Los Angeles Personal Injury Lawyer

Trusted Personal Injury Attorney In Los Angeles, CA

A personal injury can happen whenever one party’s actions result in harm to another party. Los Angeles is one of the largest and busiest cities on the planet, and it is possible for all types of personal injuries to happen unexpectedly. From high-speed crashes on the I-5 and I-10 to slip-and-fall accidents at local restaurants and stores, if you suffer any type of injury due to another party’s negligence, you need to speak with a Los Angeles personal injury lawyer.

Experienced Personal Injury Counsel in Los Angeles, CA

The attorneys at Duque & Price have years of experience representing injured clients in a wide range of personal injury cases. In Los Angeles and the surrounding areas of California, we take time to learn as much as possible about each client we represent, assess the details of their accidents, and help them determine their most viable paths to recovery.

When you hire our team to represent you in a personal injury case, we can provide several important legal services to help you navigate your case efficiently: 

• Trust us to gather the evidence needed to establish fault for your personal injury.
• We can help you meet the statute of limitations for filing your personal injury case. This time limit is typically two years from the date an injury occurred.
• Our firm can carefully assess the full extent of the damages you are eligible to claim from the defendant who injured you.
• If you are able to file an insurance claim, we can guide you through this process and help you secure a fair settlement.
• Our firm can resolve your personal injury case through pretrial settlement if possible, but we are fully prepared to litigate if necessary.

Every personal injury case is unique, and every injured plaintiff will face different challenges in their recovery efforts. When you choose the team at Duque & Price to represent you, you will have a dedicated legal advocate readily available to answer your questions, explain what you can expect as your proceedings unfold in the Los Angeles County Superior Court, and prepare you for each step of your case until we recover compensation for your damages.

Whether you are seeking compensation for your own damages or you must pursue a case on behalf of a critically injured family member, hiring the right attorney is an important step, no matter what your situation entails.

Types of Personal Injury Cases We Accept in Los Angeles

If you believe another party is responsible for injuring you or a family member, it is crucial to hire a personal injury lawyer who has proven experience handling cases like yours. At Duque & Price, we regularly assist clients in Los Angeles and the surrounding areas of California with all types of personal injury cases, including:

• Motor vehicle accidents. The California Office of Traffic Safety recorded a total of 8,944 injuries and deaths from motor vehicle crashes in Los Angeles during 2022. Each year in California and throughout the United States, vehicle accidents are a leading cause of accidental injury and death. We can help you navigate the aftermath of your recent car accident and hold the at-fault driver accountable for your damages.
• Premises liability claims. If you were hurt on private property because the property owner failed to address a safety hazard, they could be responsible for your damages under California’s premises liability laws. You need to prove the property owner either knew or reasonably should have known about the hazard that caused your injury, and that you were legally present on the property when you were injured.
• Catastrophic injury cases. A personal injury can qualify as catastrophic when the victim suffers any type of permanent harm. Severe burns, spinal cord injuries, and traumatic brain injuries are some of the most commonly cited catastrophic injuries in California each year. If you have experienced this level of injury, it is imperative to work with an experienced attorney who can maximize your compensation.
• Wrongful death cases. This type of personal injury case arises when a victim dies from the actions of another party. If you lost a family member due to an act of negligence or illegal misconduct, your Los Angeles personal injury lawyer at Duque & Price can help you file a wrongful death claim and pursue compensation for your family’s damages.

Our team has a strong record of successful personal injury counsel in Los Angeles and the surrounding communities of California. We are confident that we possess the skills, experience, and professional resources necessary to help you ensure accountability for the harm you suffered and maximize your total compensation.

Proving Liability in a Personal Injury Case

Most personal injuries are the result of negligence, or failure to use reasonable care in a specific situation. Negligence can also be defined as a failure to uphold a specific duty of care, such as a driver’s responsibility to operate their vehicle attentively. Distracted driving would be a violation of this duty of care. In some cases, personal injuries result from illegal misconduct, such as an intentional act of violence or an illegal act like driving under the influence of alcohol.

In some personal injury cases, expert witness testimony can be incredibly valuable. For example, an engineer or accident reconstruction expert could explain the forces at work in a vehicle accident, helping you prove fault for the crash. Medical experts can help injured plaintiffs show the full extent of the physical trauma they have experienced due to the negligence of others.

Your personal injury lawyer can arrange expert witness testimony for you if your case requires this. Medical experts, forensic experts, and financial experts often play important roles in complex personal injury cases, and it is important to hire an attorney who has the professional resources your case requires.

No matter how your personal injury happened, if another party is responsible for causing it, you need to gather evidence that proves they are liable for your damages. The evidence you will need will depend on the nature of the incident. You may not be able to gather this evidence on your own, and there may be evidence that you did not realize was available to you. Hire a personal injury lawyer who can help you build the framework of your case.

