Practice Area
Los Angeles
Car Accident Lawyer
If another driver caused your crash, California law says you should be put back where you were before it happened. Getting there takes three things: medical care that documents the injury, every insurance policy that applies identified, and deadlines met. This page explains each of them the way I explain them on a first call.
The short answer
In California you generally have two years from the date of a collision to bring an injury claim, and only six months to file a written claim if a government vehicle or a dangerous road condition was involved. Being partly at fault reduces your recovery by your percentage of blame; it does not eliminate it. And in practice, what a claim is worth is capped less by how badly you were hurt than by how much insurance coverage exists and can be reached, which is why I spend the first days of every case on coverage rather than on the demand.
What to do after a car accident
Most of what decides a car accident claim happens in the first two weeks, usually before anyone has talked to a lawyer. If you are reading this soon after a collision, these are the things that matter most.
- Get checked out, even if you walked away. Neck and back injuries and concussions routinely show up a day or two later. A gap between the crash and your first visit is the single most common argument an adjuster will use to discount your claim.
- Report it and get the report number. A police or CHP report is not the last word on fault, but it anchors the record and gives you the other driver's insurance information.
- Photograph more than the dents. Where the cars ended up, skid marks, the intersection, the signal, the weather, the other plate. Scene conditions are gone within hours.
- Do not give the other insurer a recorded statement. You are generally not required to. They ask early because the medical picture is still incomplete, and the statement gets used later.
- Do not take the quick check. An early settlement closes the claim permanently, including for treatment you have not yet found out you need.
- Write down what happened while it is fresh. Your own account, written the same week, is evidence. Memory fades faster than people think.
Do you have a case? Three questions I ask on every call
I would rather tell you on the first call that a claim is not worth pursuing than take it and let it drift. So every car accident intake comes down to the same three questions.
- Were you hurt?
- Not "was the car damaged," but did you need treatment, and are you getting it. A claim without medical records is a property damage claim, and those you can usually handle yourself.
- Was someone else at fault?
- Fully or mostly. California lets you recover even if you were partly to blame, but the case has to start with another driver's mistake.
- Is there coverage to collect from?
- The at-fault driver's policy, your own uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage, an employer's commercial policy. If nobody has coverage, there is often nothing to recover, and I will say so.
If the answer to all three is yes, I will usually take the case. If one of them is a no, I will tell you why and, where I can, point you to what you can do on your own. That call is free either way.
Who is liable, and how fault gets decided
California uses pure comparative fault. Responsibility is split by percentage, and your recovery is reduced by your share rather than barred by it. A driver found 30 percent responsible still recovers 70 percent of their damages.
That is why insurers argue so hard over percentages. Moving fault from 10 percent to 40 percent costs the carrier nothing and saves it a third of the claim. Those arguments are usually built on a recorded statement given in the first week, or on a police report narrative nobody corrected.
Common liability disputes
- Rear-end collisions. Usually clear, but expect arguments about sudden stops, brake-checking, and brake lights.
- Left turns and intersections. Signal timing, right of way, and speed estimates. Traffic camera and nearby business footage is often decisive and is usually overwritten within days.
- Lane changes and merges. Often one driver's word against another's unless there is physical evidence or a witness.
- Multi-vehicle collisions. Every carrier points at the others, which can stall a claim indefinitely without someone pushing.
- Hit and run. Moves the claim onto your own uninsured motorist coverage, which has its own notice requirements.
Finding every layer of coverage
This is the part of a car accident claim that most often gets left on the table. Everyone starts with the at-fault driver's liability policy, and in California that policy is very often at the state minimum, which does not go far against a real injury.
Insurance stacks in layers. Above the primary policy there may be excess or umbrella coverage, and next to it there may be entirely separate policies that respond to the same crash. Working out which layers exist, which are triggered, and in what order they pay is a document exercise, and it is one I do on every case rather than taking the carrier's word for what coverage exists.
Policies that may apply beyond the other driver's
- Your uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage. Applies when the at-fault driver has no coverage or not enough. It often applies even when you were a passenger in someone else's car or were hit as a pedestrian.
- A household member's policy. Relatives living at the same address are frequently covered under each other's policies without knowing it.
- An employer's commercial policy. If the at-fault driver was working, including delivery and sales driving, a commercial policy with far higher limits may respond.
- A rideshare policy. Uber and Lyft carry substantial commercial coverage that depends on what the app was doing at the moment of impact. More on rideshare claims.
- An umbrella policy. Sits above auto and homeowner coverage and is regularly missed because nobody asks.
- Medical payments coverage. Pays treatment costs early regardless of fault, which matters a great deal while a claim is pending.
Why this matters more than fault. A claim with clear liability and a $15,000 policy behind it recovers less than a disputed claim with a $1,000,000 commercial policy behind it. Coverage is the ceiling. Everything else is negotiation beneath that ceiling.
Getting treatment, with or without health insurance
The value of a claim tracks the medical record, so the worst thing you can do for your case and for your body is to stop treating because you are worried about the bills. There are three ways treatment usually gets paid for while a claim is open.
- Your health insurance. Use it if you have it. Your insurer will usually have a right to be repaid from the settlement, and negotiating that repayment down is part of my job at the end.
- Medical payments coverage on an auto policy. If you or the car's owner bought it, it pays early and regardless of fault.
