LOS ANGELES PERSONAL INJURY ATTORNEYS

Have you Been Injured? We are the Los Angeles Injury Lawyers

If you have been injured in an accident you probably have some serious questions.
-How can I pay for my medical expenses?
-I can’t work, how will I pay my bills?
-As a result of my injuries I’m not confident I will be able to return to my job. What can I do?

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What is Personal Injury Law?

Personal injury law is a broad area of civil law through which an injured person can seek monetary compensation for losses caused by another party’s negligence or fault. In personal injury law, states like California recognize that a person who has been harmed because of someone else’s carelessness or wrongdoing should be able to file a civil lawsuit against that responsible party in order to seek damages. To be clear, personal injury cases fall within the area of civil law, which means that a personal injury lawsuit will not result in criminal consequences for the defendant. Instead, the defendant may be responsible for paying monetary compensation to the plaintiff for the harm they have caused. 

Within the broad area of personal injury law, there are many different types of cases that require a plaintiff to prove specific elements in order to obtain compensation. At Fisher & Talwar, we assist injury victims and their families with a wide range of personal injury cases, from motor vehicle cases and slip and fall lawsuits to product defect and dog bite claims.

Types of Personal Injury Cases Our Attorneys Handle in Los Angeles

The dedicated Los Angeles personal injury lawyers at Fisher & Talwar routinely represent plaintiffs in various types of personal injury cases. The following are examples of some of the cases we often handle in the Los Angeles area:

• Auto accidents;
• Bicycle accidents;
• Bus accidents;
• Car accidents;
• Construction accidents;
• Dog bite cases;
• Elevator and escalator accidents;
• Motorcycle accidents;
• Pedestrian accidents;
• Premises liability lawsuits;
• Product defects, or product liability lawsuits;
• Slip and fall cases;
• Swimming pool accidents;
• Truck accidents; 
• Watercraft or boating accidents; and
• Wrongful death cases.

Common Types of Injuries in Los Angeles Personal Injury Cases

Personal injury claims or lawsuits can involve a range of injuries that vary widely in terms of type and severity. Whether you have sustained a relatively minor injury that will require limited medical attention or a serious and life-threatening injury that is likely to result in a permanent disability or death, our personal injury attorneys in Los Angeles can help you to file a claim against the responsible party and to seek compensation. Common types of injuries in the Los Angeles personal injury claims we handle at Fisher & Talwar include but are not limited to the following:

• Bone fractures;
• Burn injuries;
• Disfigurement;
• Electric shock or electrical injuries;
• Lacerations and cuts;
• Organ damage and internal bleeding;
• Pain and suffering;
• Spinal cord injuries; and
• Traumatic brain injuries.

Frequent Causes of Personal Injuries in Los Angeles

What are some of the most common causes of personal injuries in the Los Angeles area and throughout Southern California? The National Safety Council cites the following as places where personal injuries happen most frequently:

• Residential spaces, including the home of the injury victim or the home of a friend, family member, or co-worker;
• Private business locations, such as retail stores or restaurants;
• Public spaces, such as roads or freeways, public parks, and public buildings; and
• Motor vehicles, specifically in collisions.

Injuries can happen in traffic collisions, slip, and fall or trip and fall accidents, in swimming pool drownings or near-drownings, on escalators or elevators, while working on construction sites and in other hazardous workplaces, in falls from heights, and in house and business fires.

Steps to Take Following a Los Angeles Personal Injury

After a personal injury in Los Angeles, it can be difficult to know precisely what steps you need to take in order to file a claim or to otherwise seek compensation for your losses. The specific steps you will need to take will depend upon the nature of your injury, including where and how it happened. Generally speaking, however, the following are important steps to take to ensure that you remain eligible to seek compensation by filing a personal injury lawsuit:

• Do your best to document the scene where the accident occurred, which usually means taking a wide range of photographs on your smartphone that depict the general scene of the accident or injury along with images that show your injuries;
• Ask for contact information from anyone who might have witnessed your injury so that your Los Angeles personal injury attorney can contact them later on to support your claim;
• Have a medical evaluation regardless of whether you think you need immediate medical attention since many kinds of serious brain and spinal injuries may not immediately have obvious signs;
• Report the accident to your insurance company if your injury occurred in any type of motor vehicle collision; and
• Get in touch with an experienced attorney to determine the next steps to take in your case and to ensure that you file a lawsuit, if necessary, before the statute of limitations runs out.

Insurance Claims Versus Lawsuits After a Los Angeles Personal Injury

You may be wondering if you should file an insurance claim or a personal injury lawsuit after suffering an injury in an accident or because of another party’s carelessness or recklessness. It will depend upon the type of accident and the circumstances of your injury.

