Sacramento Personal Injury Lawyer

When you are seriously injured by the carelessness of another party, it can be difficult to recover damages you’ve incurred as a result of your injury. If you’re going up against the insurance company alone, it can be even harder. Having a Sacramento personal injury lawyer by your side to represent you in your injury case can not only lift the burden off you but it can also improve the chances of your injury claim getting approved and you getting a bigger settlement.

Anguiano Law has the negotiating skills that can influence insurance companies in your favor. Just as claim adjusters are trained on ways to invalidate personal injury claims, we know how to talk to adjusters to optimize your personal injury recovery. Our aggressive and educated approach to personal injury law gets cases finalized and paid, oftentimes never needing to go to court. If your case does require a trial, we can litigate on your behalf and fight for your rightful compensation.

What Is Personal Injury?

Occasionally, someone incurs an injury to their body and/or mind due to the negligence of another party. When the injured party files a claim against the negligent party, it is considered a personal injury case. Personal injury is not harm done to property but rather a person. The statute of limitations for personal injury claims in California is two years. This means that a personal injury victim must file a claim within two years of the accident occurring.

Duty of Care

In general, individuals and businesses have a duty of care. This duty refers to one’s own responsibility to not cause harm to others or act in careless, negligent, or intentionally harmful ways. There is an understood obligation that people must act with a standard of reasonable care while performing any job, act, or everyday task that could potentially cause harm to other people.

Personal injury cases can encompass a wide variety of injuries that occur as a result of another party’s negligence or irresponsibility. These can include injuries from the following types of accidents or events:

• Vehicular accidents (truck accidents, car accidents, motorcycle accidents, etc.)
• Pedestrian accidents
• Premises liability accidents (slip and fall or other injuries involving dangerous surroundings)
• Workplace injuries
• Nursing home neglect
• Dog bites
• Pharmaceutical injuries
• Birth injuries
• Food poisoning
• Firearms injuries
• Product liability (including a manufacturing flaw, a design defect, or inadequate directions or warning labels)
• Wrongful death
• Intentional acts, such as assault, battery, or slander

When someone is injured, depending on the severity of the injury, their lives can change significantly. They must go through recovery, including medical appointments, treatments, and therapy. They often cannot work or work as much, so they lose wages. Some even lose their jobs altogether. Meanwhile, bills pile up, including the non-accident-related expenses of daily life.

California law dictates that when someone is responsible for such an injury to someone else, the responsible party must be held accountable, and the injured party must be compensated for the bills and hardships that they experience. This compensation is referred to as damages and includes such expenses as:

• Medical bills
• Therapy
• Treatment
• Equipment
• Lost wages

What Is Involved in a Personal Injury Case?

When someone files a personal injury claim, an investigation will ensue. The insurance company will conduct its own investigation, but the plaintiff’s attorney should also thoroughly investigate the event to determine fault, confirm injuries, and establish the estimated total monetary and non-monetary damages incurred by their client.

In most cases, an insurance company will be the party responsible for paying the retributions for the injured claimant. However, insurance agencies do not enjoy paying claims. Therefore, they often make it difficult for plaintiffs to get the compensation they deserve by doing everything in their power to deny claims or offer very low settlement amounts.

This is where a Sacramento personal injury lawyer can help. Personal injury attorneys are experienced in negotiating with insurance companies on their clients’ behalf. They know the first offer is not the insurance company’s highest offer. In fact, it’s their lowest, and there is typically always room to negotiate with insurance adjusters. An individual can have a much better outcome from negotiations with an attorney representing them.

How Much Do Personal Injury Lawyers Charge in California?

Personal injury lawyers work on a contingency fee basis, which means that their fees are contingent on their client being awarded a settlement. This is in the claimant’s favor because it means that victims don’t need any money upfront to get a lawyer to take their case and begin working on recovering their damages. It is also advantageous because the attorney has a motivation to work hard on a case and fight for the highest settlement award possible, as it benefits both the client and the attorney.

What Percentage Do Most Personal Injury Lawyers Take?

In California, the typical attorney fee ends up being between 30% and 40% of the settlement amount. This percentage should be established upfront and put in writing in an initial attorney/client agreement or contract. That way, there are no surprises later, and the amount can’t change throughout the course of the case.

Enlisting the Assistance of a Sacramento Personal Injury Lawyer

If you believe that someone else is responsible for your injury, you may have a legitimate personal injury claim. To know for sure, you should consult with a knowledgeable Sacramento personal injury lawyer. Attorney David Anguiano understands personal injury law and can help you determine if you have a personal injury case. Even if your claim was originally denied, you may be eligible to appeal the decision as long as it’s within two years of the injurious event.

Contact Anguiano Law to learn more about Sacramento personal injury claims and to gain invaluable insight into your unique case. We are prepared to represent you, if necessary, whether your case requires negotiations with the insurance claim adjuster or your case needs litigation in front of a judge. Let us help you recover the damages you deserve for your personal injury claim.