California Personal Injury Attorneys

Serving Huntington Beach Since 1981

Have you been injured in an accident that someone else caused? Have your injuries cost you money and suffering? If you can answer yes to these questions, then you may be able to seek financial compensation from the person who caused the accident, or their insurance company, to address your unnecessary and life-altering pain. There are many different situations that you could be injured in that will qualify for a settlement that goes above what you will be offered by the responsible party's insurance company will try to settle for, but it is important that you navigate this process with the help of an experienced, reliable personal injury attorney in Huntington Beach.

Have you been injured in an accident that someone else caused? Have your injuries cost you money and suffering? If you can answer yes to these questions, then you may be able to seek financial compensation from the person who caused the accident, or their insurance company, to address your unnecessary and life-altering pain. There are many different situations that you could be injured in that will qualify for a settlement that goes above what you will be offered by the responsible party's insurance company will try to settle for, but it is important that you navigate this process with the help of an experienced, reliable personal injury attorney in Huntington Beach.

When you are working with an insurance company, one of the most important things for you to remember is that the insurance agent you are working with is NOT working on your behalf: they are a representative of a company whose main goal is to spend as little money as possible while protecting their client and themselves from any future legal issues. This means that when they offer you a settlement agreement, this is the absolute minimum that you deserve, and will come at the cost of signing away your ability to pursue any future legal action. Never accept an initial offer from an insurance company; instead, contact an experienced attorney who can help you navigate this process and ensure that you are being treated fairly.

Read more below about a variety of situations you might be entitled to seek additional damages for, how a personal injury attorney can help, and what type of damages we may be able to include in our negotiations or lawsuit. Call now for a free case evaluation and to learn more about your rights and options for your specific situation.

Personal Injury Laws

Personal injury law focuses on the physical, emotional, psychological, intimate, and financial effects of injuries incurred as the result of another human being's actions or faulty equipment. This legal field of practice is separate from those that include damage to property and valuables. As such, personal injury law allows the person who has been harmed to pursue legal action against and compensation from the party or parties that hurt them.

This legal definition is a bit of a mouthful, but it is pretty clear when broken down into its simplest form. In short, personal injury law allows injured parties to advocate for themselves, even if they require a proxy to do so. This field of practice enables victims to recoup at least a modicum of the quality of life they had prior to being injured. It is important to note that while standing before a judge in such a case does not guarantee receipt of financial reparations, the law does at the very least, allow for this possibility.

How Can a Personal Injury Lawyer Help Me?

There are many different things that a personal injury lawyer can do for you, starting with helping you understand whether or not you actually have a case. At Timothy J. Ryan & Associates, you can be confident that we are working on your case because we believe in it. We will not collect a fee if you do not win.

Once we have determined that your case is worth pursuing, we will begin negotiating directly with the insurance company or party who is financially responsible for your injuries. It is in everyone's best interest to avoid a full lawsuit, and so we will attempt to reach an agreement that fairly compensates you for all aspects of your injury without needing to take it to California courts. If negotiations fail, we will then move to our next step, which is to file a lawsuit to seek the damages we believe you are entitled to.

During a lawsuit case, there will be a lot of paperwork and procedures that must be followed in order to ensure that your chances of winning are as high as possible. Even if you believe that your case is cut and dry, it is extremely important that you are represented by an experienced personal injury lawyer. The defense will work extremely hard to find any legal avenues to reduce the amount of damages they must pay, and our experience will be a great benefit to you and your ability to counter their arguments with your own to ensure that you get what you deserve. Read more about the various damages we will consider during your case.

What Types of Damages Are Included In a Personal Injury Lawsuit?

There are a variety of damages that the courts will consider while we are working through your case, and are divided into categories of compensatory and punitive damages. Since all injuries are different, your situation may not exactly resemble the following examples, but you can be confident that we will make sure that every detail is considered while we are calculating the full amount of the damages we are seeking for you.

Compensatory Damages

Compensatory damages are intended to do exactly what you would expect: compensate the victim for the losses they have suffered after their injuries. There are two different types of compensatory damages which seek money for different types of losses:

Economic Damages

Economic damages are intended to compensate victims for losses that have actual dollar amounts attached to them. For example, medical bills or lost wages have true, calculable losses associated with them, and therefore will simply be submitted to the court as proof of the losses. In addition to medical bills and lost wages, we will include any other associated expenses including child care or other assistance that you require because of your inability to take care of yourself, recovery costs, and any possible future expenses. If you have used any paid time off (PTO) that you have accrued at work, we will also seek repayment for these hours as well.

Again, we understand that every injury is different, and everyone has a unique situation, so we will work directly with you to account for every expense associated with your injuries, and seek repayment for them - there is no reason that you should be financially liable for expenses associated with an accident that someone else caused.

Noneconomic Damages

Noneconomic damages are a bit more complicated than economic damages and can require some complex calculations and an extensive understanding of the California legal system. Noneconomic damages are intended to compensate victims for losses that do not have actual costs associated with them. This could include things like pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment, depression, fear, anxiety, and a diminished quality of life. While there is no way that we could simply submit invoices to the courts that prove the costs of these issues, they are no less important.

We will work to determine a “multiplier” that we believe provides the judge and jury an accurate indication of the severity of these noneconomic damages, which is a lot more representative than trying to come up with a dollar value for your pain. Once we agree on a fair multiplier, we will apply that number to your economic damages, and seek those in addition to the economic damages in your case. For example: if you have suffered from $100,000 in economic damages, and we determine your noneconomic multiplier to be 3x, then we will seek $300,000 in noneconomic damages in addition to your $100,000 of economic damages. In cases of medical malpractice, California has a $250,000 damage cap for noneconomic damages.

