Suffering an injury or losing a loved one can change your life forever. If someone else was to blame for the harm you endured, it’s crucial you understand California laws that allow you to be “made whole” for the damage you experienced.
Miller & Steele Law Firm is a personal injury law firm that is dedicated to helping victims recover the compensation they need to rebuild their lives after an accident or a loss. We have represented clients in more than 100 jury trials and many more out-of-court settlement negotiations and we have more than 70 years of collective experience fighting for those hurt by negligence or wrongdoing.
We care about every client, and we’ll put our extensive experience to work to get you the money you deserve. Contact a Vista personal injury lawyer today at (760) 439-2210 to schedule a free consultation and learn more about how we can help with your case.
Who is Responsible for an Injury?
When someone gets hurt, it’s important to determine if negligence or intentional wrongdoing played a role.
California Civil Code Section 1714, says “everyone is responsible, not only for the result of their willful acts but also for an injury occasioned to another by their want of ordinary care or skill in the management of their property or person.”
If someone was unreasonably careless or did something wrong on purpose, they should be required to fully compensate victims who suffered as a result of their actions. This is true even if the victim shares part of the blame, as California applies a legal doctrine called pure comparative negligence, which was established in Li v. Yellow Cab Co., 532 P.2d 1226 (1975).
Pure comparative negligence is an alternative to modified comparative negligence, which allows a plaintiff to sue only those who are at least 50% or 51% responsible for harming them. It’s also an alternative to contributory negligence, which doesn’t allow a victim to sue if they share any blame for the incident.
This legal doctrine makes it easier to get justice, as you don’t lose your chance at holding someone else liable for losses just because some blame was shared. Instead, damages are simply reduced based on the percentage of fault attributed to the victim as explained in California Civil Code Section 1431.2.
Example of Personal Injury Claims
There are many examples of personal injury claims that Miller & Steele can help you with including:
- Car accident claims: Whether you were hurt on a motorcycle, harmed by a large truck, or harmed by a distracted, intoxicated, drowsy, or simply careless driver, you may be able to make a car accident claim with the assistance of a Vista car accident lawyer to recover money for economic and non-financial loss.
- Premises liability claims. If you hurt yourself on someone’s property because they failed to maintain it safely, you can make a claim. The test of whether a property owner was unreasonably negligent or not is “whether in the management of his property, he has acted as a reasonable man in view of the probability of injury to others: according to Rowland v. Christian (1968) 69 Cal.2d 108
- Dog bites. A strict liability rule applies under California Civil Code section 3342, which makes dog owners liable for any losses from an unprovoked attack against someone who is lawfully on public or private property. Strict liability means you don’t have to show the owner was negligent or the dog had a history of aggressive behavior to make your case.
Get Help from a Vista Personal Injury Attorney Today
Miller & Steele is ready to help with your personal injury claim. Give us a call today at (760) 439-2210 to schedule a free consultation with our compassionate and dedicated legal professionals to understand more about how we can help you get justice.