The Complete Guide to Personal Injury Claims in California
A free guide from Perry Personal Injury Lawyers founding attorney Liam Perry on personal injury claims in California: how a claim works, what it is worth, the medical record, insurance coverage, shared fault, and car, truck, bicycle, rideshare, slip and fall and brain injury cases.
Read it Here, Start to Finish
Every chapter, plus the Foreword, Introduction, FAQ, Final Takeaways and Appendix, free to read in full.
12 chapters · 111 pages
- 018 pages
How a Personal Injury Claim Works in California
The first question almost everyone asks when they call my office is what their case is worth. It's a fair question.There is no sticker price on an injury caseNine kinds of cases, and the question that decides eachWhat it costs to find out whether you have a case
- 028 pages
What Your Injury Claim Is Worth: Economic and Non-Economic Damages
There's no such thing as an average settlement. I know that's not the answer people are hoping for, especially if they've heard what someone else's case settled for.Economic damages: the losses with a receiptNon-economic damages: what the injury took from your lifePast losses and future losses
- 039 pages
Medical Records Are the Case: Documenting Your Injuries From Day One
If I could get every injured person in California to hold on to one idea, it would be this one: the medical record is what proves your case.What the emergency room is built to do"Go home and rest" is not the end of treatmentGaps in treatment, and how they get read
- 049 pages
Policy Limits, UM/UIM and MedPay: Whose Insurance Pays
Before I can give anyone a sense of what their case might be worth, I need to know whose insurance is going to pay it and how much money is there.The other driver's policy limit comes firstCalifornia's minimum policy and how far it stretchesYour own uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage
- 058 pages
Comparative Fault and Pre-Existing Injuries in California
Two beliefs keep injured people from ever asking whether they have a claim. The first is that because they did something wrong in the moments before the crash, they lost the right to recover.California has no cutoff for shared faultA fault percentage in an offer is a negotiating positionHelmets and lane splitting on a motorcycle claim
- 0610 pages
Bicycle and Pedestrian Accidents: Right of Way and Fault on California Roads
People on bikes and people on foot share one thing that changes every part of their case: nothing stands between them and the car.A cyclist has the rights and duties of a driverDoors, right hooks and left turnsPedestrians, crosswalks and the driver's duty
- 0711 pages
Truck Accident Claims: Why a Commercial Vehicle Case Is Nothing Like a Car Crash
When two passenger vehicles collide in California, whether it's a sedan, an SUV or a pickup, I treat it as a personal auto case, and California's rules govern it.Federal safety rules, and why weight matters more than sizeMore responsible parties, and more insurance, than a car crashThe black box, the dash cam and the retention clock
- 089 pages
Uber and Lyft Accidents: Coverage Periods and the $1 Million Policy
Rideshare crashes look simple from the back seat. You were in somebody else's car, the company behind the app is enormous, and surely somebody's insurance is going to take care of it.The stage the driver was in decides the coverageWhen you are the passengerRideshare drivers and the limits of their own coverage
- 0911 pages
Slip and Fall Claims: Proving Notice in a California Premises Liability Case
People tend to think of a slip and fall as a minor case. Oftentimes the opposite is true. You're falling onto a hard concrete or tile floor, sometimes onto broken glass, and the injuries in these cases are often much more significant than most people expect: fractures, head injuries that bleed, and in some of our cases a significant brain injury from a fall in someone's own neighborhood grocery store.Duty, notice and the link to the injuryProving a store should have knownFalls that are not the property owner's responsibility
- 1012 pages
Traumatic Brain Injury: Proving an Injury That Does Not Show Up on a Scan
A traumatic brain injury is often called an invisible injury, and the person who has one is often the last to see it.Defining a traumatic brain injuryA clean scan is not the end of the questionThe symptoms people overlook
- 119 pages
Valuing a Brain Injury Claim: Life Care Plans, Lost Earning Capacity and the Defense Exam
Once a brain injury is documented, the question every family asks next is what the case is worth. With a brain injury, the honest first answer is frustrating: nobody knows yet.Why a brain injury case cannot be rushedLost earning capacity and the life care planNon-economic losses: valuing what no bill shows
- 127 pages
How to File a Car Accident Claim in California, and the Mistakes That Cost People Their Case
Most of what goes wrong in a car accident claim happens before anyone thinks of it as a claim. It happens in the first hours and weeks: in a phone call that felt friendly, in a doctor's visit where someone admitted they were confused about what happened, in a few months of resting at home hoping the pain would pass.At the scene: the photo that matters mostWhat the emergency room can see, and what it can'tBefore you call any insurance company, including your own
Download the Free Guide From Perry Personal Injury Lawyers
A free guide from Perry Personal Injury Lawyers founding attorney Liam Perry on personal injury claims in California: how a claim works, what it is worth, the medical record, insurance coverage, shared fault, and car, truck, bicycle, rideshare, slip and fall and brain injury cases.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Straight from the book. The full answers, with links, are on the FAQ page.