Punitive Damages

Punitive damages are granted to victims in very rare cases where the injuries were the result of extremely egregious actions on behalf of the defendant, or if the responsible party has significant financial holdings and a large award will act to properly punish them for their behavior. These types of damages could be included in drunk driving injuries, or if you have suffered an injury that a major corporation or company caused because of extreme negligence or possibly even malice.

We will not be able to seek punitive damages as part of your lawsuit — a jury awards punitive damages on their own accord, in extreme situations where it is found to be fitting.

What Types of Situations Warrant a Personal Injury Lawsuit?

There are a lot of different accidents that could result in a personal injury lawsuit. The most important thing that we will work to prove is that the situation resulted because of someone else's actions (or inactions), that the accident caused your injuries, and that your injuries caused you losses. Some examples of common accidents that lead to personal injury lawsuits are as follows:

• Slip and fall injuries
• Car accidents
• Drunk driving accidents
• Pedestrians struck by motor vehicles
• Motorcycle accidents
• Medical malpractice
• Defective products

There are many other situations that can warrant a personal injury lawsuit, but the ones mentioned above are common in California. We understand that no two accidents are alike, that no two injuries are the same, and that no two personal injury lawsuit cases are identical. We will work with you to build a case that represents your situation and seeks the compensation that you deserve for your specific experiences and suffering.

Some Statistics about California Personal Injury

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and their National Center for Health Statistics, there were a total of 43.5 million emergency department visits for injuries in 2016. Of course, not all of these visits qualified for personal injury cases, but these numbers are significant.

The CDC also reported a total of 169,936 deaths due to unintentional injury, defined as “those with an underlying cause of death classified by International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision (ICD-10) external cause of injury codes as V01–X59 or Y85–Y86. Deaths were categorized by mechanism as drowning, fall, fire/burn, motor vehicle traffic-related, other transportation-related, poisoning, suffocation, and all others, using the external cause-of-injury mortality matrix.”

In 2017, there were a total of 38,659 motor vehicle deaths in the US, which breaks down to 11.9 deaths per 100,000 people. In many of these cases, it would be extremely important to identify who was at fault, so that the surviving family members can seek financial compensation if it is determined that another driver caused the accident.

Frequently Asked Questions From Our Huntington Beach Injury Clients

The following are some of the common questions we answer during initial consultations. Recognize that your specific situation will have different answers, but the following are intended to give you a general idea of what you expect.

Do I Need An Attorney?

Although hiring an attorney is not required, if you have serious injuries, it is a very good idea. Insurance companies are armed with teams of lawyers whose goal it is to keep your money in house. You need someone who is just as educated as they are to argue on your behalf.

What Constitutes “Negligence” in an Accident?

A Person or business has what is called a “duty of care” in a certain situation. A “Duty of care” is defined as the legal obligation not to injure others. For example, when one gets a driver's license, they have a duty of care to obey the rules of the road.

Will My Case Have To Go To Court?

With the exception of a wrongful death claim, your case will probably not go to court. A good personal injury attorney can negotiate with the at-fault party's insurance company to get you an acceptable amount of money before you ever have to file a lawsuit, let alone go through an actual trial.

If you believe that your injuries may entitle you to compensation, or if you are unsure of your options, contact us as soon as possible for a free initial consultation. During your consultation, you will be able to get a better understanding of what your personal injury case will look like, how the team at Timothy J. Ryan & Associates works with clients, how we will represent you, and what different options we anticipate for your own case.

The sooner you begin this process, the sooner you can go back to focusing on your life and moving forward from your injuries. We will work to make sure that the additional stress of your case is reduced so that recovery can be your priority, and you can rest easy with the confidence that an experienced attorney is fighting on your behalf for everything you deserve. We look forward to working with you and helping you get your life back on track after your life-changing injuries.

Do I have a limited time to pursue compensation?

Despite the state's understanding of the trauma victims have suffered, particularly if they are at a point in which their injuries have brought them to court, there is a limit to how long victims have to submit their personal injury claims. According to the California Code of Civil Procedures, Section 335, victims who have sustained any type of personal injury, whether they were harmed intentionally, unintentionally, negligently, carelessly, or in any other manner, have two years from the day they were injured to pursue legal action. Claims that are filed after this two year period have a significant chance of not being heard by the court.

The statute of limitations for minors, as well as cases involving government agencies and employees, is different however. According to the California Government Code, Section 911.2 (a), adults and minors who have personal injury claims against the government or one of their employees, have six months in which to file their claim. During this six month period, they must also complete the state's designated, administrative form, and pay the court a fee for filing their personal injury claim. Minors involved in personal injury cases that are unrelated to both government agencies or their employees, have a much longer statute of limitations. Minors are allowed to file their personal injury claims for two years after they turn 18. Still have questions? Read our personal injury FAQ to find answers you are looking for.

When to Contact Our Huntington Beach Personal Injury Law Firm

Most people on any given day do not plan on getting injured, being careless, engaging with equipment that does not work the way it is supposed to, or causing injury to others. Sometimes, however, life happens around and to us and we get hurt or cause injury when we least expect.

When these personal injuries and accidents occur, most people initially can only relate to the pain and trauma they are experiencing. It is only after they have begun to process what has happened to them that they can even give thought to pursuing compensation, regaining their lives, and everything that comes next.

Attorney Timothy J. Ryan understands the shock and fear you are likely experiencing at this time. Contact our Huntington Beach personal injury attorneys to obtain a free consultation and get the support you need.