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Representing Yourself in a California Personal Injury Case is Just Plain Dumb!

California Personal Injury Lawyer, Norman Gregory Fernandez, Esq. Recently I talked to a man who was rear ended in a car accident, and suffered injuries. He received medical treatment which totaled approximately $5,000.00. He stated that the insurance company told him to submit a demand, which he did. He then told me that the insurance company kept telling him to wait just a little longer, and that they would work it out, etc.

Well guess what, the man waited for two years and two days after the accident to call me for a consultation. He is basically shit out of luck; S.O.L. for short! You see you only have two years from the date of the injury to file a lawsuit. This is also known as the statute of limitations for filing a law suit in this type of case. Ignorance of this fact is no excuse for waiting.

Had the man called me one week before the statute of limitations expired, I might have taken the case and filed the requisite lawsuit for him. Unfortunately for him, it was too late. In this mans zeal to in his mind to get more money by not getting an attorney, he got nothing. Little did he know that in the vast majority of cases, a plaintiff in a personal injury case gets more money with an attorney, then without.

I recently spoke to a lady who also happened to work for an insurance company. She had a car accident and was still treating. She was told she may need surgery. The defendant insurance company offered her $7,000.00. She talked to some (moronic) friends at her insurance company who told her it was a good offer, and she took it. She signed a settlement and release of all claims, her case is over. She calls me after the fact to see if she can get out of it. The answer was no! She is stuck with her dumb decision.

I always ask myself why persons injured in a motor vehicle accident, slip and fall, dog bite, or other type of personal injury would not at least call a personal injury attorney like me to obtain at least a free consultation to find out what their rights are? If someone was very sick would they not go see a doctor? Sure they would. So why do people try to handle personal injury cases on their own. Don’t they realize it is the dumbest thing you can do? Don’t they realize that they may be entitled to untold thousands or more in compensation for their injuries? Don’t they realize that personal injury attorney’s such as myself charge nothing unless we recover money for you.

Now granted there are tons of personal injury attorney’s out there. In my opinion most are just settlement mills looking for the quick buck. Not me or my firm!

If you have a personal injury case in California, call me for a free consultation at 800-816-1529 ext. 1. If I can help you, I will. I will fight to get you as much money as possible in your case.

Don’t be cheap, and don’t be dumb, retain an attorney to get more money than you will on your own. Don’t be like the fools above, instead of cutting out attorneys fees; they cut themselves totally out of any real settlement!

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California Medical Malpractice Cases In a Nutshell.

Written on March 4, 2009 by Norman Gregory Fernandez, Esq. in Damages, Editorial, Medical Malpractice, Personal Injury

Medical Malpractice in a nutshell

For those of you who do not know what a medical malpractice case is, I will describe it to you in basic language. Medial malpractice is the failure of a doctor to perform like other similar doctors in the community, and this failure causes you damages.

Medical malpractice usually includes health care providers such as doctors, hospitals, nurses, dentists, or anyone providing health care services.

Some examples of medical malpractice would be: a doctor operating on the wrong body part; a doctor removing the wrong body part; failure to diagnose a medical condition; misdiagnosis; prescribing the wrong medications; leaving tools or devices in the body after surgery; negligently performing surgery; failing to warn about possible ramifications of a medical procedure, and so on.

A medical malpractice victim is entitled to special and general damages. Special damages are out of pocket losses such as medical bills, loss of wages, prescriptions, travel to and from a medical provider and so on. General Damages are pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, emotional distress, etc.

Since the 1970’s, the State of California has limited or capped general damages in medical malpractice cases to $250,000 no matter what your loss is.

I know that the $250,000 cap on general damages is absurd and way behind the times. I may discuss how unfair this cap is in another article. The purpose of the article is simply to discuss a California medical malpractice case.

If you are a victim of medical malpractice in California you can basically recover your out of pocket loss, and up to $250,000 in general damages. Because of the $250,000 cap in California, many personal injury attorneys have stopped doing medical malpractice cases because they are expensive to prosecute.

Victims of medical malpractice in California have only 1 year from the time they knew or should have known about the malpractice to sue. Furthermore, they must notify the health care provider in writing of the fact that they are going to sue, before they can sue.

For this reason it is important for medical malpractice victims to find a medical malpractice personal injury attorney such as myself, as soon as possible.

To prove that there was medical malpractice in a particular case, an expert witness is almost always necessary. In most medical malpractice cases, the expert needs to be retained at the outset of the case, to determine if there was indeed a failure of a healthcare provider to act as similar providers in the community would have.

In closing, if you feel like you may be the victim of medical malpractice, call my office forthwith at 800-816-1529 ext. 1. I will give you a free consultation.

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Tags: attorney, california medical malpractice, Damages, law, lawyer, norman gregory fernandez, Personal Injury

Ventura, California Woman Impaled During Car Accident Dies

Written on September 22, 2008 by Norman Gregory Fernandez, Esq. in Car Accidents, Damages, Editorial, News, Other Motor Vehicle Accidents, Personal Injury, Wrongful Death

Ventura California Car Accident Lawyer VENTURA, California —

The Ventura County Medical Examiner’s office says a Ventura woman impaled by a metal pole after a dramatic car accident died from her injuries.

