Fresno Personal Injury Lawyer

What Is Personal Injury Law?

Personal injury is the area of civil law that allows accident victims to pursue compensation via insurance providers and through legal action against those who have caused them harm. People, businesses, and even municipalities can be held legally liable for the harm that accident victims suffer when specific criteria are met. Our firm has extensive experience representing the interests of clients who have suffered injuries as a result of:

• Bicycle accidents
• Car Accidents
• Truck Accidents
• Construction Accidents
• Work Accidents
• Accidents Resulting in Wrongful Death

It’s important to schedule a consultation with our firm as soon as you can in the wake of an accident. Even if you’re unsure of how you want to proceed, speaking with our personal injury legal team will allow you to make an informed decision about your options. Too often, accident victims don’t seek legal counsel after they’ve been hurt and they end up wondering, “What if?” for years on end.

After evaluating the unique circumstances surrounding your accident, our team will provide you with our honest assessment of your case and your options. If the potential benefits of negotiating with insurance providers and/or filing legal action outweigh the potential drawbacks of a specific option, you’ll be able to move forward with confidence. If you allow our firm to handle your case moving forward, we’ll navigate all the legal “heavy lifting” so that you can focus on healing and adjusting to your post-accident recovery needs.

Building a Personal Injury Case

Although no two accident cases are exactly alike, there are common standards that must be met in every personal injury case.

Specifically:

• A party owes another party a legal duty of care
• The party that owes a legal duty of care breached that duty
• The breach directly results in the injury of the party to whom the legal duty is owed

This is a complex way of saying that in order to succeed in a personal injury case, you need to prove that the person or other party that harmed you was legally bound to behave in a specific way towards you but failed to do so and you got hurt as a result. For example, it is widely understood that texting-while-driving is a behavior that endangers others. If a driver is texting behind the wheel, they are breaching a legal duty (to operate their vehicle safely) that they owe to others around them. If, while texting, they hit your car and you’re injured as a result, the above-noted basic criteria for a personal injury claim have been met.

Your Case Is Unique

When you schedule a confidential consultation with our legal team, we’ll begin by asking you questions about your accident. If the basic criteria for a personal injury claim have been met, we’ll ask you some more questions that will help us assess your legal options and evaluate the potential strengths and weaknesses of your case. For example, we’ll need to determine how long ago the accident occurred, as you only have so long under California law to file a claim. Similarly, we’ll need to determine whether you may have contributed to the accident at all. If you’re partially to blame, you may still be able to recover financial damages, you may just receive less compensation than you would if you weren’t responsible for the accident whatsoever.

Don’t panic if you’re unsure of who was at fault for your accident, whether you have grounds to file a legal claim, or even if you want to file a legal claim or not. Consultations are confidential and risk-free. Meeting with our firm doesn’t obligate you to take action or to work with us going forward. Receiving a case evaluation simply allows you to understand your options so that you can make an informed decision about the best course of action for you and your family.

Frequently Asked Questions

When preparing for your consultation with our firm, take a little time to write down any questions you may have about your legal situation, entering into an attorney-client relationship, and anything else on your mind. Bring these questions with you so that you can refer to them easily instead of having to rely on your memory. Being involved in an accident can be disorienting and you might not want to lean too heavily on your memory at the moment. As you prepare a list of personalized questions, feel free to look over the following answers to commonly asked questions that our firm receives from clients and prospective clients alike. These answers may help clarify some of your own concerns even before you arrive.

Do I Need to Bring Anything to My Consultation?

In addition to a list of your questions and concerns, please bring along any documents or information you feel might be relevant to your case. Examples of potentially useful information include:

• Pictures of the accident scene
• Names and contact information for any witnesses to the accident and others involved in the accident
• Discharge papers from any emergency medical treatment you received in the wake of the accident
• Names and contact information of any physicians who have treated you for accident-related injuries
• Pictures of your injuries (if applicable)
• A copy of the police report filed at the scene
• If you have already spoken to insurance representatives, bring their names and contact information as well
• Any medical bills or correspondence you’ve received concerning the accident to-date
• If you were injured at work and reported the injury, bring a copy of that accident report
• Receipts for any accident-related expenses you’ve incurred since you were injured

Finally, you’ll want to take a few minutes to jot down or otherwise record your memories of the accident itself. As time passes, your memory will naturally start to blur around the edges. By writing down or taping (either a video or audio recording is fine) your memories of the accident, you’ll have a handy reference available to refresh your memory at any point in the future that you might need it. This accounting can also serve as a valuable reference for us as we build your case. No detail is too insignificant to take note of.

