If you live in or around the Los Angeles area, you know that finding a personal attorney’s office is not difficult.Drive down any boulevard or through any neighborhood and you will most likely see at least one personal injury law firm office sign, or one billboard advertising offering their services.
Why Are There So Many Personal Injury Attorneys in Los Angeles?
The truth is, there are plenty of personal injury attorneys in the city of Los Angeles because there are plenty of people in the city of Los Angeles!
Los Angeles has almost 4 million inhabitants, making it the biggest city in California and the second biggest city in the United States.
And that’s only counting the actual residents, and not the droves of tourists who come to visit every year.
That said, just like with any profession, not all personal injury lawyers are created equal, and knowing what you should be looking for when hiring one is going to be crucial to your situation when and if you ever find yourself in the position of needing a reputable and experienced personal injury attorney for your personal injury case.
What Is the Purpose of a Personal Injury Lawyer?
Personal injury law is a specific field of law that works with individuals who have been wronged by another person in a way that was not their fault.
“Wronged” can mean a variety of different things, but typically it means that the person who is filing the personal injury lawsuit has been injured because of the other person’s careless nature or their negligence in doing what was necessary to prevent an injury to another person from happening.
Personal injury law should not be confused with property claim law, which involves helping a person gain compensation for damages done to their residence or another type of property.
Remember – personal injury law is all about seeking justice and compensation for a personal injury that has been done to you, an individual.
That’s why hiring personal injury attorneys for these types of cases is necessary.
Wrongful Death and Personal Injury Claims
If you or a loved one have been in a tragic situation where a death has occurred because of someone’s wrongful doing or negligence, this is considered a wrongful death case.
Wrongful death cases happen more than we would like to think.
Last year in Los Angeles alone, thousands of wrongful death cases were filed. In fact, more than 3,000 wrongful death cases were filed just in situations where medical malpractice occurred.
Filing a wrongful death case can be incredibly traumatic and overwhelming for the loved ones of a family member whose life has been cut short because of someone else’s mistake.
Anyone who ever finds themselves in this situation will need to make sure to hire a personal injury lawyer who has worked closely with family members in wrongful death cases before and is well-skilled in the steps that will need to be taken to help them secure the compensation they need and deserve.
What Are Some Examples of Non-Death Personal Injury Claims?
Unfortunately, any injury can end in the death of a victim, though – thankfully – many aren’t that severe.
That said, personal injury cases oftentimes do result in severe injuries being sustained by a victim and it’s important that those individuals know their rights and seek the appropriate help when needed.
An injury sustained from an accident can have life-altering consequences and affect a person’s health, family life, and livelihood for years to come.
Though many various instances could cause a person to experience harm and could also be grounds for a personal injury case, here are a few of the most common ones:
Medical Malpractice
As mentioned above, a medical malpractice lawsuit may be filed when you or a loved one has reasons to believe that a medical professional did not practice medicine in a way that was appropriate, and it resulted in injury/physical harm to the person seeking the medical care.
That said, there are other forms of medical malpractice, like a physician not following up on care, a patient being released from the hospital before they should have been, or a surgical procedure being performed in a careless manner that went against medical protocols.
Car Accidents
Every year, more than 54,000 motor vehicle accidents in Los Angeles every year, which equates to a total of approximately 150 crashes a day.
The most common reason for a motor vehicle accident has traditionally been not obeying traffic laws – particularly speeding – but the use of personal mobile devices is climbing quickly as one of the main reasons why car accident takes place and injures others.
Other common reasons for motor vehicle accidents tend to be things like a driver being intoxicated or under the influence of certain drugs, a driver falling asleep at the wheel, or a driver engaging in other distracting behaviors, such as eating, putting on makeup, or manipulating vehicle dials that keep them from fully concentrating on the road and road conditions in front of them.
Workplace Injury Claim
Being injured on the job shouldn’t happen, right?
Our places of employment are supposed to keep us safe and out of harm’s way.
But sometimes this simply isn’t the case.
Most industries have strict guidelines and protocols that are supposed to be followed by the company responsible for their employee’s health and safety.
Not only are ongoing safety checks supposed to be done, but employees should always be alerted to any dangerous situations that may arise and be allowed to make a personal decision as to whether or not they feel as if their safety or health is potentially at risk.
When these guidelines have lapsed, or are being ignored completely, an accident is much more likely to happen, and an accident lawyer needs to be consulted.
Slip and Fall Accidents
If you are spending time in someone’s private home and an accident happens, you’ll want to take stock of the situation and what happened.
It’s important that we all maintain our residence in a way that is safe for our family and our guests. Ensuring that there are no obvious structural issues or conditions that could jeopardize another person’s health is our responsibility as a homeowner or renter of a property.
If you are injured on another person’s personal property, the first thing you’ll want to do is seek medical attention for any injuries you may have sustained.
You’ll also want to get any information you can from the homeowner regarding the situation, the condition of their property, and any details they can give you about their homeowner’s insurance company.
