Feel confident knowing your case is in expert hands, so you can focus entirely on healing.
We handle every aspect of your case, from referrals to the best doctors to paperwork and negotiations.
Our mission is to make you whole again by recovering compensation for all your losses—medical bills, lost wages, and more.
A dog attack can leave lasting physical and emotional scars—especially when children are involved. If you or a loved one has been hurt by someone else’s animal, you shouldn’t have to carry the burden alone. At Silva Injury Law, we help victims of dog bites in Merced seek accountability, coverage for medical costs, and peace of mind for the future.
Call (209) 600-4389 or contact us online today for a free, no-obligation consultation.
You can recover the following types of damages, if you were injured in a dog attack that occurred due to someone else’s negligence:
Economic damages, such as medical expenses and loss of earnings, are relatively easy to quantify as they have a specific financial value. Non-economic damages, such as pain and suffering and loss of consortium, are more subjective in value and can make up the biggest part of your claim value in some situations.
While no amount of money will ever make up for the traumatic experience after a serious dog bite or animal attack injury, filing a claim for damages can help ease some of the worry and stress.
To maximize your potential damages, you need to gather all the evidence that supports your injury and the circumstances surrounding the attack. This evidence is important because when calculating dog bite claims, we calculate your economic damages and assign a value (usually determined by multiplying your economic damages by a certain factor that depends on the seriousness of your injuries) to your non-economic ones.
Contact us 24/7 to get an immediate, no-obligation consultation. We will listen to your story and give you our best legal advice.
If you have a viable claim, we’ll offer to represent you on a contingency fee basis, meaning you pay nothing out of pocket.
We’ll handle every aspect of your case so that you can focus on healing from the damage that’s been done.
Understandably, injured victims want to know what the average settlement amount is for Merced dog bites. However, there is no typical amount that cases resolve for. Claims are evaluated individually. The amount of your potential settlement depends on the type and severity of your injuries, your total amount of economic damages, whether the defendant is liable, and more. For example, someone who has a bite injury that heals quickly and without any scarring will have a lower case value than someone who needs multiple scar reduction surgeries.
Injury location and your profession can also impact your case value. Someone who is a model and sustains a bite injury to the face with residual scarring could have a higher case value because the injury could keep them from working again.
Dog bite claims can be complicated, even when the dog owner is clearly liable under the California dog bite statute. Insurance companies look to limit their exposure and will try to minimize the value of your claim. You need an experienced Merced dog bite attorney who can help gather the evidence necessary and handle negotiations with the dog owner’s insurance company. In some cases, it may be necessary to hire experts who can testify as to the extent of your injuries and future treatment.
At Silva Injury Law, we have years of experience helping Merced clients just like you, including for injuries sustained in a dog bite case. We are not afraid to stand up to the insurance companies and take your case to trial if necessary.
Prospective clients typically have a lot of questions about dog bite claims. Here are answers to some of the most common ones to better prepare you for your first meeting with our office.
Dog bites are classified as personal injury claims and fall under the two-year statute of limitations. Therefore, you have two years from the date of injury to resolve your claim or file a lawsuit. Failure to file a lawsuit within the deadline means the court could dismiss your case entirely.
Some states have a one-bite rule, which is a release of responsibility if the dog has never bitten someone before. Basically, the dog gets one free bite before the owner is liable. However, California is a strict liability state. This means the owner is held responsible regardless of whether the dog displays a propensity for being aggressive or has bitten someone previously.
If you provoked the dog, the owner’s insurance company will say they are not liable. If you were trespassing on private property, they will use that as a defense as well. California’s dog bite statute protects you if you are in a public place or lawfully on private property, including the dog owner’s home.
We believe that our duty goes beyond achieving large monetary awards for our clients. We strive first to be decent human beings who seek not to stir up fights, but to solve problems.
If you sustained injuries from a dog bite, you don’t need to handle your claim alone. Let the experienced Merced dog bite lawyer at Silva Injury Law, Inc. help you. We have years of experience handling these types of claims and a proven record of success.
Our experienced legal team also handles other types of injury cases, including:
Contact our office online or call (209) 780-7385 today to schedule a free consultation to learn more about how we can help.
1170 W Olive Ave
Suite G7
Merced, CA 95348
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