury claim can involve vehicle accidents, dog bites, slip and falls, elder abuse, workplace injuries and other types of injuries. Following are some important Frequently Asked Questions that are important to review and understand prior to contacting a Santa Ana personal injury lawyer about a potential lawsuit that you or a loved one may have.
Frequently Asked Questions
How Do I Know If I Have A Case?
In California, the elements of a personal injury case are as follows:
- You were owed a duty of care
- The duty of care was breached
- The breach was the case of your injury
- Your injury is compensable.
To illustrate the concept of duty of care, let’s say that you were injured in a car accident by a driver who was texting and not paying attention to the road. This first question is whether the driver had a duty of care to you. According to California law, all drivers must use reasonable care when operating a vehicle. They must always be mindful of and look for pedestrians, other vehicles, and obstacles. Drivers must also control the speed and movement of their vehicles in a responsible manner. Based on this, if a driver hit you while engaging in distracted driving behavior, he breached a duty of care to you.
How Do I Prove My Case?
To prove your case, you must provide evidence that would lead a judge or jury to believe that you meet the elements of a personal injury case. Examples of evidence include pictures of the accident scene, pictures of vehicle damage or physical injuries, medical bills, doctor’s reports, witness statements, and police reports. There are rules of evidence that must be followed to have a court consider your evidence.
How Will I Pay For My Case?
Most personal injury lawyers in California handle personal injury cases on a contingency basis. This means that you don’t pay anything while your case is being prepared, arbitrated, mediated or litigated. You will pay the lawyer from the proceeds of your legal settlement or jury award. If a lawyer takes your case on a contingency basis, he or she believes that you have a reasonably strong case.
What Is My Case Worth?
What your case is worth depends upon the facts of your particular situation. There are three types of damages that can be assessed. The first is economic damages. These include medical costs, lost wages and other out-of-pocket costs.
The second type of damages that can be assessed is non-economic damages. Non-economic damages are harder to quantify and prove, and include pain and suffering and emotional distress. Non-economic damages can also include the loss of companionship (known in some places as loss of consortium) of the injured party by his or her spouse, partner or other family member.
Punitive damages are the third type of damages that can be assessed. These may come into play when a defendant’s behavior was particularly egregious. Your Santa Ana personal injury attorney will help you assess whether punitive damages should come into play in your lawsuit.
What If I Was Partly Responsible for My Injury?
California is what is known as a “pure comparative negligence” state. That means you can sue to help recover your costs and damages even if you were significantly – up to 99% – at fault. Your damages are reduced by your degree of fault. As an example, let’s assume that the jury or judge assesses that you are 75% at fault for a car accident and that the damages are $10,000. You would be awarded $2,500 ($10,000 – 75%).
This “pure comparative negligence” rule is more lenient than most other states, which follow a stricter “comparative negligence” rule that prohibits recovery by a plaintiff who is more than 50% at fault for his injuries. And note that some states follow a “contributory negligence” rule that bars recovery totally even if you were only 1% at fault. These jurisdictions are Alabama, the District of Columbia, Maryland, North Carolina, and Virginia.
How Long Do I Have To File My Case?
The period of time during which you must file your case is called the “statute of limitations.” In most cases, the statute of limitations for a personal injury action in California is two years. That is, you have two years from when you learned or should have learned that a cause of action arose.
If the injured person was under the age of 18 at the time of the accident or incident, the time limit does not start to run until the child reaches the age of 18. In most circumstances, a minor that has a personal injury claim has until the age of 20 to file a lawsuit.
Also note that there are special, and shorter, time limits if you have a claim against a government agency. First, if you have a claim against a government agency or entity, you must first file a “claim form” or “administrative form” specific to the government agency or entity within six months of the injury. This six- month period also applies to minors. The statute of limitations for lawsuits involving government entities can be complicated, and it’s prudent to contact a Santa Ana personal injury attorney to help you with the calculations.
Contact a Santa Ana Personal Injury Attorney
Serious personal injury can turn your life – and the life of your family members – upside down. It can affect your health, your finances, your job and your relationships. If you’ve been injured due to the negligence of another party and believe that you have the grounds for a personal injury lawsuit, contact the Law Offices of Benjamin Arsenian as soon as possible. We are experienced, knowledgeable, and capable personal injury attorneys who take a thoughtful and thorough approach to all of our cases. Contact us today for a free consultation.