Pasadena Personal Injury Lawyer

At our firm, we don’t charge upfront costs or retainer fees. We work exclusively on a contingency fee basis, meaning we only get paid if you get paid. Our fee is a pre-agreed percentage of any settlement or judgment we secure for you.

Under California’s personal injury statute of limitations, you have two years to file a lawsuit over your accident. Once this deadline passes, you permanently lose your right to recover compensation. Therefore, it’s critical to act quickly to preserve your rights.

The compensation you can recover for your accident depends on the facts of your case, so there is no standard settlement amount. Factors that influence the amount you can recover include the nature and severity of your injury, the strength of your case, your share of the fault for the accident, the available insurance coverage, the defendant’s culpability, the effects on your life, and more. Your attorney can estimate how much your injury claim may be worth before you go through with pursuing a claim.

The vast majority of our personal injury cases are settled out of court, so most of our clients never have to set foot inside a courtroom. However, if we can’t reach a fair settlement and need to take your case to trial, our attorneys will prep you thoroughly to make the experience as stress-free as possible. We’ll tell you exactly what to expect and help you practice testifying so that by the time you get to court, you’ll feel like you’ve done it a million times before.

The time it takes to complete a personal injury claim depends on the complexity of the circumstances associated with the case. Factors like multiple defendants, severe injuries, unclear or contradictory evidence, court backlogs, the unwillingness of the parties to negotiate, and other complicating factors can stretch out a case for years. However, most cases are resolved within 6 to 18 months. Your attorney can help you estimate how long your case will likely take.

Two formulas are commonly used to calculate pain and suffering damages: the multiplier and the per diem methods. The multiplier method takes the economic damages, like medical costs and lost wages, and multiplies them by an amount typically between 1 and 5 to determine a pain and suffering award. 

The per diem method calculates an amount that approximates the cost of the pain you experience every day, then multiplies that by the number of days your recovery is expected to last. For example, if your per diem rate for pain and suffering is $200, and your recovery will last 180 days, you would receive $36,000 in pain and suffering damages.

Under California law, insurance companies have 15 days after receiving an initial claim to respond with necessary forms and instructions to complete the process. They must accept or deny a claim within 40 days of receiving proof of the claim. After the claim has been accepted, the insurer has 30 days to pay out the settlement. In total, the entire process can only take up to 85 days.