La Mirada Personal Injury Lawyer

La Mirada Personal Injury Attorney

Personal injury refers to incidents that lead an individual to suffer some form of serious physical injury or economic loss as the result of another party’s actions. Recovering from these injuries often requires the work of a La Mirada personal injury lawyer who can work on the client’s behalf to file a civil claim that can help the injured party recoup lost medical bills and other damages.

Experienced legal counsel can guide you through the litigation process while investigating the facts of your case.

La Mirada Personal Injury Statistics

The city of La Mirada is one of the top 50 safest cities in California. In 2022, there were 936 serious crimes (including assault) reported in La Mirada. The rate of assaults in La Mirada is 98 per 100,000. This is around one-third of the rate for the state. The state-wide average rate is 332 violent attacks per 100,000. Victims of assault may have grounds to sue their assailant in civil court. La Mirada’s murder rate of 2.2 per 100,000 is also well below California’s rate of 5.7 per 100,000.

Falls and pedestrian-related collisions can lead to injuries that require the services of a personal injury attorney. In 2019, 19 pedestrians were struck by a vehicle in La Mirada. Falls are the largest cause of injury among older adults in Los Angeles County. For every hospitalization caused by a motor vehicle in the county, there are three hospitalizations that resulted from a fall. In 2022, falls accounted for 57% of unintentional injuries in California.

Average Personal Injury Settlement Amounts in La Mirada

The average settlement amount differs depending on the type of injury the client incurred. Serious bodily injuries or wrongful death lawsuits can lead to much higher damages being awarded. Traumatic brain injury, for example, can lead to long-term disability and lost productivity.

When calculating your financial loss due to traumatic brain injury, your personal injury lawyer may combine medical bills, lost wages, future lost wages, and even pain and suffering when seeking a settlement or jury decision. Those figures could easily reach several thousand dollars or higher.

Motor vehicle accidents, including collisions with commercial vehicles, can also result in broken bones and other forms of serious bodily injury that require extensive hospitalization. Those types of injuries can lead to large settlements in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

What Does a Personal Injury Lawyer Have to Prove in Court?

Negligence plays a critical role in personal injury cases. The term refers to a party’s failure to take steps to provide reasonable care in a given situation. When that failure results in a person’s injury, the victim may have grounds for filing a lawsuit seeking monetary damages.

A personal injury attorney must prove that four points are met when filing a personal injury lawsuit. The first is that the defendant had some sort of obligation to provide a duty of care. Drivers, for example, have a duty to drive safely and focus on the road when driving. Similarly, any healthcare provider is expected to take reasonable steps to prevent harm to their patients.

A personal injury attorney, having demonstrated the first point, must then provide evidence that the defendant somehow failed in their duty of care. This could be because they did not act as a reasonable person would have in the same situation.

A truck driver or trucking company that knowingly failed to replace tires and brake pads as required by law is one example. The breach of trust must cause some form of measurable loss to the plaintiff. This could be physical or emotional harm. The initial complaint should contain descriptions of this harm.

The fourth point must show that the damage led to suffering. Hospitalization could be used as evidence of suffering or therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Examples of Personal Injury Cases

There is a wide range of potential personal injury cases that you can file with the help of an experienced personal injury lawyer, but some of the more common reasons for filing a lawsuit are injuries resulting from car accidents, traumatic brain injury, falls, and medical malpractice.

Car Accidents

When a negligent driver causes serious bodily harm to one or more passengers, that driver can be held financially liable for their actions. Commercial vehicle drivers are held to high standards when it comes to driving practices. The companies responsible for those drivers sometimes fail to train the driver properly or maintain accurate maintenance records.

If the company fails to take necessary steps to protect the general public, those companies can be sued. Tractor-trailer insurance providers often have strong legal representation, which is why hiring an experienced La Mirada personal injury law firm is so important.

Traumatic Brain Injury

Traumatic brain injury results from a powerful blow to the head. While this type of accident is commonly associated with professional athletes and soldiers, a traumatic brain injury can result from everyday accidents like a fall due to an improperly marked area.

Traumatic brain injuries can cause serious physical damage or even death. The symptoms of a traumatic brain injury can take days or even weeks to manifest, and secondary injuries like bruising resulting from internal bleeding can add further medical complications.

Falls

Older adults are more prone to falls, but those causes of injury can happen to anyone. Falls can lead to broken bones, concussions, and serious head injuries that require hospitalization. When slips and falls result from negligence on the part of one or more parties, the property owner can be held liable for any injuries they caused.

While fall injury cases are fairly common, they require an experienced personal injury lawyer who can investigate the circumstances of the fall to prove that the plaintiff deserves compensation for their injuries.

Medical Malpractice

We place great trust in healthcare providers, but nurses and doctors can make grave errors that lead to the injury or even death of their patients. Proving wrongdoing requires evidence of grave negligence or even misconduct. For any given surgery or procedure, there are standard steps that doctors and nurses must follow, such as sanitizing and testing equipment. When healthcare providers fail to take steps that they normally would, that could show negligence.

Your personal injury attorney will investigate medical forms related to your case, such as your patient records, that could show a pattern of neglect. Due to the severity of injuries that result from medical malpractice, monetary damages for this form of personal injury case often range in the hundreds of thousands of dollars or higher.

FAQs

Q: What Percentage Do Most Personal Injury Lawyers Take in California?

A: The percentage of contingency fees for any case ranges from 25% to 50%, although the exact figure is up to the plaintiff and their attorney. One benefit of working with an attorney on contingency is that the plaintiff can forgo the up-front cost of hiring an attorney, which can be very expensive.

In return for forgoing that upfront cost, the lawyer is guaranteed a set percentage of any monetary damage awarded. This type of arrangement is often very favorable to both plaintiff and legal counsel.

Q: How Do I File a Personal Injury Lawsuit in California?

A: You file a personal injury lawsuit by filing certain government forms in the same area (jurisdiction) where the defendant does business. The state of California has deadlines for when a plaintiff can file a lawsuit claiming personal injury.

Filing a lawsuit on your own is technically possible but ill-advised due to the complexities of the law and statutes governing how and when such legal action should be taken. This is usually done through their county courthouse. The initial document is commonly known as a complaint.

Q: How Much Can You Sue for Personal Injury in California?

A: You can sue for personal injury in California based on the extent of your injury, medical costs incurred, missed work due to the injury, pain and suffering. and other factors. Your personal injury lawyer will consider the facts of your case when determining what damages you may be owed. Pain and suffering damages and other punitive damages may be awarded if the evidence shows extreme negligence or misconduct on the part of the defendant.

Personal injury clients in California have won hundreds of thousands of dollars and even millions through settlements and jury awards.

Q: Is Emotional Distress Considered Personal Injury in California?

A: Emotional distress is considered a type of personal injury in California. An experienced attorney can quantify the value of your emotional distress that resulted from an injury. Ultimately, a jury may decide the monetary value of your emotional anguish, which can include the past and future cost of therapy and medication.

Schedule Your Personal Injury Consultation Today

Injuries resulting from the negligence of another party can lead to lost quality of life and professional hardships. If you are looking for a personal injury lawyer in La Mirada or the surrounding areas, we can help you recover by helping you secure monetary damages that can help you repay medical bills and other expenses related to your injury.

Don’t risk the outcomes of your case to an inexperienced firm. Contact Duque & Price today to schedule your consultation. We have helped many clients reclaim what is rightfully theirs through strategic litigation and thorough investigations.