Question 1

What is personal injury law in California?

Accepted Answer

California personal injury law allows people who have been hurt by another party's negligence, recklessness, or intentional conduct to recover money damages. The general standard comes from California Civil Code §1714, which imposes a duty of ordinary care on every person and business. Personal injury covers car accidents, truck accidents, motorcycle accidents, slip and fall, medical malpractice, dog bites, mesothelioma and asbestos exposure, defective products, wrongful death, workplace injuries, and more. Recoverable damages include economic losses (medical bills, lost wages, future earning capacity, future medical care) and non-economic losses (pain and suffering, emotional distress, loss of consortium, loss of enjoyment of life). Punitive damages are available under Civil Code §3294 when the defendant's conduct was malicious, oppressive, or fraudulent.

Question 2

How long do I have to file a personal injury claim in California?

Accepted Answer

The general statute of limitations for personal injury in California is two years from the date of injury under Code of Civil Procedure §335.1. Important exceptions: medical malpractice is one year from discovery (maximum three years from injury under MICRA, CCP §340.5); claims against government entities require a written government claim within six months under the California Tort Claims Act, then a separate six-month window to sue if denied; minors generally have until their 20th birthday to file; product liability and toxic exposure claims often use a "discovery rule" that delays accrual until the injured person knew or should have known of the cause. Mesothelioma claims have a one-year statute under CCP §340.2, running from the later of disability or discovery rather than diagnosis. Missing any of these deadlines can permanently bar your claim — call us immediately at (818) 514-7680.

Question 3

What do I need to prove to win a California personal injury case?

Accepted Answer

A California negligence claim requires four elements: (1) duty of care owed by the defendant to you; (2) breach of that duty; (3) causation — both actual cause (but-for) and legal/proximate cause; and (4) damages. Strict liability claims (dog bites under Civil Code §3342, defective products) eliminate the need to prove fault but require proof of the dangerous condition or defect and causation. Wrongful death claims under CCP §377.60 require proof that the defendant's wrongful act caused the death and that you are an eligible heir. Each cause of action has specific elements proven through medical records, expert witnesses, eyewitness testimony, accident reconstruction, and documentary evidence.

Question 4

How much is my California personal injury case worth?

Accepted Answer

Personal injury case value depends on liability strength, injury severity, available insurance, the defendant's assets, and the venue. No honest figure can be quoted in advance, and tiered "typical settlement" tables are marketing rather than analysis — the same injury resolves very differently depending on the evidence and the insurance. What a valuation actually rests on is the documented medical course and prognosis, proven economic loss including future care projected through a life-care plan where the injury is permanent, the plaintiff's share of comparative fault, and the policy limits and assets actually available to satisfy a judgment. California has no cap on non-economic damages in standard personal injury cases (the MICRA cap applies only to medical malpractice and was raised by AB 35 in 2023). Trembach Law analyzes every claim under all available theories — negligence, strict liability, products liability, common-carrier liability, vicarious liability, premises liability, intentional torts — to maximize recovery.

Question 5

What should I do immediately after an accident in California?

Accepted Answer

Take these critical steps: (1) call 911 and accept medical evaluation even if you feel "fine" — adrenaline masks injuries and a contemporaneous medical record is the most important piece of evidence in any personal injury claim; (2) photograph everything — vehicles, injuries, the scene, weather, traffic controls, hazardous conditions; (3) get contact info for every witness; (4) request a police or incident report; (5) keep all medical records, prescriptions, mileage to appointments, and pay stubs; (6) do not post about the accident on social media; (7) do not give a recorded statement to the at-fault party's insurance company; (8) call a California personal injury attorney before signing anything or accepting any settlement. Insurers routinely make low first offers before victims understand the long-term cost of their injuries.

Question 6

What is comparative negligence in California?

Accepted Answer

California follows pure comparative negligence under the rule announced in Li v. Yellow Cab (1975) and codified in Civil Code §1714. Your damages are reduced by your percentage of fault, but you can still recover even if you were 99% at fault. Example: a jury finds total damages of $500,000 and apportions 30% fault to you and 70% to the defendant; your net recovery is $350,000. Pure comparative fault is more favorable to plaintiffs than the "modified" rules in most other states (which bar recovery once a plaintiff is 50% or more at fault). We aggressively rebut any fault attributed to our clients through expert testimony, accident reconstruction, and impeachment of insurer-paid experts.

Question 7

How does California handle wrongful death claims?

