A car accident can turn your life upside-down. After the accident, you might find yourself unable to work and unable to do the things that you used to enjoy most. You can find yourself with a mountain of bills and no way to pay them.
Many of us count on our car insurance to protect us in the event of an accident. However, sometimes insurance is not enough or does not pay what you think it should. In these cases, a California car accident lawyer can help you get the compensation you deserve from all the people responsible for the accident or with a duty to you. This might include your insurance company, the other drivers (or their insurance companies), governments responsible for poor road conditions, and even car manufacturers.
At Fisher & Talwar, we are experienced car accident lawyers who will look at the circumstances of your case and pursue the full compensation you are due. If you need help, we offer a free consultation. It’s confidential and there’s no obligation. We also work on contingency: we don’t get paid unless we win money for you. Please contact us today to learn how we can help you.
When to Contact a Car Accident Lawyer
A lawyer isn’t essential for every car accident. However, there are many situations in which an expert lawyer will be very helpful in your case. You should contact an auto accident attorney if:
- You have been told that you will have ongoing medical bills
- There was more than one other driver involved in the accident
- Your insurance company is saying it might not honor your claim
- Another driver is denying responsibility for the accident
- A driver is saying you are responsible for the accident
- A commercial truck was involved in the accident
- Your insurance coverage or offer isn’t enough for the bills you have
In these situations, a car accident lawyer can make all the difference. You can get more compensation and won’t have to pay a fee unless the lawyer wins money for you.
Why Choose Fisher & Talwar
Fisher & Talwar is a law firm with extensive experience helping people get better compensation after their car accidents. Here are some reasons why you should consider us over other personal injury lawyers:
- Personal attention: We don’t take more cases than we can personally handle. When we take your case, you can trust that one of our partners will handle the case themselves, not hand you off to a junior lawyer or paralegal.
- A track record of success: Our experienced partners have won many cases for our clients. In some cases, we have gotten $6 million for a client. Check our results for yourself, and you will see how we have helped our clients.
- We don’t pass expenses on to you: As with most personal injury lawyers, we work on a contingency basis. We don’t get paid unless we win money for you. However, unlike many, we don’t make you pay for our expenses. With some lawyers, you will have to pay expenses even if they don’t win your case. With us, you will never have to pay our expenses.
Still not sure? Our consultations are free, confidential, and non-obligatory. Contact us today to ask any legal questions you might have and learn how we can help you.
Free ConsultationWhat Compensation Can You Get After a Car Accident?
After your car accident, the goal of a lawsuit is to erase any and all costs you incurred as a result of someone else’s negligence or deliberate misconduct. This means that you can get compensation for any costs you incurred as a result of the accident, including:
- Damage to your car and other property
- Medical bills
- Psychological therapy
- Rehabilitation expenses
- Lost wages
- Ongoing diminished earning ability
- Costs related to ongoing disability (such as hiring help around the house or installing wheelchair ramps)
- Disfigurement
- Pain and suffering
- Emotional distress
- Diminished quality of life
- Wrongful death
One of the important contributions that a car accident lawyer can make is to help you understand all the dimensions of your loss and how your costs may increase for the rest of your life. This will help you get as close as possible to erasing the impact of the car accident on your life. Your lawyer will then help you seek compensation from all liable parties.
How Is Negligence Proved in a Car Accident?
Under California law, you can only force compensation from parties who are considered liable for your losses. There are several ways in which liability can be proved, but most of the time in car accidents, liability depends on negligence. Negligence is when someone fails to properly do everything necessary to reasonably ensure the safety of someone else when they have a responsibility to do so. The negligence standard typically breaks down into four pieces:
- Duty: This means that a person has a responsibility to consider their safety and act reasonably to safeguard it. When a person is driving a car or other vehicle, the law states that they have a duty toward every other driver, pedestrian, individual, or property they encounter.
- Breach: This is when someone fails to take an action or takes an action in a way that puts other people at risk. This might be something like speeding or using their cell phone while driving.
- Causation: You can’t get compensation for injuries and conditions that weren’t caused by the accident. Often, insurance companies will try to prove that an accident didn’t cause your injuries.
- Damages: These are the harms that you are seeking compensation for. These might be economic damages (such as medical bills or property damage), non-economic damages (like emotional distress and ongoing trauma), or punitive damages. Punitive damages are used to punish gross misconduct by a company or individual to discourage others from similar actions in the future.
To get compensation in court, your car accident lawyer will have to prove all four elements. If the other drivers, their insurance companies, or their insurance companies’ lawyers don’t think that you can prove all four elements in court, they will offer a smaller settlement–or none at all. This is why you want to work with an experienced car accident lawyer who has a track record of success that convinces other parties that they would be better off making a generous settlement offer up front and saving everyone unnecessary time and expense.
