Personal Injury Lawyer in Los Angeles

Every year in Los Angeles, people are injured in preventable accidents. These injuries can be traumatic, painful, and costly. Thankfully, California allows individuals injured by someone else’s negligence or carelessness to recover compensation for their accident-related losses.

If you or a loved one was seriously injured through no fault of your own, Ellis Law might be able to help. At Ellis Law, our experienced personal injury attorneys in Los Angeles offer personalized, compassionate service to victims of personal injury accidents and will fight aggressively to ensure that you are justly compensated for your injuries.

Our Los Angeles personal injury attorneys strive to get you much needed compensation for your medical bills, rehabilitation, and emotional trauma. From the very start to the finish of your case, we are committed to going the distance for you.

We’re On Your Side

Our premier team of fact-finding investigators, legal talent, and medical experts work together to build the strongest case on your behalf. From getting the necessary expert witnesses for testimony to evaluating case costs, our singular motivation is your best interest. Ellis Law collaborates with highly regarded experts, from physicians and accountants to engineers and psychologists, to provide our clients with the expert testimony often needed to establish liability and damages in serious personal injury matters.

At Ellis Law, we provide you with personal, attentive service and strong advocacy. This approach has helped us win over $350 million on behalf of injury victims. Trust that we will work to maximize your financial recovery–from complex investigations to skilled negotiation—no stone is left unturned in helping you obtain the successful result you deserve.

Ellis Law’s Los Angeles personal injury attorneys can offer you:

• Outstanding client service
• Proven results through settlement negotiations or jury verdicts.
• Professional ability and competence

A personal injury claim compensates you for your losses and holds negligent parties responsible for their actions. Let our attorneys explain your legal rights and determine whether you are eligible to recover compensation for your damages and losses.

You deserve nothing less than the best personal injury lawyer in Los Angeles. We provide unparalleled personal injury representation to people in  Anaheim, Bakersfield, El Segundo, Diamond Bar, and throughout Southern California.

Visit our Case Results Page to learn about the life-changing results we have obtained for our clients.

Steps in the Personal Injury Claims Process

When you’ve been injured due to someone else’s negligence, navigating the personal injury claims process can feel overwhelming, especially while recovering from physical and emotional trauma. Understanding how a claim progresses can help you make informed decisions and avoid common pitfalls.

Below is a step-by-step overview of what to expect in a personal injury case and how we can help you protect your rights and pursue fair compensation.

1. Injury and Claim Initiation. A personal injury claim begins when a victim is harmed due to another party’s negligence or wrongdoing. Common causes include car accidents, slip and falls, or defective products. The at-fault party’s insurance company is notified, and a formal claim is filed once the victim has documented their injuries and related losses.
2. Insurance Investigation. After the claim is filed, an insurance adjuster is assigned to investigate. The adjuster collects evidence such as police reports, photographs, video footage, and medical records to assess liability and estimate the claim’s value.
3. Independent Investigation. An experienced Los Angeles personal injury attorney will search for new evidence and learn as much about the accident as possible on the victim’s behalf. We may find fault lies with multiple parties during our investigation and pursue separate sources of compensation on the victim’s behalf.
4. Settlement Negotiations. Once the investigation is underway, the insurance company may make an initial settlement offer. These early offers are typically low. The victim, with the help of their attorney, can counter the offer. This negotiation process may continue until both sides reach an acceptable agreement.
5. Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR). If settlement negotiations stall, the parties may opt for mediation or arbitration. In mediation, a neutral third party facilitates discussions to help the parties reach an agreement, though no binding decision is made. In arbitration, a panel of arbitrators acts similarly to a judge and renders a binding decision after hearing both sides.
6. Filing a Lawsuit. The final step may be litigation if ADR fails or is not pursued. This involves filing a personal injury lawsuit and seeking compensation through the court system. The case is presented before a judge and jury, who determine liability and award damages, if applicable.

Each stage of the personal injury process requires informed decision-making, which is why working with an experienced personal injury attorney is essential for maximizing compensation and protecting your legal rights, including the right to recover damages, which are the losses you have sustained due to the defendant’s negligence.

Let Our Experienced Los Angeles Personal Injury Attorneys Help You

Ellis Law has the experience, results, and expertise needed to successfully handle your personal injury claim. Our attorneys understand the complications you face after a severe personal injury accident and the long-term impact catastrophic injuries have on your life. We strive to provide you and your family with the support and peace of mind needed to focus on healing while our attorneys handle all aspects of your personal injury claim.