Accepted Answer

Wrongful death claims in California are governed by Code of Civil Procedure §§377.60–377.62. Eligible claimants include the decedent's surviving spouse, registered domestic partner, children, and (if no surviving spouse, partner, or children) other heirs entitled under California intestate succession. A separate "survival" claim under CCP §377.30 allows the decedent's estate to recover damages the decedent could have pursued before death — including pre-death medical expenses, lost earnings between injury and death, and (since SB 447 effective January 1, 2022) pre-death pain and suffering. Wrongful death damages include funeral and burial costs, financial support the decedent would have provided, the value of household services, and loss of love, companionship, comfort, care, and moral support. Statute of limitations is generally two years from death.

Question 8

Does California have caps on personal injury damages?

Accepted Answer

For most personal injury claims, California has no cap on economic damages, no cap on non-economic damages (pain and suffering), and no cap on punitive damages. The exception is medical malpractice: the MICRA non-economic damages cap was raised by AB 35 (2023) on a sliding scale — $470,000 in non-death cases and $650,000 in wrongful death cases for 2026, increasing annually until 2033 when caps reach $750,000 (non-death) and $1,000,000 (death). Punitive damages under Civil Code §3294 require clear and convincing evidence of malice, oppression, or fraud. The U.S. Supreme Court generally limits the ratio of punitive to compensatory damages to single digits (State Farm v. Campbell). Trembach Law thoroughly investigates every available source of recovery so the cap never determines your case.

Question 9

Can I sue a government entity for personal injury in California?

Accepted Answer

Yes, but the California Tort Claims Act (Government Code §§810 et seq.) imposes special requirements. You must present a written government claim within six months of the accrual of the cause of action — Government Code §911.2(a) puts claims for death, injury to person, injury to personal property and growing crops in that six-month category, and gives one year only to "any other cause of action." Damage to a vehicle is personal property, so it is six months, not a year. The government then has 45 days to act. Under Government Code §945.6(a), the deadline to sue depends on what the entity does next: if it serves written notice of rejection under §913, you have six months from the date that notice is personally delivered or deposited in the mail; if it never gives written notice, you have two years from the accrual of the cause of action. Failing to comply with the claims-presentation requirement is generally a complete bar to recovery, with limited exceptions for late-claim relief under Government Code §911.4 (typically requiring a strong showing of mistake, inadvertence, surprise, or excusable neglect). Public entities are liable for dangerous conditions of public property only…

Question 10

How does California handle medical malpractice claims?

Accepted Answer

Medical malpractice in California is governed by MICRA (the Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act of 1975, as amended by AB 35 in 2023). The statute of limitations is one year from discovery of the injury, with an absolute three-year cap from the date of the negligent act under CCP §340.5. A 90-day pre-suit notice of intent to sue must be served before filing under CCP §364. You generally must produce a qualified expert witness who is a healthcare provider in the same specialty to establish the standard of care and breach. Non-economic damages are capped under the AB 35 sliding scale. Despite these procedural hurdles, medical malpractice settlements and verdicts in California regularly reach seven and eight figures for catastrophic outcomes — surgical errors, missed diagnoses, birth injuries, anesthesia errors, and hospital infections.

Question 11

How long does a California personal injury case take?

Accepted Answer

Timeline depends on injury severity, liability complexity, and the defendant's posture. Soft-tissue cases with clear liability often settle within 4–9 months once the client reaches maximum medical improvement (MMI). Surgical and catastrophic injury cases typically take 12–24 months because future medical care must be projected through a life-care plan and economist testimony. Mass tort, products liability, and medical malpractice cases that go through full discovery and trial commonly take 2–4 years. We do not settle prematurely. Accepting an offer before maximum medical improvement means valuing the claim before the treating physicians know what permanent care, restrictions or future surgery the injury will require, and that unknown cannot be recovered once the release is signed. We move cases as fast as the medicine and litigation timeline allow.

Question 12

Do California personal injury lawyers charge upfront fees?

Accepted Answer

No. California personal injury attorneys work on a 100% contingency fee — you pay nothing out of pocket. The firm advances all litigation costs (expert witnesses, court filing fees, medical records, depositions, accident reconstruction, life-care plans, economists, trial exhibits). Attorney fees are a percentage of the recovery — typically 33⅓% before suit is filed and 40% after suit is filed, with case-specific variations. If we lose, you owe nothing. The contingency arrangement is governed by California Rule of Professional Conduct 1.5 and Business & Professions Code §6147, requires a written fee agreement, and gives you the right to terminate the firm at any time.

Los Angeles Personal Injury Lawyer

The Four Elements of a Negligence Claim

How Damages Are Calculated

Deadlines

Fees, Costs and Case Results

Frequently Asked Questions

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