What if I Was Partially At-Fault for the Accident?

It’s important to avoid making any assumptions about fault or responsibility until we’ve had the opportunity to learn about your case, assess the circumstances surrounding your accident, and (if applicable) investigate the matter further. When it comes to personal injury cases, things are not always as they seem. You may think that you’re totally or partially to blame, but that doesn’t mean that other parties involved weren’t “more” to blame or that your perceived responsibility for the accident’s occurrence meets a legal standard of liability.

Say that you were hit by a car while walking across the street. You feel that you’re to blame because you were jaywalking at the time. However, upon investigation and clarification, it is revealed that although you weren’t in a crosswalk, you weren’t jaywalking illegally based on a legal exception to pedestrian foot traffic laws in Fresno and the driver who hit you was both drunk and texting at the time of the crash. By assuming that you’re at-fault for the harm you’ve suffered, you could compromise your ability to collect the full amount of compensation you’re owed. Allow us to assess your case first before you draw any conclusions about fault and liability. Even if you’re partially to blame, you still may be entitled to recover financial damages from others involved in your accident.

Is Pursuing Legal Action “Worth” the Stress of Filing a Claim?

Understandably, many accident victims shy away from exploring their legal options in the wake of an accident because they are focused on recovering from their injuries, adjusting to post-accident routines, getting back to work, etc. The aftermath of an injurious accident can be (to put it mildly) disorienting. The thought of wading waist-deep into exploring your legal options can feel like a stressful process best avoided. However, it’s critical to avoid long-term stress even if it means assuming a minimal amount of short-term stress.

Once we learn about your situation, we’ll give you the information you need to make an informed decision about taking legal action.

If you choose to take legal action, we’ll do the hard, potentially stressful work of negotiating with insurance providers, filing legal documents, etc. You’ll be able to rest easier at night knowing that we’re working hard to get you the compensation you deserve while you focus on recovering from your injuries or mourning the loss of a loved one. If you don’t explore your legal options now, you could be saddled with medical costs, physical rehabilitation costs, lost wages, etc. well into the future. Depending on the extent of your injuries, these costs can add up significantly over time. Don’t let your future self and your family suffer needlessly because you’re anxious about exploring your options now. If you choose to file legal action, we’ll handle the stresses associated with the legal process so that you don’t have to weather it now or down the road.

How Long Do I Have to File a Lawsuit?

The legal restrictions put into place – usually at the state level for personal injury cases – that limit the timeframe during which you can file a legal claim in the wake of an accident are called statutes of limitations. In California, barring some extraordinary circumstances related to when the injuries you or your family suffered were “discovered,” you have two years from the date you suffered an injury to file a legal claim against those responsible for that harm. A notable exception exists for claims associated with injuries caused by professional malpractice, which are usually limited to a one-year window of time.

With that said, you’ll want to connect with our legal team as quickly as you can in the wake of an accident. The sooner we’re alerted to your situation, the sooner we can advise you of your options, gather evidence, protect your rights, and begin building a strong case on your behalf.

Do I Need to Work with a Lawyer to File a Claim Successfully?

There are specific legal actions you can take successfully without an attorney. You can legally change your name, for example, or create a simple will online. However, navigating the complexities of personal injury law is not a task you’ll want to undertake without professional guidance. Even negotiating with an insurance provider on your own can leave you with a settlement amount that is far, far less than you’re entitled to.

Especially if the injuries you’ve suffered are significant, you should schedule a confidential case evaluation as soon as you can. If you decide not to pursue legal action or you choose to forge ahead on your own, that is certainly your right. However, scheduling a consultation with our experienced legal team will allow you to benefit from personalized, professional guidance designed to help you make an informed decision about your options in a no-risk setting. You have nothing to lose and potentially much to gain by requesting a case evaluation from our firm.

How to Find a Personal Injury Lawyer Near Me

It is always best to not just look for a personal injury lawyer but, look for a good personal injury lawyer. Using websites like Avvo, FindLaw, Justia, or the State Bar are always good places to start. However, Google My Business is also incredibly useful because of the real reviews left by real clients. Google has been incredibly vigilant in making sure that businesses on their platform stay in compliance with their terms of service. In doing so, a searcher can almost wholly trust the reviews left there.

Please contact us today for a free consultation.