Torrance Personal Injury Lawyer

Torrance falls under Southwest District of the Los Angeles Superior Court. We checked all the ZIP Codes in Torrance using the Filing Court Locator and they all state that an Unlimited Civil Claim will be heard at Torrance Courthouse (825 Maple Ave) and Inglewood Courthouse (One Regent St, Inglewood). According to a general order for 2024 all new Personal Injury Claims will be filed in the district of the incident. While you may live elsewhere, if you have been involved in a collision in Torrance it will be dealt with in this district. Your lawyer will decide which court to file. The Inglewood Courthouse deals with small claims from Torrance. Serious injury claims are unlikely to be small claims.

Not usually. The City state that PCH, Western Avenue and part of Hawthorne Blvd North of PCH are maintained by Caltrans. If you are making a claim the road was dangerous (faulty signals, poor road surfacing etc) you will be making a claim against the State via the Department of General Services. You must make this claim within 6 months. There is a $25 filing fee unless waived. Most claims on the PCH will be driver related meaning you will be claiming against their insurance. The normal 2 year time limit will apply. Some claims may be a mixture. If you are unsure treat the 6 month time limit as your real time limit until your lawyer looks at your claim.

Make a Written Claim Against The City within 6 months. The City Clerk's Office can accept your Claim for Damages Form by post or in person. Address: 3031 Torrance Blvd, Torrance, CA 90503. Cannot be emailed or faxed. Once received you will have a claim number. A claims adjuster will investigate and the City will make a decision within 4-6 weeks. If they reject your claim you have a short time limit to make a claim. Do not put your rejection letter in a drawer! Keep copies of everything.

A little. Torrance came 5th out of 62 similar cities for children under the age of 15 having injuries/death in 2023 according to the State. This is not an unusual situation to be in. The claim will be made by the parent/guardian on behalf of the child. The 2 year time limit can be paused while they are a minor. However if you are making a claim against a City Vehicle/School Crossing/Public Sidewalk this will not apply. They will still be subject to the 6 month Government claim. Any settlement for a child will have to be approved by the court to ensure the money is protected until they are an adult.

The driver will be liable for aggravating your existing issues. Even if a healthy person would have been hurt less, what matters is how much worse it got. If you have old records this will help. If your chart shows you were working full shifts and sleeping through the night it will be easier to prove the difference. Tell all your doctors about your existing issue and when your new pain started. The first thing Insurers will look for is a pre-existing issue you didn't mention. If they find one they will have an easy argument. Keep a brief diary of what you cannot do now, such as sitting during your commute on the 405 or picking up your child.

Possibly. California allows Hospitals (including public ones such as Harbor-UCLA) who treated the injured party to place a lien on the recovery. This will not affect your salary but will affect how much you receive from the at fault party. The law states you cannot have more than 50% of your settlement/judgment taken after previous liens. You may also have rights to reclaim from your health insurance, Medi-Cal or Medicare. We will ask for itemized billing, look at the charges and negotiate the lien before splitting the money. Do not ignore the bill.

Often there will be multiple parties. Obviously the driver will be an obvious party but the motor carrier they work for will usually take responsibility for their actions while working and the maintenance of the truck. If there was an issue with the cargo moving or overload then the company who loaded it could be at fault. Often there will be multiple owners. One company may own the tractor and another the trailer. We will find all the parties using The Collision report, Dot number on the cab and insurance filings. Electronic Logs and Engine data can be overwritten so we will send a preservation letter within days.

That the property owner/business knew or should have known of the danger and did not fix it or warn you. If the spill had been there for an hour this will be a different case to if it had just happened seconds before you slipped. Ask the manager to complete an incident report. Get a copy/report number. Take pictures of the floor, shoes and lighting. Ask if there is a camera in that aisle as stores overwrite their footage. If you have slipped on a Public Sidewalk the City may get involved. Any claims against them will be subject to the 6 month rule.