When personal injuries occur in motor vehicle collisions, the injured person will often get the claims process started by filing an auto insurance claim. Even at this point, it is essential to have a personal injury attorney on your side to handle negotiations with the insurance company and to seek the highest possible payout for your case. If an auto insurance settlement is insufficient to cover your total losses, your next step is usually to file a personal injury lawsuit against the party or parties responsible for the motor vehicle collision.

Many other types of personal injury cases will begin with a civil lawsuit against the at-fault or responsible party or parties. You should work with a personal injury lawyer in Los Angeles to determine who may be liable for the harm you have experienced, and who may be named in your personal injury lawsuit.

How Liability, Damages, and Comparative Fault Are Determined in a Los Angeles Personal Injury Case

Liability

What will you need to prove in order to obtain compensation in a personal injury lawsuit? In other words, what are the elements that you will need to show in order to prove that the defendant is liable for your injuries and responsible for paying damages? Each type of personal injury case will have its own required elements, and the elements will depend upon whether you are filing a claim based on negligence or strict liability.

Most personal injury lawsuits arise out of another party’s negligence. In a negligence claim, the general elements are:

• Defendant owed you a duty of care;
• Defendant breached the duty of care by behaving in a negligent manner;
• Breach of the duty of care was the cause of your injury; and
• Your injury resulted in damages.

In a strict liability claim, there is no need to prove that the defendant was negligent. Rather, the defendant’s specific association with a condition that resulted in your injury is enough for the defendant to be liable. The two primary types of strict liability claims in California are dog bite cases and product liability cases. In a dog bite claim, merely owning a dog that bites and causes harm can be enough for a dog owner to be liable. In a product liability lawsuit, merely manufacturing or designing, or selling a defective product that causes a consumer injury can be sufficient for that manufacturer, designer, or retailer to be liable.

Damages

When you file a personal injury lawsuit in Los Angeles, you may be eligible to receive monetary damages. In most personal injury cases, those damages are called “compensatory damages,” and they are designed to compensate you for a range of losses you have sustained as a result of your injury. According to California law, compensatory damages take two different forms, which include:

• Economic damages: These are “objectively verifiable monetary losses including medical expenses, loss of earnings, burial costs, loss of use of property, costs of repair or replacement, costs of obtaining substitute domestic services, loss of employment, and loss of business or employment opportunities”; and
• Non-economic damages: These are “subjective, non-monetary losses including, but not limited to, pain, suffering, inconvenience, mental suffering, emotional distress, loss of society and companionship, loss of consortium, injury to reputation, and humiliation.”

In some circumstances, a person who files a personal injury case might also be able to seek punitive damages. However, it is important to know that punitive damages are not typically awarded in personal injury lawsuits arising out of negligence. Different from compensatory damages, punitive damages are intended to punish the defendant for their dangerous behavior and to deter similarly dangerous conduct in the future. In order for a court to award punitive damages, the plaintiff will need to prove that the defendant’s behavior was so reckless that it showed a disregard for the life and safety of others, or that the defendant intended to cause harm and acted with malice. When a court does award punitive damages, it awards them in addition to compensatory damages.

Comparative Fault

What will happen if the defendant says that you are also partially at fault for the accident or for the seriousness of the injuries you have suffered? Comparative fault is a defense strategy that the defendant might raise to reduce the amount of damages they owe. However, even if the defendant raises the issue of comparative fault and you think you could be partially to blame, you can still obtain damages and should likely still file a lawsuit.

It is essential to know that California is a “pure comparative fault” state, which means that a plaintiff will not be barred from recovery because that plaintiff is partially at fault. Rather, if the defendant is able to successfully show that the plaintiff was in fact partially liable, then the plaintiff’s total damages payout will be diminished by the plaintiff’s percentage of fault. The defendant will still be responsible for paying the reduced damages award.

Statute of Limitations for a Personal Injury Lawsuit in Los Angeles

Under California law, most personal injury lawsuits will need to be filed within two years from the date of the injury. However, it is essential to get in touch with an attorney as soon as possible because your claim could fall into an exception, and you could be required to file your claim much sooner. In cases involving an injury on public property or a claim against a government entity, you will often need to file a claim within either six months or one year from the date of the injury.

If you fail to file a lawsuit before the statute of limitations runs out, you will have what is known as a time-barred claim, and you will be ineligible to obtain damages in a personal injury lawsuit.

How a Los Angeles Personal Attorney Can Help You

There are many ways in which a Los Angeles personal injury can assist you with your case, such as:

• Hiring experts to support your case and to help prove that you are entitled to damages;
• Investigating your case and obtaining the necessary evidence to support your claim for compensation;
• Handling all aspects of discovery and negotiating with the defendant for a reasonable settlement so that you can avoid trial;
• Providing you with up-to-date information and answering any questions you have about your case; 
• Offering a free consultation so that you can learn more about your options following an injury without any obligation afterward, and
• Having a record of success in personal injury cases and applying our experience to your personal injury claim or lawsuit.

