The Free Legal Advice You Need from a Los Angeles Personal Injury Attorney
Few things turn life upside-down more completely, and more quickly, than a serious personal injury. Victims must recover financially from property losses while they recover physically from personal injuries. At the same time, insurance company adjusters call constantly with settlement offers. But there’s no way to know if the offer is fair.
Free legal advice online is certainly no substitute for a personal consultation with an experienced Los Angeles personal injury attorney. That’s the only way to obtain a thorough case review. In times like these it’s very nice to have accessible advice from a 24/7 lawyer.
However, solid advice is not enough. If you were hurt because of someone else’s negligence, you need more than free legal advice online. You also need aggressive representation in court. That’s the only way to level the playing field with the big insurance companies. These companies have a posse of lawyers and investigators whose only mission is to deny fair compensation to accident victims. At the Law Offices of Eslamboly Hakim, our one mission is to fight for fair compensation. So, we do not rest until we obtain the best possible result under the circumstances.
24-Hour Legal Advice About Vehicle Collisions
Most car wrecks are not “accidents.” The A-word usually implies that the collision was inevitable and nothing could have possibly prevented it. In almost all cases, that’s not true. Driver error causes over 90 percent of the vehicle collisions in California. Sometimes, this error is simply a moment of carelessness. But generally, negligence, or a lack of care, causes car crashes.
Distracted driving is a good illustration of the two primary negligence theories in California. These wrecks could involve:
- Negligence Per Se: If a negligent driver was using a hand-held cell phone in the moments before the crash, the tortfeasor (negligent driver) might be responsible for damages as a matter of law. That’s assuming emergency responders issued a citation.
- Ordinary Negligence: In most other distracted driving claims, victim/plaintiffs must establish a lack of reasonable care. Evidence of a lack of care includes things like device usage history, erratic driving before the crash, and statements the driver made about distraction. You’d be surprised what drivers freely tell police officers.
If the negligent driver was a taxi driver, Uber driver, truck driver, or other commercial operator, a higher duty of care might apply. So, it is easier to prove negligence, or a lack of care, in these cases. Commercial operator crashes often also involve third-party liability theories, such as respondeat superior.
Unsafe products, like defective tires or accelerators that stick, also cause a handful of car crashes. Generally, manufacturers are strictly liable for the damages their dangerous products cause. Negligence, or lack thereof, is irrelevant to Los Angeles personal injury lawyers, except during the damages phase.
Free Legal Advice Online for Premises Liability Victims
Premises liability describes injuries which occur on someone else’s property. Specific examples include things like:
- Nursing home falls,
- Organizational sexual abuse,
- Dog bites,
- Swimming pool injuries,
- Assaults, and
- Grocery store falls.
In most cases, property owners are legally responsible if they owed a legal duty and they knew about the hazard which caused the injury. In California, most drivers have a duty of reasonable care, and so do most property owners. The exact nature of this duty depends on the facts of the case, such as the extent of the owner’s control over the area and the nature of the injury.
Victim/plaintiffs can use direct evidence to establish actual knowledge. Los Angeles personal injury attorneys often uncover restroom cleaning reports, emails about inadequate security, and other smoking guns during the discovery process. Circumstantial evidence of constructive knowledge (should have known) is also admissible. Most judges use the time-notice rule to evaluate such evidence.
Dog bites work a bit differently. California has a strict liability law. Dog owners are liable for animal attack damages whether or not they knew the dog was potentially vicious.
24-Hour Legal Advice in Medical and Legal Malpractice Claims
Professional drivers have a high duty of care, and so do medical and legal professionals. In fact, these individuals usually have a fiduciary duty toward their patients and clients. All priorities, including making money, are secondary to the needs of the patient or client.
Examples of medical malpractice include things like serious birth injuries and medical misdiagnosis. Since newborns are so vulnerable, a momentary lapse in the delivery room could lead to a lifetime of pain and suffering. Statistically, about one in five patients are misdiagnosed. These mistakes usually mean expensive revision surgery and other high medical bills.
Attorneys do not commit malpractice if they mishandle a case. Sometimes, however, their conduct falls so far below the standard of care that legal action is appropriate. Examples could include missing important deadlines or having an undisclosed financial interest in the case.
Do I Get a Free Lawyer in an Injury Case?
Not exactly. However, our Los Angeles personal injury lawyers charge no money upfront. We do not earn a dime unless we obtain fair compensation for you. That’s just one reason we fight so hard.
Our legal advice is free as well. Generally, the aforementioned personal injury cases are incredibly complex. As mentioned, a confidential consultation with an experienced attorney is the only way to know your legal rights.
As soon as you partner with us, we get to work immediately. We do more than collect evidence on your behalf and give you free legal advice. We also take care of some immediate needs, such as medical care and vehicle replacement.
Most of the claims we handle settle out of court. So, most victims need not go to trial to obtain compensation for their economic losses, such as medical bills, and non-economic losses, such as pain and suffering. Additional punitive damages might be available as well, in some extreme cases.
Your claim for fair compensation begins with free legal advice. For a free consultation with an experienced Los Angeles personal injury lawyer, contact the Law Offices of Eslamboly Hakim. Home and hospital visits are available.
Sharona Eslamboly Hakim is the principal of the firm.