Understanding Comparative Negligence in California Personal Injury Cases

California enforces a pure comparative negligence statute that comes into play in any civil case in which multiple parties share fault for the damages cited in the claim. This could mean multiple defendants sharing fault for a plaintiff’s damages, but it could also mean a plaintiff sharing fault with a defendant.

If you were hurt in an accident caused by another party, but the facts of the case show that you were partially liable for causing the accident, the pure comparative negligence rule is likely to apply to your case. You will have a fault percentage assigned, and your personal injury case award will be reduced by this percentage. For example, if you are assigned 10% fault, you will lose 10% of the total compensation won from the defendant to reflect this shared liability.

It is relatively common for defendants in personal injury cases to look for any excuses they can find to deny or deflect liability for the plaintiff’s damages. This is yet another reason why legal counsel you trust is such a valuable asset to your case. Your Los Angeles personal injury lawyer can help you disprove any allegations of shared liability or at least minimize the fault percentage assigned to you to preserve your recovery.

Dealing With Insurance Companies After a Personal Injury

Depending on how your personal injury happened, filing an insurance claim may be an important first step in recovering compensation. For example, all drivers in California are required to have auto insurance, and when a car accident happens, the at-fault driver’s insurance can pay for the resulting damages.

If you were hurt in a car accident and can file an auto insurance claim, or if you are filing any other type of insurance claim to seek compensation for your damages, it is important to expect the insurance company to push back against your claim in whatever way they can. Most insurance carriers will look for any justifications they can find to deny your claim or devalue it as much as possible.

Do not wait for an insurance company representative to attempt to take advantage of you to speak with an attorney. When you have legal representation helping you file an insurance claim, the insurance carrier is more likely to handle the claim in good faith and offer a fair settlement. If any disputes arise, your attorney can be ready to resolve these issues for you.

Claiming Compensation in Your Los Angeles Personal Injury Case

The goal of a personal injury case is to hold a defendant accountable for the harm they have caused and for the plaintiff to obtain the compensation they need to recover from the incident. The plaintiff has the right to seek compensation that will make them as whole as possible again, and this often means claiming compensation for economic and non-economic damages.

Economic damages include financial losses resulting from the defendant’s negligence, such as: 

• Property damage. If a defendant’s actions resulted in property losses, such as damage to your home, your vehicle, or other personal property, you can claim repair or replacement costs as economic damages.
• Medical expenses. Most personal injury cases filed in Los Angeles pertain to physical injuries. The defendant who caused your injury is liable for the cost of any medical care you need to reach maximum improvement from the injury. This includes long-term treatment costs if you suffer any type of serious injury that requires ongoing care.
• Lost wages. If you are unable to work while you recover, the defendant is responsible for any wages you are unable to earn during this time.
• Lost earning power. If your injury caused a permanent disability that diminishes your capacity to work, a Los Angeles personal injury lawyer can help you claim compensation for the future income you are no longer able to earn. The amount you can claim typically depends on your age, current earnings, and how long you would have reasonably expected to continue working in the future.

You may be able to assess immediately noticeable economic damages on your own, but calculating the full long-term impact of your accident is likely to be a challenge without an attorney’s help. Additionally, you also have the right to claim pain and suffering compensation from the defendant.

Calculating Pain and Suffering Compensation

It may sound difficult to assign monetary value to intangible losses like physical pain, emotional distress, and psychological trauma, but it is possible for an injured plaintiff to claim compensation for these losses. The amount they receive generally hinges on the severity of their experience.

Your Los Angeles personal injury lawyer can consider the full extent of your economic damages, your anticipated recovery time, and the scope of the effects of your injury on your personal and professional life to determine suitable pain and suffering compensation to seek in your claim. Generally, plaintiffs who have suffered life-changing injuries receive more pain and suffering compensation than those expected to make full recoveries.

An experienced attorney can gather medical records and other documentation to help their client prove that the defendant’s actions directly affected their mental health. While it is important to hire a personal injury lawyer right away and ensure you meet the statute of limitations for filing your case, it is also important that you have time to accurately assess the full extent of the effects the personal injury has had on your life.

Other Variables That Influence Your Compensation in a Personal Injury Case

Beyond your economic and non-economic damages, it is possible for other factors to influence the amount of compensation you are able to claim. For example, if you bear any comparative fault for the injury, it will diminish your recovery under California’s pure comparative negligence law. On the other hand, if the defendant broke the law in causing the injury, they may be forced to pay punitive damages.

The court may order restitution or punitive damages whenever a defendant’s behavior has exceeded the scope of typical negligence, or if they have intentionally broken the law and/or shown clear disregard for the safety of others with their actions. The amount they will be required to pay will depend on the severity of their actions and the judge’s discretion. Your attorney can explain if this is likely to come into play in your personal injury case.

Ultimately, you will need to establish causation for any damages you intend to claim from the defendant in your case. This not only means showing the full extent of those damages but also proving that the defendant is directly responsible for causing them and that they did not result from any other cause.

