Turlock Personal Injury Lawyers

Turlock Personal Injury Claims We Handle

Silva Injury Law handles a wide variety of personal injury cases.

Our work often includes such cases as:

Car Accidents

Many people throughout California rely on motor vehicles to get them from location to location, and car crashes are prevalent injury claims. Motor vehicle collisions can often be contentious when determining liability, so a person will want to be sure they have an experienced attorney handling their case.

Motorcycle Accidents

People who ride motorcycles can risk far more severe injuries than occupants of many other vehicles. Other drivers are often negligent in these types of motorcycle crashes because people do not correctly account for the size and speed of motorcycles.

Truck Accidents

Commercial trucks are some of the biggest vehicles on the road, so any large truck being in an accident increases the potential for severe injuries. Truck accidents can be more complicated claims because liability can be more complex, as a trucking company, maintenance company, or another party can all be liable.

Pedestrian Accidents

People traveling by foot have little to no protection when they are involved in pedestrian accidents, which often means they suffer some of the worst possible injuries. Pedestrians will want to work with lawyers for help proving another party was at fault and recovering as much compensation as possible.

Bicycle Accidents

Anybody who rides a bicycle needs to share roads with motor vehicles, but some drivers do not respect bicyclists and end up endangering them with their actions. A bicycle crash can often result in significant injuries, and many drivers are at fault for these collisions.

Premises Liability

When a property owner fails to correct an obvious hazard or warn you about danger, you can hold them liable for damages arising from an accident. People will always want to retain legal counsel in these cases because insurance companies, by and large, immediately dismiss these claims as being the fault of the victims.

Slips and Falls

The slip and fall accident is perhaps the most common premises liability claim. The accident is also extremely common because so many hazards can lead to a person falling. People can obtain many different kinds of damages in these cases.

Wrongful Death

When a person dies in an accident in California, certain members of the deceased person’s family can file a wrongful death action. These lawsuits often seek compensation for the family because of the deceased’s lost income.

Dog Bites

While many of us prefer to think of dogs as being lovable pets, the truth remains that they are unpredictable animals. Certain dog bites can result in serious injuries requiring intensive medical care.

Sexual Assault

Every year, thousands of Californians become victims of sexual assaults. Silva Injury Law represents individuals in clergy sexual abuse, school sexual abuse, college sexual abuse, and medical sexual abuse.

Livestock Accidents

Accidents involving large animals can result in complicated cases with liability disputes. Silva Injury Law has experience handling livestock accident claims and knows how to represent people in these cases.

Drunk Driving Accidents

California prohibits people from driving under the influence (DUI), just the same as every other state in the nation. Still, many people decide to take the risk, and one of the common consequences is that drunk drivers cause automobile accidents. A drunk driving accident seems like a clear-cut negligent driver liability case. However, you will still want to have legal counsel for help obtaining as much compensation as possible.

Distracted Driving Accidents

The unfortunate truth about modern life is that many of us are increasingly distracted by personal devices such as cell phones or tablets. People using these devices while driving are always more likely to cause crashes. A distracted driver will be liable, but you need an attorney’s help proving that a driver was distracted.

All personal injury cases grow complicated because people often have to deal with insurance companies, and insurers have a mission of paying as little as possible to resolve these claims. You do not want to be trying to negotiate a settlement with an insurance company by yourself because an insurer’s agent will try to use your words against you and find any reason to deny your claim.

Compensation For Your Injury-Related Losses

When it comes to any accident in California, a person seeking financial compensation for their losses can often be entitled to certain compensatory damages. A compensatory damages award usually comes in two forms: economic and non-economic damages.

California law defines economic damages as verifiable monetary losses that include medical expenses, loss of earnings, burial costs, loss of use of property, costs of repair or replacement, costs of obtaining substitute domestic services, loss of employment, and loss of business or employment opportunities.

Under California Civil Code § 1431.2(b)(2), non-economic damages are subjective, non-monetary losses that include, but are not limited to, pain and suffering, inconvenience, mental anguish, emotional distress, loss of society and companionship, loss of consortium, injury to reputation and humiliation.

In some cases, victims can obtain punitive damages, which are awards intended more to punish people for reckless or egregious misconduct than to compensate victims. Obtaining punitive damages requires a person to prove that a negligent party acted with malice, oppression, or fraud.

The law defines these terms as follows:

• Malice. Conduct intended by a defendant to cause injury to a plaintiff or despicable conduct carried on by a defendant with a willful and conscious disregard for the rights or safety of others.
• Oppression. Despicable conduct that subjects a person to cruel and unjust hardship in conscious disregard of that person’s rights.
• Fraud. An intentional misrepresentation, deceit, or concealment of a material fact known to a defendant with the intention on the defendant’s part, thereby depriving a person of property or legal rights or otherwise causing injury.

What a Turlock Personal Injury Lawyer Can Do for You

When you hire a Turlock personal injury attorney for your accident case, the first thing they can do for you is to commence their independent investigation into the accident. The attorney can work with professionals to get answers to pressing questions and help determine all liability issues so you can have the strongest possible legal claim.

During the investigation, your lawyer will collect evidence to help prove the case in court. An attorney can obtain a Turlock police accident report, hunt down witnesses, and hire photographers to take pictures of accident scenes and possibly retain certain forms of physical evidence.

A lawyer will work with you to obtain other valuable evidence, such as your medical records, employment documents, and reports relating to property damage claims. Once an attorney has completed an investigation, they can prepare a demand letter to the insurance company for the negligent party.

Very few insurers will honor demand letters, which often prompts settlement discussions. People need to retain legal counsel during settlement negotiations because people who have lawyers always obtain more compensation than individuals who choose to represent themselves.

When settlement negotiations are unproductive, your lawyer may have to file pleadings in court. They will prepare a complaint against the negligent party and lay out the legal arguments as to why they are at fault. The complaint will also specify an amount for damages.

Moving a case toward trial will often compel an insurance company to pursue a settlement more vigorously, but some cases may continue to proceed toward trial. If a personal injury case does go to trial, the personal injury attorney can represent the victim in court.

A personal injury lawyer can also help people who have difficulty obtaining medical care because they cannot pay medical bills. An attorney can negotiate a medical lien under which a person will pay all medical bills out of their settlement or jury award after their case.