Who Is Liable in a Car Accident?
Liability in a car accident is determined by all the people who contributed to your car accident or made it worse in ways that increased your damages. Most of the time, the liable parties in a car accident are other drivers involved in the accident. However, in some cases, other parties might be liable, including:
- The manufacturer of your car or another driver’s car (if a defect contributed to the accident)
- The car owner (if different from the driver)
- The driver’s employer (if they were driving for work)
- Government(s) responsible for the road (if bad road conditions contributed to the accident)
- A bar owner or operator (if the driver drank to excess at their establishment)
A skilled car accident lawyer will look at all the factors involved in your accident to help you get all the compensation you are owed. This not only makes sure that all parties pay for their contribution to your injuries–it also helps ensure you get the money you are due, even when the other drivers in your accident aren’t fully insured or otherwise able to pay.
Comparative Liability in California
California follows what is often described as pure comparative liability. This means that you can get compensation from people who are even just a little responsible for your accident. However, each liable person or entity only has to pay the amount that they’re responsible for.
Consider, for example, a situation where both you and another driver made mistakes leading to an accident. The other driver was unharmed, but you suffered serious injuries and have extensive medical bills. You might sue the other driver, and if the court decided that each of you was 50% responsible for the accident, the other driver would have to pay 50% of your medical and other expenses. In situations where they have injuries, too, you would each be expected to help pay the others’ costs.
Because of the way comparative liability works in California, it’s worth it to consider seeking compensation even when you are partly to blame for your accident.
Examples of Recent Clients We Helped
Accident at an Intersection:
A case involved a two-car accident that occurred at the intersection of Vermont Avenue and Artesia Boulevard in the City of Gardena. Plaintiff was a passenger in a vehicle driven by Defendant “X”. As Defendant “X’s” vehicle went through the intersection of Vermont Avenue and Artesia Boulevard, it collided with another vehicle that was driven by Defendant “Y”. Plaintiff successfully claimed that Defendant “Y” ran the red light facing her direction of traffic and the Defendant “X” was inattentive and failed to take reasonable steps to avoid the accident.
Car Accident on a Freeway:
Plaintiff was at a complete stop on a freeway. Defendant fell asleep while driving at approximately 60 miles per hour and rear-ended Plaintiff’s vehicle. Plaintiff suffered severe lacerations to the tendons in her right arm. Plaintiff successfully argued that the Defendant was negligent in the manner he operated his vehicle.
Wrongful Death Case: Vehicle Rollover Accident
This case involved a two-vehicle accident that occurred on the 60 westbound freeway near the City of East Los Angeles. Decedent was a passenger in a crowded 2006 Lincoln Navigator that was operated by a Defendant who was driving while under the influence of alcohol. As a result of Defendant’s negligence, Decedent and a number of other occupants were ejected from the Lincoln Navigator following a collision between the Navigator and another vehicle. Decedent’s heirs successfully argued that Defendant had violated California Vehicle Code Sections 23152 (driving under the influence of alcohol) and failing to comply with the mandatory seat belt law as codified in California Vehicle Code Section 27315(d)(1).
Contact Fisher & Talwar for a Free Consultation
If you were hurt or lost a loved one in a car accident in California, let Fisher & Talwar help. We know how to handle the situation so that you can preserve your rights and get the full compensation you are owed from the people responsible for your accident. We have a track record of success helping people get compensation for their injuries after car accidents. We also work on a contingency basis–you will never pay us unless we win compensation for you. Unlike some law firms, we don’t even pass our expenses on to you. Some law firms will say that you don’t pay them if they don’t win, but they will make you pay expenses no matter what.
If you have questions about how to proceed after your car accident, contact Fisher & Talwar today. Your initial consultation is completely free, confidential, and without obligation.
What to Do After a Car Accident
The steps you take immediately after a car accident can make a big difference in whether you can get compensation. Here’s what to do to protect yourself and your rights after an accident.
Get Medical Help
If anyone has been injured in the accident, get medical help by requesting an ambulance. If no one in your car is seriously hurt, ask if other people might need an ambulance and call it if they do. Even if you don’t feel that you need immediate medical care, make sure to get medical care after leaving the scene. You or others may be in shock or under the influence of adrenaline, so you might start to feel the pain later.
Contact Police
Report the accident to the police and follow their instructions about what to do on the scene. If you were injured and can’t make a police report immediately, try to make one as soon as possible. A police report will be important if you want to seek compensation in the future. When the police ask for a statement, give an accurate, simple description of what happened, without adding commentary about your own mental state or speculating about other drivers’ mental states.
