At Petrov Personal Injury Lawyers, we live by our slogan: “Your best interests come first.” This is not just a motto, it is our mission. Once you select us to represent you, you become part of our family, and your injury is our injury. We understand that you’re trying to put your life back together, and we’re here to help you every step of the way.
Attempting to resolve any but the most trivial claim on your own will pit you against experienced insurance industry executives who have negotiated thousands of claims. Since the more money they pay out, the more money they lose, their sole purpose is to reduce the value of your claim as much as possible – even to zero if possible.
Insurance adjusters carry a bag of a thousand tricks into any claim settlement negotiation. You might not believe, however, how many tricks they will no longer bother trying once they know we are representing you.
If you were injured on another person’s property in Oceanside, CA, we can help you pursue a claim. Contact our experienced Oceanside premises liability attorneys, you can call 619-678-1016 today to set up a free case review.
How Our Oceanside Premises Liability Lawyers Can Help You Fight for Your Rights
Here at Petrov Personal Injury Lawyers, we’ve been fighting for the rights of personal injury victims, right here in Oceanside and surrounding areas, since 2011. Consequently, there isn’t much that can happen that we haven’t seen before. All told, we have recovered over $40 million dollars for our injured clients.
It would be impossible for us to list all of the different ways our Oceanside personal injury lawyers can help you win your premises liability claim. Below, however, is a very abbreviated list of some of those ways:
- Tailor-made representation. We realize that every client is unique and every case is unique. We don’t offer cookie-cutter solutions; instead, we offer a case strategy that is fitted to your needs and priorities.
- Multilingual support in English, Spanish, and Russian, if you need it.
- Determining the true value of your claim. It might be worth more than you think.
- Negotiating with the insurance company or whoever else is responsible for paying your claim. Meanwhile, you retain full authority to approve or refuse any settlement offer.
- Locating expert witnesses if you need them. We enjoy long-standing professional relationships with some of California’s most experienced expert witnesses.
- Unearthing hidden facts and evidence that could turn out to be crucial to your case.
- Documenting your losses. It can be challenging to find ways to document an intangible claim, such as pain and suffering. But we can do it, just as we have on many previous occasions.
- Drafting formal legal documents, such as a formal complaint or a settlement agreement, to the extent that they become necessary.
- Representing you in court, should it come to that. It rarely does.
The first step towards justice awaits your response, and you can take it today. Contact our law offices serving Oceanside, California, today for a free case review.
How Do Premises Liability Claims Work?
Premises liability holds a property owner (or, in some cases, a renter) liable for injuries that occurred on their property if they failed to keep it safe for visitors. The owner has a “duty of care” to perform a reasonable inspection of the property and to either repair any dangerous conditions or warn visitors of them.
The distinctions between “invitees,” “licensees,” and “trespassers” that many other states rely on do not apply in California. A California property owner becomes liable by breaching their duty of care towards anyone on the property. Whether the property owner breached their duty of care depends on the following factors:
- The property’s location;
- The likelihood that someone would enter the property in the manner that the injury victim did;
- The likelihood of harm generated by the dangerous condition;
- The seriousness of the harm generated by the dangerous condition;
- Whether the owner had actual knowledge of the dangerous condition;
- The difficulty of repairing the condition; and
- The degree of the owner’s control over the dangerous condition.
So will California law hold a property owner liable to a burglar who was injured while robbing the property owner’s home? No. The property owner wins that case as long as they can establish that the injured trespasser was committing a felony at the time of the injury.
Other types of trespassers, however, can indeed hold a property owner liable for their injuries. The rationale for this law is that it encourages property owners to repair dangerous conditions.
Special Case: Slip and Fall Claims
Slip and fall claims merit special mention because they generate more personal injury claims than any other type of premises liability accident. You might slip and fall at a construction site, for example. Alternatively, you might slip and fall on a wet floor in the grocery store. In slip and fall claims, the focus is typically whether the owner remedied the dangerous condition within a reasonable time (by mopping up a spill, for instance).
Special Case: Third-Party Claims in Workplace Accident Cases
Normally, after a workplace accident, you are stuck with the very meager offerings of the workers’ compensation system—economic damages only, and not even all of those. At least you don’t have to prove fault to win a workers’ compensation claim. But you do have to give up pain and suffering and other non-economic damages, which typically amount to more than half of the total value of a workers’ compensation claim.
There is a loophole in the workers’ compensation system, however. If you can find a third party (not your employer) who is responsible for your injuries, you can seek both economic damages and non-economic damages. In a premises liability case, this law might allow you to sue the owner of a construction site for which your employer works as a general contractor or subcontractor.
What Damages are Available for Oceanside Premises Liability Injury Claims?
California recognizes three types of personal injury damages–economic damages, non-economic damages, and punitive damages:
- Economic damages: Medical bills, lost wages, out–of–pocket expenses, diminished earning capacity, and more.
- Non-economic damages: Intangible damages such as pain and suffering, emotional distress, loss of enjoyment of life, and more.
- Punitive damages: An extra amount that the court awards if the defendant acted with fraud, oppressive, or malice. Courts normally do not award punitive damages, even to victorious plaintiffs.
You must prove every dime of your compensatory (economic and non-economic) damages. You must prove that you qualify for punitive damages by “clear and convincing evidence,” which is a higher than ordinary standard of proof.
Comparative Negligence
If the accident was partially caused by your own negligence (you stepped into an open manhole while intoxicated, for example), the defendant can use the comparative negligence defense. This defense, if successful, will refuse the defendant’s liability by whatever percentage a court decides your own negligence deserves.
For example, sharing 25% of the blame means your damages can be reduced by 25%. If you hire an experienced attorney, they can advocate for you and work to ensure you aren’t assigned undue blame.
What Does It Cost To Hire a Personal Injury Lawyer in San Diego County?
Hiring a personal injury lawyer will cost you precisely $0.00 upfront.
Unlike your relationship with the insurance company or the at-fault party, your relationship with Petrov Personal Injury Lawyers will not be inherently antagonistic.
Under our contingency fee arrangement, you will owe us nothing in legal fees unless we win a verdict or settlement for you. Since the amount you will owe us will be proportionate to the amount we win for you, our interests are harmonious – we win if and only if you win too. With us, it’s either win-win or lose-lose. And that motivates us.
If we win, our legal fees equal a pre-agreed percentage of the amount you win—typically, 30% to 40% of the amount you win. This percentage can vary depending on the amount of effort required to handle the case. A case that goes to trial, for example, is likely to require more effort than a case that the parties resolve through settlement.
What Is the Statute of Limitations Deadline for California Personal Injury Claims?
The California personal injury statute of limitations mandates that you file a lawsuit over your claim, if at all, within two years of your injury. If you are filing a wrongful death claim on behalf of a loved one who died from an accident, the two-year statute of limitations clock starts ticking on the victim’s date of death. Limited exceptions apply to these deadlines.
Schedule a Free Case Evaluation With an Oceanside Premises Liability Lawyer
If you were injured on someone else’s property in Oceanside, CA, you may have a valid premises liability claim against them. With help from our qualified Oceanside premises liability attorneys, you’ll be able to take the time you need to rest and recover from your injuries.
In the meantime, we’ll work hard to get you the compensation you need and deserve to move forward. Contact us today for more information and to set up your free case review.
Visit Our Personal Injury Law Office in Oceanside, CA
702 Civic Center Dr. Suite 105,
Oceanside, CA 92054
(619) 678-1016