This may feel like a lot of information to have to remember to collect, particularly if you are injured and are seeking medical attention during this time.
A skilled personal injury attorney can help you navigate through this process and make sure that no important steps are left out.
What is the California Law Surrounding the Statute of Limitations?
Regardless of what state you live in, the Statutes of Limitations is, by definition, a law that outlines that a legal action must be taken before a specific time period is up.
In most states across America, the Statutes of Limitations tend to be between two and four years, and it must be against private companies or individuals.
California law states that the Statute of Limitations is set at two years.
This means that you will have two years from the time your personal injury accident happened until a personal injury claim must be filed.
If you do not do it in this period of time, your personal injury case will be barred, regardless of the circumstances surrounding it.
(If the entity against which you are filing the personal injury claim is a government organization, personal injury cases must be filed within six months of the incident.)
Some people feel like two years is a very long time and they may wait and delay filing a personal injury claim.
This is often particularly true if the personal injury incident left you or a loved one hurt and requiring medical care.
Maybe trying to consult with and hire a personal injury attorney at this moment just doesn’t sound like something you want to tackle.
Perhaps you are waiting to hear back from an insurance company as to what they are going to be willing to cover and what they are going to try and deny.
Many people think that they have to wait to make sure the insurance company isn’t going to go ahead and give them the maximum compensation before they can file a lawsuit.
Or maybe you are waiting to see if you have a serious injury that actually is going to warrant filing a claim in the first place, or if you are going to have additional medical bills to file or unpaid medical bills that you want to be compensated for.
You also need to think about the fact that there may be a certain personal injury law firm you are interested in working with, but – if you wait too long – they may be too busy to take your case.
Good personal injury attorneys will want to give your personal injury suit the fair amount of time it deserves, and they won’t want to take on a case if they don’t feel like they can do that.
Finally, one other thing to understand about the California Law Statute of Limitations is this:
After an accident has happened to you or someone you love, it can take months or even years to diagnose any and all injuries you sustained in a thorough manner.
You may need additional medical treatment in order to have this happen.
For these instances, California has what is called a discovery rule.
A discovery rule means that you can have more time to file a legal claim if your injuries ended up being more significant than originally thought and if you discover them sometime after the accident that this is the case.
So…if you are thinking about waiting to file a personal injury claim until you have a better idea of how severe your injuries are, it may be best not to wait.
Doing so may lead to you missing out on securing the best personal injury attorney for your case or missing out on the much-needed financial compensation you and your family deserve.
When you have a situation that may call for a personal injury lawyer in Los Angeles, don’t wait to make that first phone call.
Even if life is overwhelming right now, a good personal injury lawyer will walk with you and give you the support you need to pull together all the information that your case is going to require.
Legal representation from an experienced personal injury lawyer should not add stress to your life. In fact, it should help remove it!
Finding the Right Personal Injury Lawyer for You in Los Angeles
Now that you know a bit more about what defines personal injury law and how to determine if you may have a personal injury case on your hands, it’s time for you to research some personal injury lawyers in Los Angeles, CA, and determine which law firm is going to be best for you.
First, Set Up a Free Consultation
Most personal injury law firms are going to offer you an initial free consultation with their firm before you decide whether or not you want them to handle your case.
When you make the first phone call, the assistant that you speak with should ask you some specific questions to get an idea of which attorney or legal team in their law firm is going to be the best fit for you.
You should also have a chance to ask some questions as well. Perhaps you want to know their hours of operation, or if they see clients on weekends.
You may still be recovering from injuries and would like to know if the personal injury lawyers would be willing to come to you.
And, you may want a bit of background information on what types of cases this attorney has tried before, what his or her education may be, and how many cases he or she is currently working on.
All of this information should be available to you during that first call.
Don’t hesitate to speak up for yourself and get your questions answered.
Meet for the Free Consultation at Your Convenience
Once you’ve scheduled your free consultation, you will have a chance to now meet face to face with the attorney or legal team that will potentially be handling your personal injury case.
They should ask more in-depth questions about your case, your injuries, your family and personal life, and what you are hoping to achieve when this is all finalized.
They should also be able to give you a realistic picture of what you can expect, based on their own knowledge of cases they have handled that are similar to yours.
Interested in Talking Today? Give the Law Firm of John J. Perlstein a Call!
At the Los Angeles personal injury law firm of John J. Perlstein, we’ve been handling personal injury cases for over 25 years and know what needs to be done to get you the justice and compensation you deserve.
Our Los Angeles location is convenient for anyone located in Orange County or Southern California and we can even come to you.
Personal injuries are one of the most devastating incidences that a person may ever have to face, and you should not have to do it alone.
If you are ready to talk with an experienced and knowledgeable Los Angeles personal injury lawyer, we are waiting to hear from you.
John J. Perlstein
Top rated personal injury attorney in Beverly Hills, California