Armando Chavez, a senior deputy with the Medical Examiner’s office, says Louise Nemerson was rushed to Ventura County Medical Center where she died during surgery on Thursday.

Police say Nemerson’s sports utility vehicle collided with another vehicle, went over the center median into opposing lanes of traffic. Nemerson went down an embankment and crashed through a chain-link fence where she was impaled by a metal pole.

Nemerson worked part time at Ventura College at the student health center.

We send out thoughts and prayers out to the family of Louise Nemerson.

If you or your family have lost a loved one in a car accident, or other fatal motor vehicle accident, you have in most cases, the right to recover compensatory damages for wrongful death, so long as your loved one was not at fault in the accident.

If you or your family have lost a loved one in a car accident, or other fatal motor vehicle accident, you may call our firm now for a free consultation at 800-816-1529, extension 1, or check out our main personal injury website at http://thepersonalinjury.com.

Ventura Car Accident Attorney

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Tags: attorney, Car Accident, Damages, law, lawyer, Personal Injury, Wrongful Death

Chatsworth California Metrolink train crash kills 25, injures hundreds, and wreaks havoc on my neighborhood.

Written on September 15, 2008 by Norman Gregory Fernandez, Esq. in Damages, Editorial, News, Other Motor Vehicle Accidents, Personal Injury, Train Accidents

Chatsworth Train Accident Attorney Norman Gregory Fernandez discusses Metrolink Train Accident in Chatsworth, California While driving home on the Ronald Reagan Freeway Friday night to pick up my gal, I observed many helicopters hovering over the area where I live. I decided to turn on KFWB News Radio to find out what was going on. I heard on the news that there had been a horrendous train accident within 1 mile of my home. Apparently a Metrolink commuter train collided head-on with a commercial freight train. It was further announced that the commuter Metrolink train had approximately 225 persons on board.

I grew up in Chatsworth California. I have left the area only a few times throughout my life when I went in the Air Force, lived in San Francisco, and in Hollywood California, but I have always come back home to Chatsworth California.

I not only live in Chatsworth California, but I work as an attorney in Chatsworth California as well. Chatsworth California is my home base for practicing law, and living.

Suffices to say on Friday night the authorities had Desoto Avenue closed, as well as Topanga Canyon Blvd.

As I was traveling west on the Ronald Reagan Freeway, heading towards home, I heard chilling eyewitness accounts of the carnage that took place during and after the train wreck, by way of accounts eyewitnesses on KFWB News Radio.

I was unable to get off of the freeway at my normal exit, and had to double back in Simi Valley, and exit at Tampa Avenue, to try to get home. I eventually had to call the Los Angeles police department Devonshire division to find out how I could get home in my car. There were literally hundreds of firefighters and police officers all over my neighborhood. I felt extreme grief for the victims of the train accident; however I also needed to get home as well. I was finally able to get home at approximately 10:00 PM Friday night.

Once at home, I watched the live local news accounts of the carnage that ensued in the Metrolink train accident. It made me sick to hear of all the people that died in the train accident, and all the people that were injured in the train accident. You must understand, as a child growing up in Chatsworth California, my friends and I used to play on the train tracks precisely where the Metrolink train accident happened. Furthermore, we used to walk through the tunnel close to where the accident occurred all the time. It is all part of the famous Chatsworth Park area where I live.

As a lifelong resident of Chatsworth California, I would like to send my prayers and condolences to the family members of all the victims of the Chatsworth Metrolink train crash, as well as to all of those were injured in the train accident.

On a more disturbing note, I have read numerous stories about the Chatsworth Metrolink train accident, on what I will call “bottom dweller” personal injury attorney blogs. Some of these stories were literally posted on the evening of the train accident. On the bottom of these blog entries, these bottom dwellers have the nerve to sign their story with “Chatsworth train accident attorney.” Not one of these attorneys lives or works in Chatsworth California. One of them is from downtown Los Angeles. It appears that the only reason they wrote their story, or plagiarized it from a reputable news source, is to try to get some of the victims of the Chatsworth train accident to sign up with their law firm. Maybe they were hoping that their name would come up in some kind of Internet search, I don’t know. I feel that this kind of behavior is unethical, immoral, and despicable. Heck, if given the chance, some of these attorneys would have probably been illegally passing out business cards at the scene of the train accident.

If you are a family member of one of the persons who died in the train accident, or were injured in the Chatsworth Metrolink train accident, do not under any circumstances retain one of the bottom dweller attorneys that call themselves Chatsworth train accident attorneys, or would write a story, or “have their marketing company” write a story on the evening of the accident. It is disgraceful.

Because this accident occurred so close to where I live, and in an area where I played as a kid growing up, and where I personally practice law, my law firm will hereby make the following offer to any family member of one of the deceased victims of the Chatsworth Metrolink train accident, or persons injured in the Chatsworth Metrolink train accident: the law offices of Norman Gregory Fernandez and Associates will reduce our contingency fee rate to 25% for all claims that are settled in pre-litigation. This offer only applies to family members and victims of the Chatsworth Metrolink train accident.

