Beverly Hills is one of the most renowned cities in the United States and one of the wealthiest areas of the state. While most people imagine the place to be a stunning tourist destination and home of Hollywood stars, serious accidents can still happen in the area in many ways. A personal injury is any incident in which one party inflicts harm on another. Under California law, the at-fault party is responsible for the injured party’s damages. However, resolving a personal injury is often more complex than the victim initially expects.
Heimanson& Wolf, LLP, has an experienced team of Beverly Hills personal injury attorneys who can provide the compassionate and supportive legal counsel you need to feel more confident about the legal issues you face as you seek compensation for your losses. The personal injury claim process could be far more complex than you initially realize, and our team can counsel you through every stage of your recovery efforts until you reach the best possible resolution to your case.
The term “personal injury” is relatively broad, and many types of cases can unfold under the personal injury statutes of the state. Most of the personal injury cases filed by Beverly Hills plaintiffs are the result of negligence, or failure to exercise reasonable care in a specific situation. To succeed with this type of case, the victim must identify the party or parties responsible for their damages, prove the full scope of those damages, and then go on to prove those damages are the results of the at-fault party’s actions and not some other cause.
Proving liability for a personal injury in Beverly Hills is usually more complex than most injured claimants realize at first. However, the right attorney handling your case makes an incredible difference when it comes to the quality of the recovery you could potentially reach with their assistance. When you choose Heimanson& Wolf, LLP, for your personal injury claim in response to a damaging act of negligence, we can help you assert the elements of negligence required to firmly establish fault for your damages.
When it comes to proving negligence, the four elements the plaintiff must establish are duty, breach, damage, and causation. The plaintiff must gather strong evidence to prove who caused the damage and why. Once they have accomplished this, the next phase of their case is to prove the negligent act in question directly caused their damage. In other words, the plaintiff must provide compelling evidence and witness testimony that shows the defendant’s actions caused damage and that the damage could not have resulted from any other cause. In the event the personal injury resulted from intentional misconduct or criminal activity, the defendant will likely face criminal prosecution from the state. If this applies to your situation, your attorney will advise you about how this could influence your civil case.
The team at Heimanson& Wolf, LLP, is capable of providing comprehensive personal injury claim representation to clients throughout the Beverly Hills area. We have successfully represented a wide range of civil claims for damage, including:
In any type of personal injury claim, the victim needs experienced legal counsel on their side to guide them through the process of gathering evidence, meeting their procedural requirements with the court, and proving the full extent of their claimable damages.
Before a plaintiff can recover any compensation for their damages in a personal injury claim, they must first prove fault for the incident in question. The process of establishing fault will differ from case to case, but most personal injury claimants will require physical evidence from the location where their injury occurred, testimony from witnesses who saw the incident in question, and sometimes various experts will need to provide their professional insights to help the claimant prove liability.
Whether your personal injury was the result of negligence or intentional misconduct of some kind, it is crucial to understand your obligations when it comes to proving liability for your personal injury. One important statute to remember if you intend to file any type of personal injury claim is the state’s negligence law. Most states operate under a comparative negligence statute, which allows fault for a personal injury to be split among multiple parties, including the plaintiff. With a modified comparative negligence rule, the plaintiff may still recover damages from a defendant as long as their fault is less than 50%.
California upholds the pure comparative negligence rule, meaning the plaintiff can recover compensation for their damages no matter what level of fault they hold for causing those damages. The judge ruling on the case must assign fault percentages to both parties, and if the plaintiff is assigned a fault percentage, they lose an equal percentage of their case award. Under the modified comparative negligence rule, plaintiff recovery is usually barred at 50% fault, but there is no threshold of fault that would bar their recovery under the pure comparative negligence rule.
