Best Personal Injury Lawyers Chula Vista, CA Of 2024 – Forbes Advisor – Technologist

Filing a personal injury lawsuit in California is relatively easy. Your Chula Vista personal injury lawyer will start by filing a complaint with the appropriate court, which will issue a summons. Then, your attorney will hire a process server to serve the defendant with a copy of that summons.

The summons gives the defendant the information they need to appropriately respond to your lawsuit. It lets them know what you are claiming, how much money you are seeking and what court is handling the case. Once the case is properly filed, it will proceed through the court system until it is resolved.

California Statute of Limitations for Personal Injury Cases

The California statute of limitations for personal injury cases is two years from the date that the litigant was injured. Typically, if the litigant attempts to file a lawsuit after the deadline has passed, the court will dismiss the case, ending any opportunity for the claimant to take legal action.

Occasionally, though, the deadline will be extended. If, for example, the accident victim was younger than 18 years old when the accident occurred, the time for the statute of limitations doesn’t start until their eighteenth birthday.

Alternatively, if a victim wasn’t immediately aware of their injuries and only discovered them later, the clock doesn’t start until the injuries are discovered. Finally, if the defendant flees the state, any time they are not present in California doesn’t count toward the time limit.

California Personal Injury Laws

Several California laws can affect a personal injury claim.

• Dog bite liability. California dog owners are strictly liable for any harm that results from their dog biting someone, even if they didn’t know the dog was dangerous. However, if the dog harms someone differently, owners are not strictly liable.
• Suing the government. The California government and its employees have broad immunity from many lawsuits. And even if the government isn’t immune, the claimant has only six months to file a personal injury claim.
• Pure comparative negligence. Because California uses a pure comparative negligence standard, a litigant can file a lawsuit even if they are partially or mostly responsible for their injury. The value of any jury award is reduced by a percentage equal to the responsibility the litigant bears.
• Pay-to-play car insurance laws. California law prevents uninsured drivers from receiving damages for pain and suffering unless the other driver was convicted of a DUI.
• Medical malpractice caps. Compensation for pain and suffering is also limited in medical malpractice cases. The cap is currently $350,000 and will increase every year until it reaches $750,000 in 2034.

Personal Injury Settlement Considerations

Most personal injury cases will end in a settlement. Your Chula Vista personal injury lawyer will typically seek to negotiate a settlement because it benefits you in several ways.

Generally, your lawyer will charge you a smaller contingency fee if your case settles before it goes to court. Also, you will typically receive a settlement in a few months to a year at most. Conversely, a court case will likely take multiple years to resolve. Finally, when you settle a case, you aren’t risking a bad decision by a jury.

In many ways, settlements are identical to court judgments. For example, they are taxed accordingly. Typically, the IRS will not tax settlements resulting from a physical injury or sickness unless you obtain punitive damages. Then, only the punitive damages are taxed.

California taxation rules are a bit more complicated. California taxes compensation for lost wages from a personal injury settlement. However, it does not tax punitive damages unless they are excessive. Any portion of a settlement that gets taxed is taxed at 13.3%.