You may call my law firm at 800-816-1529 extension #1 for a free consultation, or go to my personal injury website at www.thepersonalinjury.com to read more about my firm.

If you or your family were a victim of the Chatsworth Metrolink train accident, and retain our firm at the reduced rate of 25% contingency fee for all claims that are settled in pre-litigation, we will immediately send our investigator out to you to sign you up to make things more convenient for you.

I must stress one thing that is very important; you have only six months from the date of the accident, September 12, 2008, to file a claim against Metrolink. I have handled many cases against the Los Angeles County Metropolitan transit Authority. Trust me, you must act fast. If your claim is not filed within six months, you most probably will lose your right to recover compensatory damages in this case.

God be with you.

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Tags: attorney, Chatsworth, Damages, law, Metrolink Train Disaster, News, norman gregory fernandez, Personal Injury, Wrongful Death

What Do You Do When Your Motel or Hotel Has Bed Bugs? Don’t the let Bed Bugs Bite!

Written on July 13, 2008 by Norman Gregory Fernandez, Esq. in Assault and Battery, Car Accidents, Damages, Dangerous Conditions, Dog Bite, Editorial, Intentional Torts, Motorcycle Accidents, News, Other Motor Vehicle Accidents, Personal Injury, Premises Liability, Products Liability, Slip and Fall, Train Accidents, Trip and Fall, Truck Accidents, Wrongful Death

California Personal Injury Lawyer Norman Gregory Fernandez discusses an inkeepers duty not to allow bed bug infestations in hotel rooms, or motel rooms. Imagine you and your spouse have been traveling for many hours on a major interstate highway on your motorcycle or in your car, truck or other motor vehicle.

You and your spouse are very tired, sleepy, and decide to get a hotel or motel for the evening. You stop at what you think is big name, trustworthy, reputable motel chain to get a room for the night.

As you are sleeping you start to feel itchy, and that something is wrong. Imagine waking up to find out that you have been bitten hundreds of time by bed bugs or other blood eating insects! You have got that right bed bugs! Imagine the bites becoming infected; for weeks you suffer not only with the infection, but when it goes away, you have permanent scarring. Here is a link to the Harvard School of Public Health which explains what bed bugs are in great detail.

What do you do?

Well the first thing that you should do under the circumstances is seek medical treatment as soon as possible. A few bites are one thing, but hundreds are a whole different matter. You could have an allergic reaction, they could become infected, you could suffer scarring, etc. Prompt medical treatment will most likely give you a better prognosis.

The next thing you should do is take pictures of your bites. If you do not have a digital camera, buy a disposable camera and take pictures.

You should then notify the hotel / motel owner or manager of what happened as soon as reasonably possible, preferably before you check out. Obviously you do not want to go back into the room unless you have to, and anything taken out of the room by you needs to be washed, scrubbed, thrown out, etc., or you risk taking the bed bugs with you.

You should then immediately call a California Personal Injury Attorney such as me if your incident occurred anywhere in the State of California or another personal injury attorney if your incident occurred outside of California. You should call a personal injury attorney within 24 to 48 hours of your incident because of all the things that need to be done in your case, and because of all of the things you can do to screw your case up on your own.

Motel / Hotel (“Innkeepers”) owners have a higher duty of due care than normal to ensure that their rooms are safe and habitable for paying guest. If they allow bedbug infestations, or other insect infestations to cause injuries to their guests, they are liable for all damages proximately caused for their failure to prevent such infestations.

Check out my California Personal Injury Website Here for valuable information about personal injury cases. Remember, only a fool has himself or herself for a client.

If you have been the victim of bed bugs in a hotel / motel, a car accident, a truck accident, a motorcycle accident, a dog bite, a slip and fall, or any other personal injury, anywhere in the State of California that you think may have been caused by someone else, or where you think someone else may be responsible for your injuries, give us a call 7 days a week, 24 hours a day at 800-816-1529, extension 1. We will give you a free consultation over the phone, and tell you what we think about your case.

If we believe that we can help you, you may retain our firm on a contingency basis (in most cases) which means that you will not have to pay any money out of your pocket, unless we recover for you.

If you do not feel like calling you can click here to submit your California case to us online. If we feel that we can help you, we will respond to you. Either way, you have nothing to lose, and potentially everything to gain.

Take care all and remember; don’t let the bed bugs bite!

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Tags: attorney, Car Accident, Damages, law, lawyer, norman gregory fernandez, Personal Injury, Truck Accident

Politicizing the Cost of Health Care by Blaming Trial Lawyers; What a Load of Crap!

