California Personal Injury Law Overview

Personal injury law is a very broad area of law that deals with accidents and injuries and deaths due to someone else's negligence or wrongdoing. Personal injury laws vary from state to state, but most personal injury claims involve injuries and deaths resulting from vehicle accidents, medical malpractice, slip and falls, use of defective products, and many other types of cases in which someone gets hurt or dies.

Negligence

In California, negligence happens when a person fails to use what is referred to as "reasonable care," either through actions or inactions. If an injury or death is the result of a lack or absence of reasonable care, then negligence may have occurred. In California, the following four elements must be present in order to prove negligence:

• The person who caused your injury owed you a duty
• He or she breached that duty
• The failure to live up to that duty caused your injury
• You suffered damages

In cases that involve defective products such as tires, cribs, foods, or drugs, the doctrine of strict liability, not negligence, applies. The following four elements must be present for a case to be a strict liability case:

• The product was defective and unreasonable dangerous, even if used properly
• The danger was not "open and obvious"
• The defect caused your injury
• You suffered damages

Monetary compensation

In California, if you win your personal injury case, you may be entitled to compensation such as:

• Past, current and future medical expenses
• Lost income
• Disability
• Disfigurement
• Pain and suffering
• Emotional distress
• Interference with family relationships
• Property damage
• Other costs incurred as a direct result of your injury

Comparative negligence

California uses the doctrine of comparative negligence when the injured are partly responsible for his own injuries. If you are partly responsible for your injuries, your compensation will be reduced by your percentage of the blame. If the judge or jury decided you were 30% responsible for your own injuries, then you can only receive 70% of the compensation.

If you live in California and think you may have a personal injury case, please contact an experienced personal injury lawyer in your area today to schedule a confidential consultation.