- Treatment on a lien. If you have no insurance, or a high deductible, there are doctors, physical therapists, chiropractors, and imaging centers who will treat you now and wait to be paid from the recovery. I will be straightforward with you: lien providers generally charge more than an insurer would have paid, and that comes out of the settlement. It is still far better than not treating.
For most soft tissue injuries the course is a medical evaluation, then physical therapy or chiropractic care, with pain management if it does not resolve. If the injury is more serious, the treatment plan drives everything and I follow the doctors, not the other way around.
What a claim may include
California recognizes economic damages, which come with receipts, and non-economic damages, which do not but are just as real.
- Medical
- Emergency care, imaging, surgery, physical therapy, and the cost of treatment you are reasonably expected to need in the future.
- Lost income
- Wages missed during recovery, and reduced earning capacity where an injury limits the work you can do going forward.
- Property
- Repair or actual cash value of the vehicle, diminished value, rental costs, and anything in the car that was damaged.
- Pain and suffering
- Physical pain, and the activities and independence the injury took from you. Usually the largest component in a serious case.
- Household services
- The reasonable value of help you need with tasks you can no longer do yourself.
- Loss of consortium
- A spouse's separate claim for the loss of companionship and support.
Medical liens and health insurance repayment claims are paid out of the recovery, and how hard they are negotiated changes what actually reaches you. A larger gross settlement with liens left alone can net you less than a smaller one handled carefully. I negotiate every lien before the money is distributed, and you see the numbers before you sign off.
Deadlines that end claims
California's deadlines are unforgiving, and the government claim deadline in particular surprises people.
- Injury claims
- Two years from the date of the collision.
- Property damage
- Three years from the date of the collision.
- Government entity
- Six months to file a written government claim. Applies to city buses, government vehicles, and dangerous roadway conditions.
- Minors
- The clock is generally paused until the child turns eighteen, with important exceptions.
- Wrongful death
- Two years from the date of death, which is not always the date of the collision.
- UM/UIM claims
- Governed by your own policy's notice and demand terms, which are often shorter than the statute.
These are general rules and several exceptions can shorten or extend them. If any date is close, treat it as urgent rather than assuming there is room.
How I handle a car accident case
A car accident claim is a negotiation with a financial institution. The carrier sets a reserve on your file early, gives the adjuster a limited authority band, and prices settlement against the cost of defending a lawsuit. Those are financial decisions, and they respond to financial arguments backed by a well-built record.
The way to win that negotiation is preparation: reading every document, finding coverage that is not volunteered, building a file that holds up under scrutiny, and staying calm across the table from a well-funded opponent. An insurance carrier counts on injured people being overwhelmed and unrepresented. Having a lawyer who prepares every file as if it will be tried changes how the carrier values it.
Here is what working with me looks like in practice:
- You deal with me. I keep the caseload small enough that I personally review your records and take your calls. There is no case manager between us.
- Most cases settle before a lawsuit is filed, and I build every file as if it will not, because that is what makes the settlement offer real. When a case needs a courtroom, it gets one.
- The fee is written down before any work starts. It is a percentage of the recovery, there is no attorney fee if there is no recovery, and case costs are explained in the same document.
Car accident questions
How long do I have to file a car accident claim in California?
Generally two years from the date of the collision for injury claims, and three years for property damage. If a government entity is involved, such as a city bus or a dangerous road condition, you generally must file a written government claim within six months. Missing these deadlines usually ends the claim permanently, so have the dates reviewed early rather than late.
What if the other driver had no insurance?
Your own uninsured motorist coverage may apply, and it often does even when you were not driving your own car. Coverage may also exist through a household member's policy, an employer's policy, or an umbrella policy. Identifying every layer that may respond is one of the first things I do, and it is frequently where the actual recovery comes from.
The adjuster wants a recorded statement. Should I give one?
Not before speaking with a lawyer. You are generally not required to give a recorded statement to the other driver's insurer. These statements are taken early, before the medical picture is clear, and are routinely used later to argue that injuries were minor, unrelated, or pre-existing.
How much is my case worth?
It depends on your medical treatment, whether the injury is permanent, lost income, the strength of liability, and critically the amount of insurance coverage available to reach. Anyone who quotes a number before reviewing records and coverage is guessing. What I will do on the first call is tell you what your claim likely involves and what could change it.
Do I still have a claim if the crash was partly my fault?
Usually yes. California follows pure comparative fault, so your recovery is reduced by your percentage of responsibility rather than barred by it. Even a driver found mostly at fault may recover a reduced amount. Expect the carrier to argue for a higher percentage than the evidence supports.
I don't have health insurance. Can I still get treated?
Yes. Medical payments coverage on an auto policy may pay early, and there are providers who treat on a lien and are paid from the recovery. Lien treatment generally costs more than insured care and that cost comes out of the settlement, so I tell clients that up front. Not treating is worse for both your health and your claim.
How long will my case take?
It depends on your medical treatment more than anything else, because a claim should not be valued until your condition has stabilized. Straightforward claims often resolve within several months of finishing treatment. Disputed liability, serious injuries, or litigation take considerably longer. I will give you a realistic range once I have seen the file rather than an optimistic one up front.
No cost, no obligation
Find out where you stand.
Tell me what happened and I will give you an honest read on the claim, including whether you need a lawyer at all.