Written on April 9, 2008 by Norman Gregory Fernandez, Esq. in Damages, Editorial, Medical Malpractice, News, Off Topic Articles

California Medical Malpractice Lawyer Norman Gregory Fernandez Discusses Medical Malpractice You have heard President Bush blame trial attorneys for the cost of health care being so high; you have heard a certain political party blame trial attorneys for the cost of health care being so high, and now another article is circulating on the Internet blaming trial attorneys for the cost of health care being so high. What you are hearing folks is flat out crap. It is time to air out the truth and call the B.S. for what it is; B.S.

We trial lawyers help personal injury victims including victims of medical malpractice, when nobody else will. We are usually the last and only recourse for persons who have been harmed. Do you think that a doctor, hospital, or other health care institution is going to just volunteer to compensate you for your losses?

What is Medical Malpractice? Medical Malpractice in a nutshell is a person suffering injuries or damages, as a result of a doctor or health care institutions failing to act as an ordinary professional in the community would. In other words, the doctor, hospital, or provider, causes you injuries by screwing up, usually with devastating results!

As we all know or should know, human beings are not perfect, and will sometimes make mistakes. Just like most commuters buy car insurance to protect themselves in case they screw up, doctors do the same thing.

It is not the fault of personal injury trial lawyers for a doctor or hospitals, screw-up, and it certainly is not the victims fault. We personal injury lawyers are the ones that go to bat for people who have been injured as a result of a doctor or hospital screw-up. It is our jobs and it is what we do. We help the victims to obtain compensation for their loss.

How could we be the ones who are responsible the high cost of medical care? In fact it is the insurance companies who are responsible for the high cost of medical malpractice insurance. I would like to think that the cost of malpractice insurance is based upon risk, but we all know the insurance companies exist to make a profit and that is it.

Now I like doctors, we all like doctors. They are the ones we turn to when we are sick. They make mistakes just like the rest of us, and they should be made to pay if lets say they cut off the wrong leg, fail to diagnose a serious condition, or leave tools in a patient after surgery. You get the picture.

With that being said, maybe doctors should adopt more stringent guidelines to discipline and police themselves, so that the bad doctors are weeded out. Maybe that will decrease their malpractice insurance rates.

California has had a cap of $250,000.00 on general damages for medical malpractice cases since the 1970’s. General Damages are damages such as pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, emotional distress, etc. Imagine only being able to get a maximum of $250,000 if a doctor cuts off the wrong leg, or fails to diagnose a cancer that would have been curable it caught in time, etc. Victims are still entitled to out of pocket losses.

So there it is. The cost of health care is through the roof. If anything it is greed that is driving up the cost. If universal health care was adopted, then maybe our nation would see some relief.

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Tags: attorney, california medical malpractice, Damages, law, lawyer, norman gregory fernandez, Personal Injury

How Much Money is Your Personal Injury Case Worth?

California Personal Injury Lawyer Norman Gregory Fernandez discusses case valuations. As a personal Injury Lawyer the number one question I get from every prospective or existing client is; how much money will I get for my personal injury case?

The actual answer to the question is that no personal injury lawyer can honestly tell you the answer to the question unless they have E.S.P. or are clairvoyant.

Not only is each case is different, but an attorney would have to be a clairvoyant to be able to predict the outcome of your case. If you do find a personal injury lawyer who promises he will get you a million dollars in a rear ender soft tissue injury case, ask him to put it in writing and then sign up with him or her! They would be contractually obligated to get you what they promised if they put their promise in writing! I know of NO Reputable Personal Injury Lawyer who would make such promises, or put such promises in writing! All we as personal injury lawyers can promise to do is our best to get you what you are entitled to. Anyway…………..

I have heard stories of some shysters out there promising the world to potential new personal injury clients, just to get them to sign up with their office. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is! A good and reputable personal injury lawyer cannot, and will not predict the outcome of a case during an initial consultation where the damages that have been incurred are not even known yet.

With that being said a good personal injury lawyer can look at the many factors that come into play in your particular personal injury case to determine what a case may be worth with regards to settlement value. There is a huge difference between a lawyer telling you what you case may be worth without knowing your damages, and a lawyer telling you what the settlement value of your case may be after a through examination of the facts and damages in your case once they are ascertained.

Did you pick up on how I talk about settlement value? You see there is a huge difference between the settlement value of a case, and a potential jury verdict! Once a case goes before a jury, all bets are off. The value of your case is what they jury decides it is worth no matter what is argued. They can decide to not give you anything at all. Jury awards in California depend on 9 out of 12 jurors reaching a consensus on your case. Some courthouses and counties are known to be more liberal or conservative than others which is also a factor in what a jury may do. It is therefore impossible for any personal injury lawyer to predict what a jury will do with a case once they get it.

Experienced personal injury lawyers such as myself, have formulas that we use to determine what a good settlement value of a case may be both before and/or during litigation. After doing so many cases for so many years, I have a very good idea of what the settlement value of a particular case may be.

Personal injury case valuations depend on many things such as; nature and extent of injuries; medical bills; future medical bills; permanent bodily damage; out of pocket expenses, etc. Obviously a person who tries to work their own personal injury case without a lawyer has no clue what they are entitled to, and will end up getting little or nothing if they go at it on their own.

