Personal injury 18 articles
How an injury claim works in California from the first phone call to the settlement check: deadlines, medical bills and liens, insurance company tactics, and attorney fees.
Written and reviewed by Josh Kohanim, Esq., California Bar No. 328609 · Reviewed
Personal injury posts
18 posts in this category. Also in car accidents and motorcycle accidents.
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
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
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
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
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.
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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
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.
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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.
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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
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
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