This includes but is not limited to the following services:

• Providing access to needed medical experts
• Calculating the full extent of your accident-related damages
• Conducting a thorough accident investigation
• Filing a timely personal injury claim and civil lawsuit
• Negotiating a fair and just settlement with the insurance company
• Taking your case to trial if settlement is not forthcoming

Our Los Angeles personal injury law firm has the experience and expertise to advocate on your behalf during negotiations or at trial. While most personal injury claims settle before any court proceedings, we are not afraid to take personal injury claims to trial whenever appropriate. Our attorneys know court procedure and how to present and argue a winning case before a judge and jury.

When you are ready for professional legal assistance, Ellis Law wants to provide you with the quality legal service you deserve. Call our Los Angeles office today for a complimentary claim evaluation.

The Personal Injury Claims Process

The personal injury claims process begins after a victim is injured due to the negligence or wrongdoing of another person or corporation. A personal injury claim can arise out of any personal injury accident, be it a slip and fall, defective product, car accident, or another type of accident.

The first step in a personal injury claim is the filing of the claim itself. The at-fault party’s insurance company is contacted about an upcoming claim. A formal claim is filed once the victim has information regarding the extent of their injuries and any accident-related losses.

Next, an insurance adjuster is assigned to the case to investigate the accident. The adjuster obtains necessary evidence to investigate the claim, including the police or other accident report, photos or videos of the accident, and any medical records. This information is used to determine if the insured party is liable for any injuries and how much the claim is worth.

It is in the victim’s best interests to conduct an independent investigation at the same time the insurance company looks into the claim. An experienced Los Angeles personal injury attorney will search for new evidence, use current evidence to the victim’s advantage, and find out as much about the accident as possible on the victim’s behalf. The victim’s attorney may find fault lies with multiple parties during their investigation and pursue separate sources of compensation on the victim’s behalf.

After filing an insurance claim, it is common to receive an insurance settlement offer. Insurance companies generally make a low settlement offer at the beginning of a claim. Any offer may be countered or accepted depending on the facts of the case and the extent of the victim’s injuries.

The process of offers and counteroffers can go on for quite some time before a settlement amount is reached. An experienced personal injury attorney in Los Angeles will know the approximate value of a personal injury case and when it is appropriate to accept an insurance company offer.

There are alternative methods of resolving an insurance claim in addition to settlement negotiations. The parties may choose to take their dispute to mediation or arbitration. During mediation, the parties and their lawyers meet privately with a neutral third party, the mediator. The mediator helps the parties move forward towards an agreement but does not make a decision on behalf of the parties.

Arbitration is more like a court proceeding. The parties and their attorneys submit arguments to one or more arbitrators. These arbitrators act as judges. The arbitrators review the facts and reach a binding decision the parties must follow.

Rather than use an alternative method of dispute resolution, a personal injury claim can go to a court trial. This requires a personal injury lawsuit to be filed and compensation sought in court before a judge and jury.

Common Personal Injury Cases

We are prepared to handle any personal injury claim in Los Angeles, Irvine, Long Beach, or anywhere else in the surrounding region.

The scope of our practice includes:

• Car accidents: From rear-end collisions to multi-party pile-ups, we can guide you through the complex insurance and liability issues that arise after a car accident in Los Angeles—and help you fight for maximum compensation.
• Truck accidents: When massive commercial vehicles cause life-altering crashes, we know how to hold negligent truck drivers, trucking companies, and other parties accountable.
• Motorcycle accidents: Motorcyclists face unique risks on LA roads and should receive fair treatment in the legal system. Our personal injury attorneys are here to fight against unfair bias and aggressively advocate for your full physical, emotional, and financial recovery.
• Pedestrian accidents: Whether in a crosswalk, an LA sidewalk, or in a parking lot, pedestrians struck by vehicles often suffer severe injuries, underscoring the need for skilled legal representation.
• Rideshare accidents: Whether you were a passenger, driver, or third party, our lawyers can untangle the web of liability and insurance issues involved in accidents involving Uber, Lyft, and other rideshare services.
• Slip and fall accidents: Property owners have a duty to keep their premises free from hazards. When they fail in their duty and someone suffers a serious accident, we step in to prove negligence and pursue fair compensation.

Next, we’ll examine other major types of personal injury claims and how an experienced lawyer can help.

Medical Malpractice

In California, negligence is the failure to exercise reasonable care to prevent harm to oneself or others. In the context of medical malpractice, this legal standard applies to individual healthcare providers, nursing staff, and institutions such as hospitals and long-term care facilities. A medical malpractice claim may arise when any of these parties breach the accepted standard of care, injuring a patient.

