If you have been injured because of another party’s negligence or wrongdoing, you have the right to seek compensation for your damages. Personal injury in California is any physical or emotional injury caused by the actions of another party.
Our Oakland personal injury lawyers have been successfully representing personal injury victims in California for more than 50 years. Having recovered more than $2 billion in settlements and awards, we have a proven track record of securing maximum compensation for our clients.
We were founded on the principle that hard-working families in California deserve to have the highest quality legal representation to ensure their physical, financial, and emotional recovery after accidents. That remains our mission today.
If you have been injured in an accident that was caused even partially due to another party’s fault, we want to help you. We will provide you with the best possible legal representation and fight to recover the full compensation you deserve.
Potential Compensation in Oakland Personal Injury Claims
When you have been injured and the medical bills are piling up, you want to understand what type of compensation you can recover for your damages. In California, there are generally three types of damages. They are economic damages, non-economic damages, and punitive damages.
Economic damages include those losses and expenses that are easier to calculate. They include:
- Medical bills
- Future medical expenses, including therapies
- Any future necessary surgeries or procedures caused by the accident
- Lost wages
- Loss of potential earning capacity
- Property damage
Non-economic damages are more difficult to quantify but are just as devastating as economic damages. They include:
- Physical pain and suffering
- Emotional distress and trauma
- Damage to family relationships
- Loss of consortium
- Loss of enjoyment of life
- Diminished quality of life
- Disfigurement
Punitive damages are rarely awarded. The courts generally reserve punitive damages for cases involving malice, oppression, or fraud.
Unlike economic and noneconomic damages, which are designed to compensate the victim for their losses, punitive damages are meant to punish the wrongdoer and to deter future similar conduct.
Our dedicated personal injury attorneys work tirelessly to ensure all damages are included when valuing a client’s claim and every potentially liable party is held responsible.
Types of Cases We Handle
In our fifty-plus years of practice, our Oakland car accident lawyers have seen and handled nearly every possible personal injury case.
Some of our most common personal injury cases include:
- Car Accidents
- Large truck accidents
- Motorcycle, boat, and scooter accidents
- Pedestrian and bicycle accidents
- Dog bites
- Slips, Trips, and Falls
- Premises Liability
- Product Liability
- Bus accidents
- Construction and other work-related accidents
- Wrongful death cases
- Catastrophic injuries
- Rideshare accidents
- Traumatic brain injuries
- Spinal cord injuries
- Back and neck injuries
- Amputations, broken bones, and burns
Regardless of the type of accident you were involved in or the injuries you suffered, we want to help you get the justice and compensation you deserve.
Statute of Limitations in Oakland Personal Injury Cases
If you have been injured because of another person’s fault, you must bring your claim before the statute of limitations runs. The statute of limitations sets the deadline for filing your claim.
If you fail to take legal action during the prescribed period, your claim will be forever barred. In a personal injury claim, this is the time by which you must file a lawsuit.
Even if you have been discussing your claim and negotiating a settlement with an insurance company, if you have not settled the claim or filed a lawsuit before the deadline, you will not be able to recover compensation for your injuries.
In most California personal injury cases, you must file a claim within two years of the date you sustained the injury. There is an exception to this rule.
The exception is if the plaintiff was not aware of the harm or was not able to determine the extent of the injuries caused by an accident until later. This is known as the “discovery of harm” rule.
In this situation, the statute of limitations does not begin to run until the plaintiff discovers the injury. The plaintiff will need proof that the injury did not occur after the accident.
The statute of limitations period may also be tolled, or paused, in certain situations. For example, if the victim is a minor, the statute of limitations does not begin to run until they are no longer a minor.
Another example is if the defendant was out of state or imprisoned after the accident, the statute of limitations would not begin to run until the defendant was back in the state or out of prison.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, we also saw the tolling of statutes of limitations and other deadlines.
California’s Pure Comparative Negligence Rule
California is a pure comparative negligence state. This means that personal injury victims can seek to collect damages for their injuries even if they were 99% at fault for the accident that caused those injuries.
In many states, accident victims are barred from seeking recovery if their percentage of fault is above a certain threshold, such as 50%. This is not the case in California.
However, the personal injury victim’s compensation award will be reduced by the percentage of fault assigned to them. For example, if you bring a personal injury claim but the court finds that you were 70% at fault for the accident, your damages award will be reduced by 70%. So, if your award was $100,000, you would only receive $30,000 because your award was reduced by 70% – your percentage of fault.
At Jacoby & Meyers Injury Lawyers, we fight to minimize any assignment of fault to our clients and to maximize their compensation.
Contact an Oakland Personal Injury Attorney Today
If you have been injured in an accident in Oakland, you need the advice and representation of an experienced Oakland personal injury attorney.
At Jacoby & Meyers Injury Lawyers, we have more than 50 years of experience representing California personal injury clients and getting them the full compensation they deserve. We want to do the same for you.
Call us today at (510) 616-9169 or visit our contact page to schedule a free consultation. We will listen to you, answer your questions, explain your options, and help you get the justice and compensation you deserve.
Call or text 888-522-6291 or complete a Free Case Evaluation form