So going back to the original question; what is your personal injury case worth? The answer is that it all depends! Your first step should be to retain a competent personal injury lawyer and then go from there.

If you, your family, or your friends have been injured anywhere in the State of California, you may call my office for a free consultation at 800-816-1529.

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Tags: attorney, Damages, law, lawyer, norman gregory fernandez, Personal Injury

California is Cracking Down on Uninsured Motorist! How Being Uninsured Hurts your Personal Injury Case.

Written on December 4, 2007 by Norman Gregory Fernandez, Esq. in Car Accidents, Damages, Editorial, Insurance, Motorcycle Accidents, Other Motor Vehicle Accidents, Personal Injury, Truck Accidents

California Car Accident Lawyer Norman Gregory Fernandez discusses the harsh penalties in California for driving with no insurance Big brother is not playing games anymore. The State of California has implemented a system whereby as of October 1, 2006, the DMV begin a systematic review of the 22.4 million private cars, light trucks and motorcycles registered in the state.

If your motorcycle, car, truck or other motor vehicle is found to be uninsured you will get a 30 day warning letter. If you fail to get insurance after that the State will suspend you registration. If you are found to be driving without a proper registration, your car can be seized by the State, and you can face fines of up to $1,000.00.

This is no joke folks. If you are driving around without insurance you will eventually be dinged.

Furthermore, insurance providers are now required by the State to notify the DMV if your insurance is cancelled or expired.

What does this mean to you? It means if you are driving around with no insurance you are screwed. The State will eventually catch up to you. The days of buying insurance to get your registration and plates, only to cancel one month later are over.

If you get into a motorcycle, car or other motor vehicle accident and have no insurance, you face losing your drivers license for up to a year, fines of up to $2,000.00, and the possibility of being hit with a civil judgment which requires you to pay for the damage you have caused.

The minimum liability insurance requirements in the State are presently $10,000.00 for property damage, $15,000.00 per person, and $30,000.00 per occurrence.

The purpose of the law is to supposedly make it fair to the people that do pay for insurance, and to drive down insurance rates. I agree that it is not fair that law abiding citizens pay for insurance while 15% of the people in the State do not, however, and as usual, the insurance companies will make out like bandits with this new law. I doubt seriously that insurance rates will go down.

As a personal injury lawyer I can tell you that it pains me to see someone get hit by an uninsured motorist so it is good that the State is cracking down on this issue. However to be really fair the State should force the insurance companies to lower their rates in return for this law.

There is one other thing to note; if you are uninsured and you get into an accident that is not your fault, no will only be able to recover out of pocket losses and that is it! You will legally not be able to get compensation for pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, and emotional distress, otherwise known as General Damages!

To add insult to injury you could lose your drivers license for 1 year and have to pay up to $2,000.00 in fines for driving without insurance.

The bottom line; get liability insurance. The cost of not having insurance is much greater than the cost of getting insurance. If you cannot afford liability insurance; do not drive!

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Tags: Car Accident, Damages, law, lawyer, norman gregory fernandez, Personal Injury

Car, Motorcycle, Truck, and other Motor Vehicle Cases in California; The Burden of Proof.

Written on December 3, 2007 by Norman Gregory Fernandez, Esq. in Bus Accidents, Car Accidents, Damages, Editorial, Insurance, Motorcycle Accidents, Other Motor Vehicle Accidents, Personal Injury, Truck Accidents

California Car Accident Lawyer Norman Gregory Fernandez discusses car, motorycle, truck, and other motor vehicle accidents I get many calls from many victims of Car, Motorcycle, Truck, and other Motor Vehicle accidents. The vast majority of drivers in California will eventually get into some kind of motor vehicle accident in their lifetime, whether it be a small fender bender or a major accident. What most non lawyers do not know is there is a vast and complicated process of obtaining maximum monetary compensation for your accident. I have written many articles on why it is so important for you to retain a lawyer just as soon as possible if you are in a car, motorcycle, truck, or other motor vehicle accident. You can read them on this blog and on my personal injury website by clicking here. The purpose of this article is to discuss the burden of proof in motor vehicle accidents. Most non lawyers think; “oh I was rear ended; I will automatically get money,” etc. This is not the case, and this is why it is so important for you to retain a lawyer for your case!

(1) Liability; who is at fault in your car, motorcycle, truck, or other motor vehicle accident in the State of California?

This is the first major issue that needs to be addressed to obtain compensation in a motor vehicle accident in California. It boils down to who is at fault in an accident. You need to be able to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the defendant as at fault in your case. Just because you are not at fault in an accident does not mean you will collect money, or the just compensation that you are entitled to!

Furthermore, in the State of California, we have what is called comparative fault. What this means is that a jury can apportion a percentage of fault to each person in a case. As a plaintiff in a car, motorcycle, truck, or other motor vehicle accident you will need to show that a defendant is more than 50% at fault or liable.

(2) Damages; Special and general damages. Damages must be reasonable, reasonably ascertainable, and a plaintiff has a duty to mitigate damages. Damages must be proven by a preponderance of the evidence.

