Personal injury blog One question per post. Answers you can check.
Each post answers one question, in California terms, with the statute or the agency page attached so you can check it. Most are written for the two weeks after an accident, when the decisions that shape a claim are made. Nothing here is legal advice about your case, and nothing predicts an outcome.
Written and reviewed by Josh Kohanim, Esq., California Bar No. 328609 · Reviewed
Featured post
California's rules for minors' injury claims and settlements
Two rules govern a child's injury claim in California and neither applies to an adult. The deadline to sue pauses until 18, and a judge has to approve any settlement and decide where the money sits. Both have exceptions, and one of them ends cases within six months.
11 min readRead| Category | What you will find there |
|---|---|
| Car accidents | Reporting deadlines, how fault is decided, and what your policy and the other driver's policy really pay |
| Motorcycle accidents | How riding claims are argued differently, from the helmet argument to lane splitting |
| Personal injury | How a claim moves from the first call to the check: medical bills, liens, adjusters, and fees |
For short answers, our questions page covers deadlines, fees, liens, and what a case is worth in one place. For the case type itself, start at practice areas. How these posts are sourced and reviewed is set out in our editorial standards, and every one of them is reviewed by Josh Kohanim, Esq., before it publishes.
All posts
34 posts across 3 categories, each reviewed before it publishes.
The truck crash preservation letter: who gets it, what it names, and what it does
A preservation letter asks every company holding evidence from a truck or commercial vehicle crash to keep it. Who receives it, what it names, the retention rules behind it, and what it can and cannot do.
10 min readRead
How long a settlement check takes after you sign the release, and what happens to it
Signing the release starts a sequence. The carrier pays, the check lands in a client trust account, it has to clear, the liens get resolved, and then a written statement accounts for every dollar before you are paid.
10 min readRead
California's 2025 minimum car insurance limits, and what they mean if you were hit
On January 1, 2025 the floor moved from 15/30/5 to 30/60/15, and it moves again in 2035. If the driver who hit you carries the minimum, $30,000 is the ceiling on their liability policy no matter what your treatment costs.
8 min readRead
Pedestrian right of way in California: what the crosswalk law says
Drivers must yield to people in marked and unmarked crosswalks, and crossing outside one does not end your claim. The Vehicle Code sets the duties, the 2023 change limited enforcement, and fault is divided by percentage when a pedestrian is hit in Los Angeles.
9 min readRead
Every California personal injury deadline in one table
Two years is the California injury deadline people know. Six months, one year, and three years are the ones that end cases. Every deadline is in one table below, each row cited to the statute it comes from.
10 min readRead
The California three foot law, dooring, and who pays after a Los Angeles bike crash
Two Vehicle Code sections decide most Los Angeles bicycle claims: the three foot passing rule and the rule against opening a door into traffic. Each sets a duty, the door zone works against riders, and the money comes from more than one policy.
9 min readRead
Independent medical examinations: what a defense medical exam is
The defense calls it an independent medical examination. California's Discovery Act calls it a physical or mental examination, and it gives you rights inside the room: notice, a limit of one exam by demand, an observer, a recording, and the report.
10 min readRead
Elder injuries in Los Angeles: falls, nursing facilities, and the Elder Abuse Act
Most falls involving an older adult are ordinary negligence claims. A narrower set are neglect under California's Elder Abuse Act, which demands a higher standard of proof and pays attorney fees and costs on top of the damages.
10 min readRead
Five documents an adjuster sends in the first two weeks that you should not sign
Five documents arrive in the two weeks after a crash, and every one of them is written for the insurer. Each does something for the carrier, one of them quietly closes the injury claim, and each has a narrower version to offer in its place.
9 min readRead
Gaps in treatment, and what they cost an injury claim
A month with no appointments in your records is read as a month with no pain. The argument is built from dates, a legitimate reason has a document behind it, and that document is created while the reason is still true.
9 min readRead
How to get your LAPD traffic collision report in Los Angeles
Your adjuster will ask for the DR number within days. That number comes from the officer's slip or the station desk, the report takes about 45 days, there are three ways to request a copy, the law lists who may have one, and some reports are released by mail only.
9 min readRead
Language, immigration status, and injury claims in California
California does not condition an injury recovery on immigration status, and in a personal injury or wrongful death case the other side may not put your status in evidence or ask about it in discovery. Four statutes set the rule, and court interpreters are free.
9 min readRead
Bad faith in California: when you can sue an insurance company, and when you cannot
Bad faith belongs to the policyholder. If you were hurt by someone else and their insurer is dragging its feet, you generally cannot sue that insurer for bad faith in California. The rule comes from a 1988 Supreme Court decision, and the route that exists runs through the insured.
11 min readRead
What a Kaiser lien means for your injury settlement in California
The lien letter arrives with a number on it that is larger than the law allows. California Civil Code section 3040 caps a health plan lien at one third of your recovery when you have a lawyer, and then reduces it again for fees and costs.