Exchange Information and Talk to Witnesses
Exchange insurance and contact information with the other drivers in the accident. Get pictures of the other cars, including the license plate numbers. If another driver starts to flee the scene, don’t try to stop them; instead, attempt to take pictures of their vehicle before it departs.
Also, collect contact information for witnesses and note what they say they saw.
Take Photos and Sketch the Accident
Take photographs of the scene, including things like debris fields and skid marks. Make sure to capture anything that might have played a role in the accident, such as a blind corner, overgrown bushes, construction equipment, or anything that you think affected either you or the other drivers.
In addition, you should make a simple sketch of how the accident happened, noting the identity of different vehicles, their speeds, and the road conditions that contributed to the accident.
Contact Your Insurance Company
You will need to report the accident to your insurance company within a relatively short time (most require a report within 72 hours – three days). When you do contact your insurance company, stick to the facts again. Your insurance company will likely act as if they are on your side. However, don’t let them lure you into adding unnecessary details or speculations.
If you are nervous and uncomfortable talking to your insurance company, a lawyer can help. Never talk to another driver’s insurance company without first speaking to a lawyer.
Get Legal Help
If you feel you need help with the complications of your car accident, a lawyer can be a vital support. They can help you get compensation for your injuries and other damages. Even if you’re unsure about next steps, a free consultation can clarify the issues, allowing you to protect your rights.
FAQs
Not necessarily. If you feel completely recovered and the offers from your insurance company and other drivers’ insurance cover all your bills, you don’t need to talk to a lawyer.
However, if the offers aren’t covering your bills or you haven’t fully recovered, consider consulting a lawyer. Ongoing aches, pains, trauma, and other symptoms–even what you might describe as “brain fog” can indicate that you have ongoing medical needs and expenses, which would justify talking to a lawyer.
In many situations, hiring a car accident attorney won’t cost you anything–it will make you money instead. Most car accident lawyers work on a contingency basis–they only get paid if you get paid. However, it’s important to consider factors like:
- How much of the payment will the lawyer take?
- Will the lawyer make me pay expenses?
- Will I be responsible for expenses if I don’t get paid?
Since expenses aren’t fees, even lawyers who work on a contingency basis may expect you to pay them if you don’t win anything with your lawsuit.
At Fisher & Talwar, we never pass our expenses on to you, win or lose, so you will always know that we won’t charge you if we don’t win your case.
We strive to get the most for our clients, and we will only take your case if we think we can help you get enough compensation to more than cover our fee. If we don’t think we can do that for you, we will refer you to someone who can or suggest other ways to get compensation.
We also don’t take more cases than we can personally handle.
Rarely. Most auto accident cases are settled without the need for a trial, which is expensive and time-consuming. However, it is important to be ready to go to trial if necessary in order to secure better settlement offers.
Yes. California’s comparative liability laws mean that it’s often worth it to pursue compensation even if you are mostly to blame for your accident. In some cases, getting compensation for even 25% of your medical bills will more than pay for the cost of your lawsuit.
The law requires that all drivers carry insurance, but some people drive illegally without coverage. This is why California requires that your insurance also includes uninsured motorist coverage. This will pay your expenses if the other driver wasn’t covered. Sometimes, your insurance company might refuse to pay, and you will have to use a bad-faith lawsuit to get the money they owe. In addition, you can sue the other driver to make them pay personally for your expenses to the extent that they can.
Never try to stop a driver who is trying to leave the scene, but do what you can to document their car, license plate, and face. If you can’t find the other driver, your uninsured motorist coverage can be used in this case.
Yes! Sometimes, car accident injuries can show up days, weeks, or even months after your accident. That’s why it’s important to seek care even if you don’t feel hurt at first. Identifying and treating some of these hidden injuries can reduce your costs and improve your health after a car accident.
Your insurance company will act like they are on your side, and it often is, but it might also turn against you if it seems in its best interest. Your insurance policy typically requires you to report an accident within 72 hours. Give a true and complete account of the accident’s events, but don’t talk about your mental state, feelings, and attentions before, during, or after the accident. If you feel like an insurance company is trying to trip you up or make you say something that’s not true, stop the call and take it up again later with a lawyer present.
First, only speak about your accident if you are required to. This means giving the police a report and talking to insurance companies when you file a claim with them.
Second, keep all your bills related to the accident. In addition, track your use of medications and your physical and emotional pain. Keeping a regular journal is a good way to do this.
Finally, working with a lawyer can help you get compensation when insurance companies are reluctant to pay.
If you were in an accident with a driver for Uber, Lyft, or another rideshare company, liability is handled the same way as with other drivers. However, the driver might be required to have additional insurance, and the rideshare company might be responsible in some situations. In these situations, it’s a good idea to have a free consultation with a lawyer.