Although liability is the key to getting a settlement or judgment in a car, motorcycle, truck, or other motor vehicle accident in California, damages will determine how much compensation you will receive in a case.

Special damages are out of pocket losses and expenses that result from an accident. General damages are non out of pocket losses such as pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, emotional distress, etc.

In order to obtain a just settlement or judgment in a car, motorcycle, truck, or other motor vehicle accident, liability and damages must be proven by a preponderance of the evidence. There are other issues such as Proposition 213 in the State of California that restrict non insured motorist from obtaining general damages in a motor vehicle accident.

I have seen too many instances of victims of motor vehicle negligence call me up after they have damaged their case by trying to do it themselves. There is a saying, only a fool has himself for a client. The insurance adjusters know that if you are calling them on the phone without legal representation that they are dealing with someone who has no clue what they are entitled to or how to prove it.

Do yourself a favor; if you have had any type of motor vehicle accident anywhere in California, give us a call at 800-816-1529, we will give you a free consultation.

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Tags: Car Accident, Damages, law, lawyer, norman gregory fernandez, Personal Injury

California Minimum Insurance Requirements.

Written on August 14, 2007 by Norman Gregory Fernandez, Esq. in Bus Accidents, Car Accidents, Damages, Editorial, Insurance, Motorcycle Accidents, Other Motor Vehicle Accidents, Personal Injury, Train Accidents, Truck Accidents

Pursuant to California State Law, (Proposition 213) you must have minimum liability insurance coverage of $10,000 Property Damage, $15,000 bodily injury per person, and $30,000 per incident while you are driving on California Roads.

If you do not have minimum liability insurance coverage, you will NOT BE ENTITLED TO GENERAL DAMAGES (pain & suffering, emotional distress, loss of enjoyment of life, etc.), and you may lose your drivers license, and a fine. Even if the accident was not your fault!

Most personal injury attorneys will not represent you on a contingency basis unless you had liability insurance at the time of accident, because the value of your case is limited to out of pocket losses only such as: Property Damage, Medical Expenses, Medication Expenses, Loss of Wages, etc.

Beware, recent changes in the law now require your insurance company to notify the Department of Motor Vehicles if your insurance is terminated. If your insurance is terminated your registration can be revoked, you can lose your drivers license, and face substantial fines.

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Tags: attorney, Damages, law, norman gregory fernandez, Personal Injury

When a Personal Injury Exacerbates a Pre-Existing Medical Condition; The “Egg Shell Skull” Theory.

Written on July 17, 2007 by Norman Gregory Fernandez, Esq. in Assault and Battery, Car Accidents, Damages, Dangerous Conditions, Dog Bite, Editorial, Insurance, Intentional Torts, Motorcycle Accidents, Other Motor Vehicle Accidents, Personal Injury, Premises Liability, Products Liability, Slip and Fall, Trip and Fall, Truck Accidents, Wrongful Death

California Personal Injury Lawyer Norman Gregory Fernandez discusses egg shell skull theory. Many people live their lives with pre-existing medical conditions such as: Bad knees; degenerative conditions in the back, previous broken bones that have healed, etc.

Are you entitled to recover for damages in a personal injury accident when a pre-existing medical condition is exacerbated? Yes!

The Egg Shell Skull Theory

The Egg Shell Skull Theory goes something like this. Let’s say Humpty Dumpty, who has a skull as thin as an egg shell, is driving, and gets into a car accident that is not his fault. His skull being as thin as an egg shell shatters into a million pieces so that all of the king’s horses and all of the king’s men could not put his head together again. Can Humpty Dumpty recover for his injuries considering the fact that he had a skull as thin as an egg shell, which is not normal for human beings? Yes!

The law of personal injury in a nutshell (not to be confused with egg shell) makes persons who are negligent, liable for injuries that they cause that are reasonably foreseeable. The case law on the subject has concluded that it is reasonably foreseeable that persons who are injured may have pre-existing conditions, or deformities, and that a negligent person must take the injured person as they find them. Hence Humpty Dumpty is entitled to a recovery eventhough is head is as thin as an egg shell.

Pre-Existing Conditions

I do many personal injury cases where a person suffers an injury due to the negligence of another, and the injury is actually diagnosed as a condition that existed prior to the accident, but was exacerbated or became symptomatic after the injury accident.

Many people who have pre-existing conditions learn to live with their conditions, are pain free notwithstanding their conditions, or have minimal discomfort due to their conditions. Some may even have a large amount of pain or loss of mobility due to their conditions.

These people are entitled to recover for their losses just like anyone else who is injured in a Personal Injury accident that is not their fault. Crafty insurance company adjusters and insurance company lawyers will try to limit their liability by claiming that the injured person was not injured at all in an accident, and that they had a pre-existing medical condition which cuts off or limits their liability.

Some persons with pre-existing medical conditions may not even seek legal advice or retain a lawyer after they are injured, because they figure that they already had the condition before the accident in the first place. This is a huge mistake.

