Long Beach Personal Injury Lawyer
Injuries happen unexpectedly, and they can have devastating consequences for victims and their families. At the personal injury law firm of Harting Simkins & Ryan, LLP, our Long Beach personal injury lawyers have extensive experience handling injury cases, and we understand what it takes to obtain maximum compensation for our clients.
If you or somebody you care about have been injured due to the negligence of another person, you should be able to recover compensation for your losses. Our personal injury law firm is not afraid to stand up to aggressive insurance companies or well-funded negligent parties.
Long Beach Personal Injury Resources
- Why Choose Harting Simkins & Ryan, LLP for Your Case
- Why Do I Need a Long Beach Personal Injury Attorney?
- What Types of Personal Injury Cases Do We Handle at Harting Simkins & Ryan, LLP?
- How Much Does a Personal Injury Lawyer Charge?
- How Much Compensation is Available for These Cases?
- How Long Do I Have to File a Personal Injury Claim in California?
- Who Can Be Held Liable for My Injuries?
- Will a Long Beach Personal Injury Case Need to Go to Court?
- Shared Fault Laws in California
- Contact an Experienced Long Beach Personal Injury Lawyer
Why Choose Harting, Simkins & Ryan, LLP for your case
After you have sustained a serious injury caused by another person or have lost a loved one, you need a Long Beach wrongful death lawyer by your side with extensive experience in injury law. Let Harting Simkins & Ryan, LLP get to work on your behalf today. Our legal team has a track record of fighting hard and obtaining favorable outcomes for our clients.
- We offer state of the art resources, technology, and professional associates to help with building cases for our clients.
- We handle every aspect of a personal injury case, from initial investigations all the way through a trial.
- Our Long Beach personal injury attorneys will take all cases on a contingency fee basis. This means that we collect no legal fees until after we secure the compensation our clients deserve.
Why Do I Need a Long Beach Personal Injury Attorney?
Having a knowledgeable and experienced Long Beach injury lawyer is a tremendous benefit to your case. Often, personal injury victims lack the resources necessary to conduct a full investigation into the incident that caused them harm. However, an attorney will be able to:
- Obtain all evidence related to the incident, including photographs, video surveillance, eyewitness statements, medical reports, medical records, accident reports, and more.
- Work with trusted medical professionals to ensure their client is properly evaluated and to help calculate total medical expenses for appropriate medical treatment.
- Negotiate with all parties involved, including insurance companies, insurance adjusters, to reach a fair settlement or prepare to take the case to trial if necessary.
“An extremely talented and well respected attorney in the legal community, I wholeheartedly recommend him to anyone looking for a lawyer who knows the law and truly cares about protecting the rights of his clients and getting them the most favorable result possible.”
– JOHN O’BRIEN – AVVO
What Types of Personal Injury Cases Do We Handle at Harting Simkins & Ryan, LLP?
At Harting Simkins & Ryan, LLP, our qualified Long Beach personal injury lawyers have extensive experience handling all types of catastrophic injury and accident cases. This includes the following practice areas:
- Car accidents
- Bus accidents
- Truck accidents
- Motorcycle accidents
- Pedestrian accidents
- Brain injuries
- Bicycle accidents
- Defective products
- Workplace injuries
- Nursing home abuse and neglect
- Slip and fall accidents
- Premises liability
- Property owner negligence
- Medical mistakes
- Dog bites
This is certainly not an all-inclusive list of the ways people can sustain an injury in and around the Long Beach, California area. If you do not see the exact cause of your injury here, please contact a Long Beach accident attorney for a free consultation of your personal injury claim today.
Please note that there is a two-year statute of limitations in place California injury cases. This means that a lawsuit must be filed against the alleged negligent party within two years from the date the injury occurs.
How Much Does a Personal Injury Lawyer Charge?
One of the main concerns that injury victims in Long Beach face is how to afford an attorney to help them secure the compensation they deserve. Personal injury litigation can become incredibly costly, so it is understandable why many people shy away from speaking to an injury attorney. However, at Harting Simkins & Ryan, LLP, we handle cases on a contingency fee basis. This means that our clients will not face any upfront or out-of-pocket costs related to their accident case. Clients will only pay legal fees after we secure the compensation they deserve.
By working on this contingency fee basis, our injury attorneys are ensuring that everybody has access to skilled and competent legal assistance in the aftermath of sustaining an injury caused by another party.
Choose Harting Simkins & Ryan, LLP
Your Long Beach Personal Injury Attorneys
At the law firm of Harting Simkins & Ryan, LLP, in Long Beach, CA, we can’t eliminate the pain of you or your loved ones, but we can use the law to hold the responsible party legally and financially accountable for your injury.
How Much Compensation is Available for These Cases?