Some of the most common causes of injuries and deaths due to medical malpractice include:

• Misdiagnosis
• Delayed diagnosis
• Childbirth injuries
• Medication errors
• Failure to treat
• Anesthesia errors
• Surgical errors

At Ellis Law, we believe medical professionals should be held to the highest possible standards. We will guide you in seeking justice and fair compensation for your suffering and losses.

Workplace Injuries

When workplaces, such as construction sites, are negligent regarding the safety of their employees, or third parties cause worker injuries, personal injury claims may be filed in addition to or in lieu of workers’ compensation claims.

Workers must report their injuries and seek medical care immediately to preserve their claim for a percentage of lost wages and medical bills due to on-the-job injuries. Other significant evidence documenting workplace accidents can include:

• Photos of the worksite
• Witness names and information
• A workplace accident report

If you have suffered a serious workplace injury, it’s wise to explore all potential sources of compensation. By filing a personal injury claim, if applicable, you can pursue compensation that exceeds what you would receive from a workers’ comp claim alone.

Dangerous and Defective Products

Product liability claims are especially complex because one defective product can have thousands of victims. In California, faulty design, manufacturing, or labeling can support a strict liability claim if the product was used as intended and the defect directly caused the injury.

Defective products can include:

• Defective airbags
• Defective brakes
• Defective car seats
• Defective toys
• Poorly designed or defective medical devices
• Poorly labeled or defective medication
• Poorly labeled and defective household electrical devices
• Improperly labeled cleaning products
• Poorly made or contaminated food products
• Defective industrial equipment

Whether you were injured by one of the above-listed products or others, our Los Angeles personal injury lawyers could help you explore all the legal options available to you.

Willful Assault

Not all personal injury claims involve careless behavior. In some cases, victims are harmed due to intentional acts such as assault.

A personal injury lawsuit for assault can address monetary damages for injuries and other losses. A civil personal injury case is separate from a criminal assault case filed by the state. The latter results in a conviction with the possibility of jail or prison time, fines, and other court sanctions, while a personal injury claim gives victims hope of financial recovery.

Wrongful Death

A wrongful death claim allows certain surviving family members to file a civil lawsuit seeking compensation for losses resulting from the death of a loved one caused by another party’s negligence or wrongful act.

This claim is distinct from a survival action, which seeks damages on behalf of the deceased for harm suffered prior to death, such as medical expenses and pain and suffering. Wrongful death claims typically pursue compensation for funeral and burial costs, lost financial support, loss of companionship, and other related damages experienced by the survivors.

What is Needed to Prove Negligence?

In a personal injury case based on negligence, the burden of proof lies entirely with the plaintiff and their attorney. To succeed, they must present clear and convincing evidence that the defendant’s actions—or failure to act—met the legal definition of negligence. This involves establishing all four required elements: duty, breach, causation, and damages. If even one of these elements is not proven, the claim will not succeed in court.

The four legal elements of negligence are:

1. Duty – The defendant owed a legal duty of care to the plaintiff.
2. Breach – The defendant breached that duty by failing to act as a reasonably prudent person would under similar circumstances.
3. Causation – The defendant’s breach of duty was a substantial factor in causing the plaintiff’s injury. This includes both actual cause (“cause in fact”) and legal cause (“proximate cause”).
4. Damages – The plaintiff suffered actual harm or losses due to the defendant’s actions or omissions.

Successfully proving all four elements of negligence is critical to holding the responsible party legally accountable and securing fair compensation. While this process can be complex, especially when facts are disputed or multiple parties are involved, a knowledgeable personal injury attorney can help gather the necessary evidence and present a compelling case on your behalf.

Personal Injury Compensation

Victims of serious personal injuries often face significant challenges, including mounting medical expenses, physical pain, emotional suffering, and, in some cases, long-term disability. Every personal injury case is unique, and so are the damages awarded. The amount of compensation available in your claim will depend on several factors, including:

• The severity and extent of your injuries
• Your prognosis for recovery
• The overall impact of the injury on your life
• The degree of negligence exhibited by the at-fault party

Compensatory damages are monetary awards intended to restore an injured party, as closely as possible, to the position they were in before the harm occurred. In California, compensatory damages are divided into two categories: economic damages and non-economic damages.