What to Expect When Calling an Attorney About a Personal Injury

People who have been injured often wonder what to expect upon calling an attorney. Today, we’d like to diffuse some of the stress that comes with the uncertainty of what to expect when contacting an attorney for the first time.

Is this your first time contacting an attorney? Here is what to expect:

First, the attorney will ask you a few very basic questions about the purpose of your call, a general description of what happened, and what type of injuries have been sustained. Depending on the details provided, the attorney will determine how urgent your matter is and what steps you should take first.

Most people are so shocked by their accident/injury that they forget to treat their injuries. Injury attorneys typically advise people to get treated as soon as possible, if not for the obvious physical benefit, then to get a complete record that can be used as evidence. Keep in mind, all of this is still free advice and you have not formed an attorney/client privilege unless both parties agree on representation. Based on your initial details the attorney will determine whether you have a case or not, at which point you can choose them to represent you.

Upon agreement, your attorney will advise you on the following:

• Not to discuss the incident with any other party or representation of that party. You will be asked not to make any statements to the other party that may potentially be used against you.
• Seek immediate medical attention for the benefit of your own health and to obtain a complete medical record to be used in your case.
• Recall events that you may have missed in your general description of the situation and write it all down as soon as possible. Your attorney will also take notes on everything you tell them.

You will be asked if any photos were taken of the incident or the injury and if it’s still possible to photograph the injury, to do so right away. You will be asked to preserve any evidence and not tamper with it in any way. For example, if a product caused your injury, you will be asked to leave it/photograph it in the exact state when the injury occurred (that means no getting repairs or trying to fix anything yourself). If you were involved in a slip and fall, you may be asked to preserve your shoes by isolating them and preventing further use.

Your attorney will ask you for other details such as witnesses to the incident, your personal contact details, etc.

You will be briefed on what to expect next, whether an in-person meeting is required and what sort of things should be brought to the meeting. Sometimes an in-person meeting may not be required at all unless specifically desired by the client. You will be given a chance to ask any questions or make any comments regarding anything that has been discussed.

It is important that all of your questions and concerns are addressed during your initial phone conversation. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. If you are unsure about what happens next, what the fee arrangement is, or anything at all for that matter, be sure to ask.

Serving All Cities in Southern California

Some injured people feel as though they can only hire an attorney near their home or office. Your criteria for hiring an accident lawyer should be based on the qualifications and experience of an attorney rather than the proximity of the attorney’s office to your home. Our Los Angeles personal injury attorneys can work with you no matter where you live. Even though our offices are located in Downtown Los Angeles, we will work with you as long as you reside in the state of California.

From CA-110 southbound take exit towards 6th St/Wilshire Blvd. Continue on 6th St, turn right on S Grand Ave., arrive at 801 S Grand.From CA 110 northbound take the 6th St/9th St exit toward Downtown/ Convention Center/ Figueroa St. Merge onto W 9th St and follow until turning left on S Olive St. Turn left on W 8th St, then left again on S Grand Ave.

Our offices are located 9 minutes from Dodger Stadium, 3 minutes from Staples Center, 3 minutes from LA Live, 5 minutes from Los Angeles City Hall, 3 minutes from Walt Disney Concert Hall, 7 minutes from Union Station, 25 minutes from San Fernando Valley and 20 minutes from San Gabriel Valley.

From Union Station take either Metro Red or Purple line. Go past Civic Center and Pershing Square; get off at 7th Street/Metro Center. Head south on Flower St, or Hope St (depending on which side you come out). Turn left on 8th St.

Parking

We offer free parking to our clients. Park in the structure at 801 South Grand Avenue and ask us to validate your parking.

Some of the Cities We Service:

Other Los Angeles Practice Areas

Personal Injury | Auto Accidents | Bicycle Accidents | Pedestrian Accidents | Wrongful Death | Motorcycle Accidents | Truck Accidents | Bus Accidents | Defective Products | Dog Bites | Slip & Fall Accident | Boat Accidents | Bone Fractures | Brain Injuries | Burn Injuries | Construction Accidents | Crane Accidents | Defective Drugs | Distracted Driving Accidents | Drunk Driving Accidents | Electrical Shock Accidents | Elevator Accidents | FedEx Truck Accidents | Gas Station Slip & Fall Accidents | Longboarding Accidents | Premisis Liability Accidents | School Bus Accidents | Spinal Cord Injuries | Swimming Pool Accidents | Train Accidents |