Personal Injury in California

Jimmy Doan Personal Injury Lawyer

(424) 334-0000

Personal Injury in California

Personal injury refers to any violation of an individual’s rights other than his or her property. It’s when a defendant hurts the victim intentionally or unintentionally. Victims of personal injury should ensure that they consult a personal injury lawyer so that they get familiar with the relevant limitations and how it may affect their case. The victim must understand the civil procedure by the law. Getting the required information helps the victim increase the likelihood of receiving adequate compensation.

Personal injuries are divided into three categories. There is an Intentional injury where someone intended the injury that occurred. Second is Negligence injury whereby the need for ordinary care an injury occurs. Finally is Strict Liability injury where one is liable whether the act was negligent or intentional.

States give limits on the amount of time a victim can go to court and file a lawsuit after suffering some harm. This law is known as Statute of Limitations. The law offers different deadlines depending on the kind of case a victim is filing. In California, the Statute of Limitation for personal injury cases gives the injured person a maximum of two years from the date of damage to go to court and file a lawsuit against those responsible. Failure to go to a court within the maximum of the biennium, the court might refuse to hear your case in future. It means that the chance for the victim’s compensation is no longer applicable. According to California’s civil law; the legal action required is to file a lawsuit. According to criminal law, it’s the time by which charges against the offender are presented in the court or an indictment issued.

The limitation of filing an injury claim against any government entity for example California State Government Agency is six months. Filing a lawsuit concerning a breach of written contract has a limitation of four years. A trial against a breach of oral contract has a limitation of two years. Crimes such as murder are considered extreme and have no statute of limitations period. However, the Statute of Limitations can be found in section 335.1 and 340 of California Code of Civil Procedure. In California, there is a Special Rule. This rule applied when the plaintiff did not learn about the harm until later. These are the only rare chances, which the victim can get to pursue the case.

There is the ‘discovery of harm’ rule. This rule applies when the personal injury victim is not aware that he or she has sustained damage. In such instances, the victim has a longer time to file a lawsuit. The victim has to establish that the injury was not inflicted until a later date. For example, if the personal injury involves a physical accident, the victim may have to provide medical records, which play a crucial part in providing vital information concerning the matter. If there is a claim filed by the victim after the deadline collapses, the accused can use the lawsuit in his or her defense. Such claims may see the court held liable by the defendant and forced to pay legal fees to his or her lawyer.

There is a limitation on the maximum damages cap in California personal injury cases. The limitation affects the outcome of the lawsuit filed. It plays as a key decision-making element for the victim’s lawyer whether to drop the case. Personal injury victims that file claims are subjected to maximum caps on their claims. The victim can receive the value of economic damages based on some funds he or she needs to be restored. It can either be a physical or mental condition he or she was before the accident. The amount the victim receives does not get restricted to any particular limitation. Economic damages include medical expenses such as hospital bills and follow up treatments. Also among the damages are lost wages, loss of earning capacity. There is compensation for disability, which may require renovation projects for the home of the victim to make it handicap-suitable. Non-economic damages may include mental stress, mental inconvenience, pain and suffering among others.

In California, personal injury victims can only receive a single digit multiplier of economic damages the court awards them. If the victim gets an award of thirty thousand US dollars in economic damages, the maximum value of non-economic damages they receive is one hundred and fifty thousand US dollars where five is the single digit multiplier.

In California, there is the Tolling of Statute of Limitations. It only means that there are instances where the case is suspended for a period. It occurs in cases where the defendant is out of state, insane, in prison or is a minor. The case begins to run again when the reason for tolling ends.

Doan Law Office 
12100 Wilshire Boulevard, 8th Floor
Los Angeles, California 90025
(424) 334-0000

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