What to Expect From Your Los Angeles Personal Injury Lawyer

An experienced Los Angeles personal injury lawyer is an invaluable asset to have on your side, no matter what your personal injury case entails. When you choose the team at Duque & Price to represent you, we can immediately begin gathering evidence to support your case. We can accurately calculate the full scope of the damages you are eligible to claim and determine the most efficient path to recovering compensation.

We approach every personal injury case prepared to litigate on behalf of our client. Preparing a case for trial will ensure a much stronger negotiating position during pretrial settlement negotiations. Many personal injury cases filed in California each year end in settlement, but there is always a chance for litigation to be unavoidable. We try to cover as many bases as possible in each case and strive to streamline legal proceedings as much as we can.

Trust us to meet all procedural deadlines with the court. We can gather the evidence necessary to prove fault and help you file your case on time with all the required documentation. We can also negotiate with insurance companies on your behalf to help you obtain fair settlements. Ultimately, trust our team to guide and support you through every stage of your legal proceedings.

When settlement is an option, trust our firm to represent you in these negotiations and push for maximum compensation. Most settlements require compromise. The plaintiff may agree to a slightly smaller settlement in exchange for expediency in resolving the case. The defendant may be willing to pay a bit more than they expected to resolve the case quickly.

Every case is different, but every injured plaintiff benefits from having experienced legal counsel to guide them through these proceedings.

You have limited time to pursue accountability for your personal injury, so you need to hire a personal injury lawyer you trust at your first opportunity. Reach out to Duque & Price right away to learn more about the legal services we offer and how we can assist with your recovery.

FAQs

How Do You Prove Liability for a Personal Injury in Los Angeles?

To prove liability for a personal injury in Los Angeles, you will need to identify the party responsible for causing the injury, prove exactly how they caused it, and then show the full extent of the resulting damages. A plaintiff must establish causation between their claimed damages and the defendant’s actions. This means proving their damages did not result from any other cause.

What Is My Personal Injury Case Worth in Los Angeles?

The value of your personal injury case in Los Angeles depends on the scope and severity of your injuries. A skilled Los Angeles personal injury lawyer can help you calculate medical expenses, lost income, and other financial losses resulting from the defendant’s actions. They can also claim compensation for your pain and suffering. Hire a personal injury lawyer to have the greatest chance of maximizing your recovery.

Will the Defendant Go to Jail for Causing My Personal Injury?

The defendant could go to jail for causing your personal injury based on how they caused it. For example, if you were hurt by a drunk driver or by an intentional act of violence, the defendant faces criminal charges along with their civil liability for your damages. They could face fines and jail time, and penalties for most criminal offenses in California increase when a defendant has caused great bodily harm or death.

Why Should I Hire a Personal Injury Lawyer?

You should hire a personal injury lawyer to maximize your chance of success with your case. Even if liability for the accident seems clear, the reality is that you could face a wide range of unexpected complications as your case unfolds. You need legal counsel you trust to not only have a better chance of proving fault and winning your case but also a better chance of maximizing your compensation.

What Does It Cost to Hire a Personal Injury Lawyer in Los Angeles?

The cost to hire a personal injury lawyer in Los Angeles may not be as high as you may think. When you choose Duque & Price to represent you, we will only charge a contingency fee after we win your case, and it will be a percentage of the total recovered from the defendant. If we are unable to secure compensation for you for any reason, you pay nothing. There is no risk in hiring our firm to represent you in your personal injury case.

The right attorney can have a profound positive influence on the outcome of a personal injury case in Los Angeles. The team at Duque & Price is confident in our ability to fluently handle the most challenging personal injury cases and guide our clients to the compensation they need to recover. If you believe you have grounds to file a personal injury case, contact us today to schedule a free consultation with an experienced Los Angeles personal injury lawyer.

Serving Los Angels, CA and Nearby Areas

Los Angeles, CA, is the heart of Southern California, known for its iconic landmarks, diverse communities, and cultural vibrancy. Surrounded by cities like Santa Monica, Pasadena, Long Beach, Glendale, and Beverly Hills, Los Angeles is a bustling metropolitan hub. Our Southern California personal injury law firm proudly serves Los Angeles and its neighboring areas, providing dedicated legal representation to those in need.

Los Angeles, CA Personal Injury Resources

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• Are Personal Injury Settlements Taxable in California?
• Common Types of Personal Injury Cases in California
• How Long Does It Take to Settle a Personal Injury Case in California?
• All About Depositions in a Personal Injury Case
• Suing a Business for Personal Injury
• What Is a Personal Injury Annuity
• Can Witnesses Be Forced to Testify in Personal Injury Cases
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Duque & Price – Los Angeles Office, CA Office

3415 South Sepulveda Blvd,
Suite 1100
Los Angeles, CA 90034
Call: (323) 400-4411