For most injury claims, two years from the date of the injury, under California Code of Civil Procedure section 335.1. A claim involving a public entity, such as a city vehicle or a city sidewalk, generally has to be presented in writing within six months, under Government Code section 911.2. Liam sees people treat for seven or eight months first and miss it. Chapter 12 covers both deadlines.
Perry Personal Injury Lawyers works on contingency: no attorney fee unless there is a recovery. Liam explains that the firm covers the cost of filing a lawsuit when one is needed to protect a claim, and that a client whose claim turns out not to be worth pursuing owes the firm nothing. As he puts it: "Up until that point, we effectively work for free." The written fee agreement sets out the percentage and how costs are handled.
On day one, nobody can say, and Liam treats an office that quotes a number that early as a warning sign. A range comes once treatment shows where the injury is heading, and Chapter 2 explains how it is built. As Liam says: "But to do that on day one would be shortsighted, and we explain to clients why we can't do that."
Not before talking to a lawyer. Liam's advice is to report the claim to your own insurer, say that you were hurt, and let calls from the other driver's insurer go to voicemail. An early "I'm probably fine" on a recorded call is the line that gets read back once the injury turns out to be serious. The firm's page on what a car accident attorney does covers the rest of that first contact.
Your own uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage, called UM/UIM, can make up the difference. California's minimum policy is 30/60, which caps one injured person at $30,000 from the at-fault driver, and Liam notes that a single ER visit after a major crash can use that up. With $100,000 in UM/UIM, a person who collects $30,000 from the other driver can seek up to $70,000 more from their own policy. Chapter 4 explains how the layers stack.
Yes. California uses comparative negligence, so a recovery is reduced by the injured person's share of fault instead of being barred. On the podcast Liam puts it in numbers: 30 percent at fault on a $100,000 verdict still leaves $70,000. There is no cutoff, so even a person found 70 percent at fault can recover 30 percent. A fault percentage an adjuster assigns early in a claim is a negotiating position, not a finding, and it can be challenged.
Yes. Go to an emergency room or urgent care, then follow up with a primary care doctor. An ER rules out what could be life-threatening, not a disc injury or a mild brain injury, so a clean CT scan does not settle the question. Chapter 3 explains why the record from those first weeks proves the injury later.
It depends on the injury. A claim cannot be valued until treatment shows where the injury is going. For a brain injury, Liam tells clients to plan on at least two years, because what is permanent does not become clear until about 18 months to two years after the injury. A larger case that goes into litigation can run several years, with opportunities to settle along the way.
Yes. Liam's view is that if your lawyer is not paying close attention to your medical care, or your questions are not getting clear answers, it is time to find a new one. A good firm stays involved during treatment, wants to hear from you after each specialist visit, and explains the law, the medicine and the process in everyday language. On a truck, rideshare or premises case, a good firm can also tell you whether a preservation letter went out.
Whatever you have. That includes photos of the scene and the vehicles, with the license plates visible, the other driver's insurance information, the names and numbers of any witnesses, and every medical record and bill so far, starting with the ER or urgent care visit. Bring your own auto policy too, since your UM/UIM and MedPay coverage may matter. If something is missing, call anyway. A plate photo is often enough to track down a driver who left.
Perry Personal Injury Lawyers' Practice Areas
Truck Accidents
Commercial truck crashes, where the parties, policies and evidence differ from a car claim.
Motorcycle Accidents
Motorcycle crash claims across Southern California.
Bicycle Accidents
Claims for cyclists hit by a vehicle.
Pedestrian Accidents
Claims for pedestrians struck by a vehicle.
Rideshare Accidents
Uber and Lyft crash claims and the coverage periods behind them.
Slip and Fall
Falls on someone else's property and the notice they had of the hazard.
Premises Liability
Injuries caused by unsafe property.
Traumatic Brain Injuries
Brain injury claims, including injuries a scan does not show.
Spinal Cord Injury
Claims for spinal cord injuries.
Catastrophic Injury
Claims for life-changing injuries.
Wrongful Death
Claims for families after a fatal accident.
Drunk Driving Accidents
Crashes caused by an impaired driver.
Distracted Driving Accidents
Crashes caused by a driver on a phone or otherwise distracted.
Product Liability
Injuries caused by a defective product.
Medical Malpractice
Injuries caused by negligent medical care.
Perry Personal Injury Lawyers also handles
- Car Accidents
- Personal Injury