Personal Injury: Slip & Fall/Automobile
"Personal injury" cases are legal disputes that arise when one person suffers harm from an accident or injury, and someone else might be legally responsible for that harm. A personal injury case can become formalized through civil court proceedings that seek to find others legally at fault through a court judgment or, as is much more common, such disputes may be resolved through informal settlement before any lawsuit is filed. Personal Injury cases popularly referred to as P.I. may include cases such as slip and fall, assault and battery, automobile accidents, dog bites and a host of others.
Automobile accidents occur every day in California. Insurance companies are anxious to deny as much claims as possible and adjusters have been specially trained to look for a reason at all costs to deny your claim. At Law Offices of Ilu J. Ozekhome, we understand how insurance companies play these games and we go all out to protect your interest. We make sure that our clients receive much needed medical attention right away, we get the insurance company to take care of the medical bills. Getting our clients’ vehicles fixed is also a priority for our firm.
Unlike criminal cases, which are initiated by the government, a formal personal injury case typically starts when a private individual (the "plaintiff") files a civil "complaint" against another person, business, corporation, or government agency (the "defendant"), alleging that they acted carelessly or irresponsibly in connection with an accident or injury that caused harm. This action is known as "filing a lawsuit". The plaintiff must prove that the defendant was negligent in causing the incident or accident that resulted in the plaintiff’s injury.
Insurance companies often drag their feet, then come up with every excuse in the book to delay or avoid paying out fair compensation, what we call economic justice, to the victim of their insured’s negligent driving.
Auto cases, like most negligence cases, have three important elements we consider in assessing the chances for getting you justice. Liability (whose fault was it?), damages (so what happened to the injured person?) and collectibility (what type of insurance or assets does the person or business have that harmed you?)
Any potential personal injury case requires a detailed understanding of the facts, the players and the law. If you have been involved in any accident, consult with our office today. We will evaluate your case for free; we charge absolutely no fees unless we get a recovery.
Plaintiffs have a limited time in which to file a lawsuit, called a "statute of limitations." Generally speaking, the period of time dictated by a statute of limitations begins when the plaintiff is injured or discovers the injury. Statutes of limitations are established by state law and often vary by type of injury and from state to state. In California, the time period within which to file a law suit is two years.
Damages for Personal Injury Accidents We seek all available damages for our clients injured in car accidents and other personal injury accidents, including the following:
- All ambulance, hospital, doctor, therapy, dental and other medical bills;
- All pain, suffering and inconvenience;
- All loss of enjoyment of life activities;
- All loss of earnings and income, loss of earnings capacity and also all missed time from work (even if you were paid for this time you may be entitled to additional compensation for any time missed or benefits used);
- All property damage, including rental charges, loss of use (even if you did not rent a replacement car, truck or motorcycle) and diminution in value (as your vehicle may be worth less after repaired than it was worth prior to your accident);
- Appropriate punitive and exemplary damages; and
- All other appropriate damages.