9 min readRead
Hit by a Metro bus or train in Los Angeles: the six month claim deadline
Metro is a public entity, so the two year deadline everyone has heard of does not start your claim. You have six months to present a written Claim for Damages, and Metro accepts it only in person or by mail. A claim sent by email is rejected and denied.
9 min readRead
How to get treated after a crash in Los Angeles with no health insurance
You can be treated in Los Angeles without health insurance, and the order you try things in decides what it costs you. MedPay first, then Medi-Cal or Covered California, then LA County health facilities, then care on a lien, with the trade-off stated plainly.
9 min readRead
Medical payments coverage (MedPay): how it works in California, and whether you repay it
MedPay sits on your own auto policy and pays medical bills after a crash no matter who caused it. The limits are small, and a California Supreme Court rule decides whether you have to give it back.
10 min readRead
Prop 213: why an uninsured driver in California loses pain and suffering
If your own car was uninsured when someone hit you, California pays your bills and your lost wages and takes away everything else. The statute has one exception, and the rule does not reach passengers, pedestrians, or economic damages.
9 min readRead
Social media after an accident: what insurers look for and what they can get
Anything public is already being read, anything private can be requested in a filed case, and anything deleted is the one category that can hurt you twice. An insurer looks for dated activity, California discovery reaches private posts once a case is filed, and the rules are short.
10 min readRead
Uber and Lyft crashes in California: which insurance applies at each stage
Which policy pays after a rideshare crash in California depends on what the driver's app was doing at the moment of impact. Public Utilities Code section 5433 sets the coverage floor for each period, and the app data is what proves which one you were in.
8 min readRead
What a demand package contains, and why yours should be 200 pages
A demand is a letter with a file behind it. A complete personal injury demand package has a table of contents, each tab holds specific records, the page count comes from the records rather than the argument, and California regulations set what the insurer has to do when it arrives.
10 min readRead
What happens at a deposition in a California injury case
A deposition is sworn testimony in a conference room, not a courtroom, and it is the day most injury clients dread. The notice sets it, the questions follow a fixed order, and four kinds of answer cost people money.
11 min readRead
What your car accident case is worth in Los Angeles, and how it is calculated
Every site publishing an average car accident settlement is averaging cases that have nothing to do with yours. The method is the damages California lets you prove, the deductions that follow, and the arithmetic in between.
10 min readRead
Which Los Angeles courthouse your injury case will be filed in
The county is your decision and the courthouse is not. Venue is set by Code of Civil Procedure section 395, the $35,000 line separates limited from unlimited civil, and the Los Angeles Superior Court assigns the courthouse under its own order.
9 min readRead
Injured on the job in a vehicle: workers' compensation and the third party claim, side by side
A crash on the clock gives you two claims at once. Workers' compensation pays without proof of fault and pays nothing for pain. The claim against the driver who hit you covers the rest, and your employer's insurer gets repaid out of it.
11 min readRead
Dealing with insurance after an accident
You owe your own insurer cooperation. You owe the other driver’s insurer the date, the place, and nothing else. What to say, what to refuse, and the deadlines California law puts on the insurance company.
10 min readRead
How contingency fees work for car accident lawyers
A contingency fee means no attorney fee unless there is a recovery. Business and Professions Code section 6147 sets what your agreement has to say, California caps the percentage only in medical malpractice, and the fee, costs, and liens come out of your check in order.
9 min readRead
How to get paid for personal belongings damaged in a crash
Phones, laptops, car seats, and glasses are property damage separate from your car. The at-fault driver’s property damage liability or your own renters or homeowners policy pays for them, proof works without receipts, and California uninsured motorist coverage will not help.
8 min readRead
What to do if someone rear ends you in California
If you were rear ended in California, the scene steps and the reporting deadlines start the same day, the driver behind is usually but not always at fault, and the adjuster is owed the date, the place, and nothing else.
10 min readRead
What to do after a car accident that was not your fault
The other driver caused it, and you still have to prove it. What to collect at the scene, which policy pays for what, the deadlines California sets, and the Proposition 213 rule that catches uninsured drivers all follow from that.
10 min readRead
The 5 steps to take after a car accident in California
Five steps, in order, after a California crash: get safe and call 911, document the scene, exchange what the Vehicle Code requires, get examined the same day, and talk to an attorney before you talk to the adjuster.
9 min readRead
How to handle insurance companies after a personal injury
There are two kinds of adjuster and you owe them different things. Your own insurer can require cooperation, the other side cannot, your health coverage pays the bills while the claim is open, and the deadlines run regardless.
9 min readRead
What to do if you are injured in a motorcycle accident
Riders lose evidence faster and get blamed more often. California's helmet and lane splitting rules, the bike and gear kept as proof, and your own uninsured motorist coverage decide most of these claims.
9 min readRead
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