Economic Damages

Economic damages, also known as special damages, cover quantifiable financial losses such as medical expenses and lost income:

• Medical bills, both current and future
• Property damage
• Lost wages
• Loss of earning potential

An experienced personal injury attorney can help accurately calculate damages by thoroughly reviewing medical records, employment and earnings history, and consulting with medical, vocational, and financial experts. This comprehensive approach ensures all past and future economic losses are properly documented and accounted for in the claim.

Non-Economic Damages

In California and most jurisdictions, non-economic damages—also referred to as general damages—are designed to compensate for intangible, subjective harms that do not have a clear monetary value:

• Pain and suffering
• Emotional and mental distress
• Scarring and disfigurement
• Loss of enjoyment of life

California has no caps or statutory limits on compensatory damages—both economic and non-economic—in most personal injury cases, including car accidents, slip and falls, or product liability. This means a jury or judge can award any amount they find fair and just based on the evidence presented.

However, California does impose a cap on non-economic damages (such as pain and suffering) in medical malpractice claims under the Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act (MICRA). As of 2023, the cap has increased from the historic $250,000 to a tiered system, starting at $350,000 for non-death cases and $500,000 for wrongful death, with gradual increases planned over the next decade.

Punitive Damages

Judges or juries may also award punitive damages in certain personal injury cases, but only under specific legal circumstances. In California, punitive damages—also known as exemplary damages—are not intended to compensate the victim, but rather to punish the defendant for conduct that is proven to be malicious, and to deter similar behavior in the future.

While punitive damages are relatively rare and not awarded in cases of ordinary negligence, they can significantly increase the total recovery in cases involving egregious or intentional misconduct.

Personal Injury Statute of Limitations

In California, personal injury claims are subject to a strict legal deadline known as the statute of limitations. Generally, a plaintiff must file a personal injury lawsuit within two years from the date the injury occurred. The injured party may lose the right to pursue compensation if this deadline is missed.

In cases involving a government entity, the timeline is even shorter. A government claim must typically be filed within six months of the incident. Because these deadlines can be complex, it is crucial to consult with an experienced personal injury attorney as soon as possible after an accident to preserve your legal rights.

Los Angeles Personal Injury Most Common FAQs

Here are some answers to common questions about personal injury law in California.

What Is My Claim Worth?

We can’t give you a specific answer about your claim’s value until we examine all of the factors at play, including the extent of your injuries, the degree of negligence of the at-fault party, and whether your injury prevents you from working. Our highly detailed approach to assessing damages means we account for every loss and hardship you have suffered so you can obtain the maximum amount of compensation available under the law.

What if I Was Partially At Fault?

California is a pure comparative negligence jurisdiction, which means you can still recover compensation even if you were partially to blame for the accident. However, your compensation will be reduced by the percentage of your fault.

How Much Does it Cost to Hire a Personal Injury Attorney?

Most personal injury attorneys work on a contingency fee basis, meaning you don’t pay anything upfront. Your attorney only gets paid if you win your case or settle, taking a percentage of the recovery.

How Long Will My Claim Take?

The length of a personal injury claim in California can vary depending on the details of the case, but most take anywhere from a few months to over a year to resolve. Simple claims with clear liability may settle quickly, while more complex cases, especially those involving serious injuries or disputed fault, can take longer. Your attorney will work to move the process along efficiently while fighting for the full compensation you deserve.

Schedule a Free Consultation at Ellis Law

If you would like to learn more about the types and amounts of damages available in your personal injury claim, contact an experienced Los Angeles personal injury attorney at Ellis Law. Our skilled and knowledgeable personal injury attorneys will work tirelessly to identify any negligent parties for your accident and pursue payment on your behalf from their insurance companies.

Ellis Law realizes there are many personal injury law firms to choose from in Los Angeles. However, not all law firms have the same skills, depth of experience, or resources of Ellis Law. The firm you choose can and will make a significant difference in the outcome of your case.

Contact the understanding and compassionate legal team at Ellis Law today for a confidential and complimentary consultation. We know the impact a serious accident has on your health, finances, and ability to enjoy life. We want to help you realize your legal and personal goals in moving forward with the next chapter of your life. You deserve the best personal injury attorneys in Los Angeles to fight on your side.

Client Review: 5/5 ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Ellis Law is attentive to your needs, it a family based law firm. All the attorneys are available for any and all your needs. Mr. Ellis is very hands on in his practice.

– Eddie Corona

Ellis Law Corporation
2230 E Maple Ave,
El Segundo, CA 90245

Local: (310) 641-3335
Toll Free: 310-300-7777

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