The bottom line is that any person who is injured due to the negligence of another, and who has a pre-existing medical condition, is entitled to recover compensatory damages that were caused by the accident. If a pre-existing medical condition or disability is made worse or symptomatic as a result of the accident you are entitled to recover.

It takes a good personal injury lawyer, who knows the law to get you what you are entitled to.

If you have suffered a personal injury, you can check out my personal injury website by clicking here, for valuable information on these types of cases.

If you would like a free consultation on your California personal injury case you may call me at 818-584-8831, go to my website at www.thepersonalinjury.com and click on the Free Case Evaluation Link, or you may email me at law@norman-law.com. I will tell you for free what I think of your case, and whether I can help you.

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Tags: Car Accident, Damages, law, lawyer, norman gregory fernandez, Personal Injury

The Dirty Little Secret that the Insurance Companies Don’t Want You to Know!

Written on July 13, 2007 by Norman Gregory Fernandez, Esq. in Car Accidents, Editorial, Insurance, Motorcycle Accidents, Other Motor Vehicle Accidents, Personal Injury, Truck Accidents

California Personal Injury Attorney Norman Gregory Fernandez discusses California Insurance Issues.

Most of us are good citizens and purchase liability insurance to cover us in case we cause an accident. Some people purchase minimum liability coverage and some people purchase more.

When you buy this insurance you are doing it to not only comply with the law, but to protect you and your assets in case you cause a car, motorcycle, or other motor vehicle accident.

Now let’s say that you get into an accident that is your fault; you report the accident to your insurance carrier; you think that your insurance company will cover you pursuant to your insurance policy right? WRONG!

If you read the fine print in your insurance policy you will notice a bunch of language that most non-lawyers would not understand. The gist of the language in plain English is that by accepting the insurance policy, you agree to cooperate with the insurance company if they decide to litigate, and the insurance company is the one who decides whether a case will be settled, not you.

The insurance companies are all about making tons of money and paying as little as possible. Since the advent of legally mandatory insurance coverage (Proposition 213 in California) the insurance companies have become very cavalier because their coffers are full of your money.

Instead of settling meritorious claims, they are forcing claims to be litigated in Court in an attempt to stop personal injury lawyers from obtaining a just recovery for their clients. They know full well that personal injury lawyers do not have as much money to litigate as they do, so their ploy is to starve out the personal injury lawyers and ultimately make it harder for people who are injured in accidents to obtain a recovery. In the end it is the consumer and persons injured in accidents who are hurt, while big business makes more profit at your expense.

Even people who cause accidents and have proper liability insurance to cover the claim are being victimized by the insurance companies.

The insurance companies are experts at deception. With your money, insurance companies contribute money to politicians, and run media ads which blame the personal injury attorneys for making insurance rates so high. What they don’t say is that the backlog in Court is due to the insurance companies not settling claims like they should in the first place.

Now let’s go back to the example of you causing an accident. If the insurance company is unreasonable and refuses to settle a case at or below policy limits, you will then be dragged through the legal system. You may have to answer discovery, appear for depositions, and even take time off to go to trial. This is a long and arduous process that you did not think that would have to deal with when you purchased liability insurance. Surprise!

If you lose at trial, the insurance company will in most cases pay the judgment, but guess what; YOU WILL HAVE A JUDGMENT AGAINST YOU ON YOUR CREDIT REPORT, and in the Court file! Thanks to your insurance company your credit has just been dinged due to no fault of your own.

Is this fair? I submit to you that it is not. You paid for insurance; the insurance company could have settled the case for you within your policy limits; instead, they decided to litigate in an attempt to minimize what they have to pay out so that their profits remain high. They did so without any regard for your credit report, or having your name appear in the public record as having a judgment against you.

Many insurance companies have in-house lawyers; some use outside lawyers. These lawyers are supposed to have a duty to you to do what is in your best interest. The reality is that they do what is in the insurance company’s best interest. This is the ultimate conflict of interest. Ethically the attorney that the insurance company uses to represent you has a duty to you, not the insurance company. The reality is the attorney gets his marching orders from the insurance companies.

A worst case example is the recent Hurricane Katrina disaster. Have you read about all of the poor people who are getting screwed because they are not being covered by their insurance companies for insurance that they paid for?

It’s time for America and consumers to wake up and smell the roses. It is not the trial attorneys that are the problem; its big business wanting to screw the little guy so they can obtain more profit at your expense. Some have made this a political issue. I have even heard President Bush talking about Tort reform, and blaming the trial attorneys for the nation’s health care woes.

Anytime you here tort reform remember one thing; you are about to be screwed! Anytime your right to recover for damages in a Court of law is infringed upon, you will be the victim, while big business rakes in the mula!

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Tags: attorney, Damages, law, lawyer, norman gregory fernandez, Personal Injury

DOG BITE CASES IN CALIFORNIA; YOU BETTER WATCH YOUR PUP!

Written on July 12, 2007 by Norman Gregory Fernandez, Esq. in Damages, Dangerous Conditions, Dog Bite, Insurance, Personal Injury, Premises Liability

There is no doubt that Americans love their pets. Human beings and dogs have been living together for tens of thousands of years. There is a saying that “a dog he is a man’s best friend.”