The personal injury statutes include rules regarding compensation for damages. In most personal injury cases in Beverly Hills, plaintiffs are legally entitled to claim both economic and non-economic damages from the parties responsible for harming them. Economic damages include the direct financial effects of the incident in question, and this aspect of the claim is generally proven with the appropriate documentation. Depending on how your injury occurred and the scope of harm you incurred, the economic damages you could seek from the defendant in your claim are likely to include:
If an insurance claim is a preliminary recovery option in your situation, a successful claim could compensate for some of these losses. However, the average person will need an experienced attorney’s assistance to accurately calculate the full breadth of immediate and future economic damages they can recover from the defendant. When you choose Heimanson& Wolf, LLP, for your personal injury suit, we have the experience and resources necessary to accurately uncover the full scope of the economic damages you can seek from the defendant or defendants named in your case.
Non-economic damages in a personal injury claim include pain and suffering, which may sound difficult to translate into monetary amounts. You have the right to claim compensation for physical pain and psychological suffering the defendant caused you, and your Beverly Hills personal injury attorney will be a crucial asset when it comes to asserting a suitable figure based on the scope and severity of your losses.
The state does not place a cap on pain and suffering in personal injury cases with the exception of medical malpractice claims. As long as your personal injury case does not fall under the purview of medical malpractice, there is no limit to the amount of pain and suffering you can seek in your personal injury claim. If a plaintiff suffered permanent harm of any kind, their attorney is likely to multiply their total economic damage by a factor of one to five to reflect the severity of their condition. If the plaintiff is expected to fully recover in a relatively short time, their attorney is more likely to seek per diem pain and suffering compensation on their behalf, which awards a set amount for each day they spend in recovery.
When you are already struggling with the effects of an unexpected injury, imagining hiring an attorney can seem like an additional economic strain in an already stressful situation. While it’s understandable to be worried about your potential legal fees, most personal injury attorneys in Beverly Hills and throughout the state accept cases with contingency fee billing. This means the client only pays a legal fee if the attorney wins their case, and the fee is a predetermined percentage of their final case award.
The state enforces a two-year time limit on personal injury cases, known as the “statute of limitations.” Similar statutes exist for other types of legal cases, and the claimant must file their case with the court within this time limit or they lose grounds to pursue damages. Don’t assume that this seemingly generous time limit is plenty of time to file your case, as many variables can arise unexpectedly in the preliminary stages of any case. It is always best to start working on your case as soon as possible after you stabilize from your injury.
It’s understandable to wonder how much compensation you could potentially win from your personal injury case, and there are several factors that might influence your recovery substantially. It’s common for personal injury plaintiffs to initially undervalue their claims, unaware of the full breadth of damages they can seek from the defendants who injured them. If you want to maximize the compensation you win from the defendant in your claim, a Beverly Hills personal injury attorney is essential.
When a defendant caused a personal injury through simple negligence and did not intend to cause harm or break a law, it is unlikely they will face jail time in response to the incident. However, it is possible for jail time to become a factor in the case if they caused the personal injury through any form of illegal misconduct or an intentional desire to harm the victim. For example, if a drunk driver caused your personal injury, they could face jail time as a penalty for conviction in the criminal case filed against them by the state.
Many personal injury victims wonder whether it is really necessary to hire legal counsel, and while fault for your recent injury might seem clear to you, and you may believe you have a firm grasp of the damages you can seek from the defendant, legal counsel you can trust is invaluable. Your attorney can not only improve your chances of winning your case, but with their help you are also far more likely to secure as much compensation as the law allows for your damages.
The attorneys at Heimanson& Wolf, LLP, have the experience necessary to handle the most challenging personal injury claims in the Beverly Hills area. We know the obstacles our clients are likely to face in their pursuit of compensation for the damage inflicted by others. Your situation may seem uncertain and desperate, but the sooner you connect with experienced legal counsel, the sooner you can feel more confident about your situation and approach the case with confidence and peace of mind. Contact Heimanson& Wolf, LLP, today and schedule a consultation with a Beverly Hills personal injury attorney.