Westlake Village Personal Injury Lawyers

Victims often call our firm wanting a full rundown of personal injury law and how to best file a claim. We know that it can be confusing to try and take legal action by yourself, and we do not recommend suing a party for damages without at least first consulting with a skilled lawyer. It is in your best interest to hire expert legal help to litigate your case for you. Personal injury lawsuits have a lot of nuances that are not easily navigated, especiallys by inexperienced individuals. Our team of Westlake Village personal injury lawyers has the years of knowledge and success required to win your lawsuit. Get in touch with the Downtown LA Law Group to proceed with your personal injury claim.

How Do I File A Personal Injury Lawsuit?

For the most part, personal injury lawsuits can be filed if you can prove that you were a victim of negligence. This requires showing that you were owed a duty of care that was breached, which then resulted in an accident that caused physical injuries. If you were not physically harmed, you won’t be able to pursue a personal injury claim. There are some different requirements for a few types of personal injury claims, though. For example, medical malpractice claims must have an established doctor/patient relationship between the parties, or you will not be able to sue. If you received offhand medical advice or read about common cures for an injury and then further harmed yourself, you won’t be able to file a medical malpractice lawsuit. Some of the different personal injury lawsuits include:

• Car accidents, which are by far the most common. Car accidents can happen anywhere, from the freeway to parking lots, and can result in extreme injuries. You may also be involved in accidents involving other vehicles, motorcycles, trucks, buses, and more. There is the risk that those on bicycles, scooters, and on foot can be struck as well. Certain types of crashes can lead to more injuries than others, while you are afforded more safety in some vehicles.
• Bed bug infestations, which can occur in apartment buildings that were recently rented or in hotels that have a lot of visitors. All property owners must provide safe and healthy housing to tenants, whether permanent or temporary. The quarters must be sanitary and free from filth.
• Assault and battery by another individual Assault can be limited to verbal threats and claims, while battery is the physical act of harm that accompanies it. Many assault and batteries take place at nightclubs and bars when individuals have been excessively drinking.
• Medical malpractice cases, where doctors or nurses make an error in practice or judgment and cause injuries to patients. The hospital can be held accountable for such wrongs.
• Premises liability cases, including slip and fall lawsuits and damage by broken or defective property. All property owners must ensure that the premises is safe for visitation. If you were hurt, you must be able to show that the property owner knew about the hazard and did not fix, caused the hazard to happen, or did not know but reasonably should have.
• Product liability claims, which arise when items malfunction or have defects that cause injuies. To sue a company for a defective product, you must show that the product had a design flaw, was created with an error during manufacturing, or lacked proper warnings or hazard labels on the packaging or on the item itself.
• Dog bites by unleashed, roaming, or dangerous dogs. California does not have a one-bite rule for dogs; owners are held strictly liable for the actions of their pets and they can be severely punished if they break the law and their dog harms another individual.

You shouldn’t try to handle any of these cases by yourself. You may not know what the difference is between an invitee and a licensee in a premises liability claim and you may not know some applicable traffic laws. A qualified lawyer can make sure that you are on the right track and you have ample success with your lawsuit. Call our Westlake Village personal injury lawyers for more help.

What Evidence Do I Need To File A Claim?

You will need ample evidence from the incident to file a personal injury lawsuit. If you have only a bit of evidence but the incident was widespread among many parties, you could join a class action lawsuit, which utilizes all of the evidence collectively gathered by the plaintiffs. You should be sure to get medical treatment immediately after the incident to ascertain the level of your damages and what kind of treatment you will need in the future. This will also be evidence in and of itself: if you do not go to the doctor after the damages, it will appear as though you were not hurt or that you were trying to use the previous accident to get treatment for another incident. It is best for your claim if there is little to no time between the injuries and the treatment. Other evidence for your claim can include:

• Medical notes and receipts
• Credit card or bank statements
• Photos of your injuries
• Pictures of the responsible party
• Pictures of the scene of the incident
• Copy of an incident report with the company
• Copy of the police report
• The defective product
• Messages or screenshots
• Eyewitness or bystanders testimonies and statements

After an incident, you should do your best to write down the contact information, personal details, and insurance information of the responsible party. This can include names, phone numbers, email addresses, policy numbers, store numbers, and more. It will allow you to file a lawsuit against the correct party and will speed up the process. You will also not mistake the entity for another. To effectively utilize this evidence, you will need a Westlake Village personal injury lawyer. We will organize all the evidence together into a package and write a demand letter to the responsible party requesting proper compensation for the incident.

How Long Do I Have To File A Lawsuit?

A personal injury lawsuit in California must be filed within 2 years of the date of the injury. If you do not take action within this time, you will be barred from pursuing compensation. The longer you wait, the more likely it is that evidence will degrade o that you won’t have a need for the compensation. The responsible party may not be able to compensate you, either. Although the standard statute of limitations for claims is 2 years, there are some differences. You may have the statute extended if you were underage at the time of the incident or if you were left mentally or physically compromised after the accident. You also could have the statute extended to match the duration of time that a defendant has left the state. Additionally, medical malpractice cases must be filed within a year of the discovery of the injury or 3 years from the injury itself, unless a foreign object was left behind in the body after surgery; this situation does not have a statute. If you wish to file a lawsuit against a government entity, you must do so even quicker. You only have six months to file a claim against a municipality. We know how confusing it can be to pinpoint the deadline for your claim, especially if you are eligible for exceptions. Come to our firm and let our personal injury attorneys in Westlake Village assist you. We will file your lawsuit on time and ensure that you miss no important dates.

What Can I Win In A Personal Injury Case?

You are entitled to certain kinds of financial compensation from your incident. The insurance agent will consider how much of an impact your injuries and damages had on your career and life and will make a judgment based on that. He will also look at how much negligence you exhibited in the incident; if you had partial responsibility, your case would not be worth as much. As it stands, you can earn the following:

• Medical bills from the past and future
• Missed income from the past and future
• Property damage
• Punitive damages
• Pain and suffering damages
• Wrongful death expenses
• Secondary fees
• Reimbursement of vacation
• Remodeling costs

Many individuals may not be able to negotiate even a few of these damages from the insurance agent if they go through with the claim by themselves. The stress of the lawsuit could lengthen your recovery time or worsen your injuries, and the lack of legal knowledge could greatly impact your negotiations. It is in your best interest to seek assistance from a personal injury lawyer in Westlake Village.

The Firm for You

For the best assistance available, reach out to the Downtown LA Law Group. We have a team of Westlake Village personal injury attorneys with years of experience winning claims and bringing our clients millions of dollars in compensation. We have the best track record and our wealth of knowledge and diversity makes us the best choice for anyone seeking legal representation. Contact us for a free legal consultation. We are available around the clock – 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. You will be given a rundown of the legal process and we will discuss your case with you. If you have specific questions, we’ll give you the most pertinent and helpful information. By choosing us, you will receive our zero fee guarantee. This promises that we will only get paid if we win, and the insurance agency will cover our legal fees. In the event we lose, we do not ask you for any money at all, and we eat the costs that we spent on the case. You will be able to walk away owing us no debt whatsoever. For the best shot of success at winning your claim, call the Downtown LA Law Group today to speak with a Westlake Village personal injury attorney at (855) 339-8879.