If you or somebody you love has been injured due to the negligence of another person in Long Beach, California, there may be various types of compensation available for your personal injury claim. At Harting Simkins & Ryan, LLP, we pledge to investigate your case in order to secure the following:
- Coverage of all medical bills related to the injury
- Lost income if you are unable to work while you recover
- Any household or out-of-pocket expenses incurred
- Reimbursement for property damage
- Pain and suffering damages
- Loss of personal enjoyment images
- Possible punitive damages against a grossly negligent party
How Long Do I Have to File a Personal Injury Claim in California?
Each state is responsible for setting time limits for how long accident victims have to file lawsuits against the alleged negligent party in the case. These time limits are called the statute of limitations. In California, the personal injury statute of limitations is two years from the date the incident occurred. If a personal injury victim fails to file a lawsuit against the alleged negligent party within this two-year timeframe, they will lose the ability to recover any compensation for their losses.
There are various exceptions to this time frame that you need to be aware of:
- Personal injury claims against a California state government agency, city government, or county government need to be filed within six months from the day the injury occurred, and claimants in these cases must adhere to strict procedural rules.
- If the injury victim was under the age of 18 or lacked the legal capacity to make decisions when the injury occurred, the two-year time frame can be extended.
- If the person who allegedly caused the injury leaves the state of California after the incident occurs, the two-year timeframe could be extended.
In California, the statute of limitations for medical malpractice claims is only one year from the date the patient discovers the injury or three years from the date the injury occurred, whichever comes first.
It is important to point out that these statutory time limits do not apply to any deadlines in place by the insurance carriers. If your personal injury matter involves an insurance matter, these injury claims must typically be filed very soon after the injury occurs.
Who Can Be Held Liable for My Injuries?
There may be various parties that can be held liable in the aftermath of a Long Beach personal injury case. At Harting Simkins & Ryan, LLP, our qualified and experienced injury and accident attorneys regularly discover that the following parties are liable for serious injuries to their clients:
- Other drivers on the roadway
- Negligent property owners or operators
- Employers
- Perpetrators of crimes
- Companies or manufacturers of products
- Negligent medical providers
- Healthcare agencies
- Nursing home owners or operators
- Governmental agencies
- Construction companies or contractors
- Commercial truck operators or owners
- Rideshare drivers
As our Long Beach personal injury attorneys work to investigate cases, we strive to uncover and gather evidence that will prove the liability of other parties involved.
Will My Long Beach Personal Injury Case Go to Court?
Not all personal injury cases that arise in Long Beach will necessarily need to go to court. In fact, most personal injury matters are resolved through settlements with insurance companies. However, if an insurance company, insurance carrier, or at-fault party refuses to present a fair settlement offer or denies a claim altogether, it may be necessary for the injury victim to file a personal injury lawsuit.
Even when it lawsuit has been filed, it is still rare for a case to make it to a jury trial. There are various steps along the way in a personal injury litigation matter that allow for both sides to reach a favorable agreement. Attorneys for both parties will continuously engage in negotiations in an effort to resolve the matter. However, a jury trial will be necessary if the parties involved cannot reach an agreement.
Shared Fault Laws in California
You may have heard that it is not possible to recover compensation if you shared any blame for the incident that caused your injuries. However, that is not true. California operates under a “pure comparative negligence” rule. This means that an injury victim is entitled to recover compensation even if they are partially to blame for the incident. However, the total compensation they receive will be reduced based on their percentage of fault.
In many states, a plaintiff (the injury victim) cannot recover compensation if they are 50% or 51% or more at fault for the incident. However, injury victims in California can be up to 99% at fault and still receive compensation.
For an example of how this works, suppose Jeffrey slips and falls at a grocery store on a spilled container of milk that store employees knew about but failed to promptly clean. Jeffrey sustains a traumatic brain injury and incurs $100,000 of medical bills. However, at trial, the grocery store owners successfully argue that Jeffrey was partially at fault because he was texting and walking at the time of the incident. They argue that he would have seen the spill had he not been texting and walking. A jury agrees, and determines that Jeffrey was 20% responsible for the incident. In this case, Jeffrey would receive $80,000 in total compensation. This is 20% less than the $100,000 and accounts for his percentage of fault for the incident.
Often, the defendants (the alleged negligent parties) in personal injury cases will try to argue that the plaintiff is partially or completely at fault for the incident in an effort to get out of paying any compensation. That is why plaintiffs need to secure assistance from a skilled Long Beach personal injury lawyer who can counter these tactics and work to prove the liability of the defendant.
Contact an Experienced Long Beach Personal Injury Lawyer
After a car accident or work accident has left you injured, we can help. When you or your family needs a Long Beach injury lawyer, you can contact our personal injury law firm for a free consultation of your case by clicking here or calling (562) 362-4605 or toll-free at 1-(800) 809-8848. We proudly serve Long Beach, Los Angeles, and all of Southern California. Call our law office now for a free case review to answer your questions. We will fight for justice and maximum compensation you deserve.