I am myself have three dogs; two Siberian Huskies, and a good old-fashioned American Mutt that I rescued from a pound.

Although a dog may be your best friend, a dog could turn into your worst nightmare if the dog bites and/or otherwise attacks a person.

In the state of California; dog owners are strictly liable for the actions of their dogs. In other words if your dog bites a person, you are strictly liable for all damages that the dog causes.

No matter how well trained your dog is, you really never know when they will bite. Even small breeds can cause bites that result in permanent scarring, and significant damages.

It is your responsibility as a dog owner to ensure that your dog does not bite another person. You should always walk your dog on a leash; secure your yard and home so that the dog cannot run away and bite someone; and secure your dog in a room when you have visitors at your home. If you do not take precautions when it comes to your dog, you could get hit with significant damages in a lawsuit if your dog bites someone.

In some instances, your homeowner’s insurance policy may cover you if your dog bites someone in your home or on your property. In some instances they may not. If you do have homeowners insurance that will cover a dog bite, that is great, however in the end you will probably end up paying a higher premium for homeowners insurance, or have your insurance canceled altogether. If you do not have insurance, you can get stuck with a massive judgment in a lawsuit that you have to pay out of your own pocket.

Last year I settled a dog bite case for over $300,000. I have settled many other dog bite cases as well. Dog bite cases are much more prevalent than people think. In the $300,000 case that I settled, a woman suffered horrendous injuries when a dog bit her in the face while she was petting a dog on a couch. The owner thought that the dog was docile, and reported that there were no previous incidents of the dog biting anybody. It did not matter; in California a dog owner is strictly liable for dog bites. Luckily for the owner of the dog in the case that I am discussing, he had a homeowner’s insurance policy that covered the incident.

There is another issue with respect to dog bite cases that affects landlords who rent their property out to persons who own dogs; a landlord can be held liable for their tenant’s dogs under negligence, and premises liability theory. I have successfully handled cases against landlords whose tenant’s dogs bit a person.

Landlords are not strictly liable for dog bites caused by their tenant’s dogs, however they could be held liable under negligence and premises liability theory, if they know or should have known that any dogs owned by their tenants had a propensity to be aggressive and/or to bite people.

The bottom line is this; love your dogs, enjoy your dogs, but make sure you keep your dogs under control at all times. The consequences of not doing so could be disastrous.

If you are a landlord, you may want to exercise extreme caution when renting to people with dogs.

If you are the victim of a dog bite in the state of California, you may call my office for a free consultation at 818-584-8831 extension 1, or you can click here now to go to my personal injury website.

If you are the owner of a dog that has bitten someone, and you’re not covered by insurance, you may also call me for a free consultation. The same holds true for landlords who are being sued as described above.

If you are not in the state of California, I highly recommend the consult with a competent personal injury attorney in your state.

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Tags: attorney, Damages, law, norman gregory fernandez, Personal Injury

YOU BETTER CHECK OUT THE PERSON THAT YOU LOAN YOUR CAR TO; YOU COULD BE HELD LEGALLY LIABLE FOR THEIR ACTIONS.

Written on July 11, 2007 by Norman Gregory Fernandez, Esq. in Car Accidents, Damages, Editorial, Insurance, Motorcycle Accidents, Other Motor Vehicle Accidents, Personal Injury, Truck Accidents, Wrongful Death

Norman Gregory Fernandez Law Articles

The tort of negligent entrustment in simple language means that you were negligent by allowing a person or persons to use your property such as a car, motorcycle, etc.

Negligence is a legal term of art. It would be very difficult to explain negligence to a non-attorney. However I will try.

Negligence in simple language, is that one person owes a duty of due care to another person, and breaches that duty of due care thus causing damages. The key to negligence is that it must be reasonably foreseeable to an ordinary prudent person that the conduct will result in damages. I will be frank, negligence is much more complicated than the description I just gave, however it will suffice for the purposes of this article.

An example of simple negligence would be one person not paying attention and rear ending another person in their car. The person who did the rear ending would be liable in most circumstances for negligence.

With respect to negligent entrustment, I will give you an example of where you could be held liable for this tort. Let’s say you loan your car to a person who has a suspended driver’s license. Let’s say this person subsequently gets into a car accident. You would most likely be held liable for the damages caused in the accident, because you owed a duty of due care to ensure that you did not loan your car to a person with a suspended driver’s license. In other words, you were negligent by allowing a person with a suspended drivers license to use your car.

Another example would be loaning your car to a person who was obviously intoxicated, who then subsequently gets into an accident. You can be held liable for negligent entrustment for loaning you car to a drunk.

There is a vast array of possible scenarios in which you could be liable for the tort of negligent entrustment. It’s not rocket science, it’s really about common sense. The purpose of this article is just to make you aware of the tort.

Basically it’s a matter of common sense. If you are going to loan a person your car, motorcycle, or other property, you better make sure they have a driver’s license and automobile insurance before you give them the keys unless you’re not concerned about being legally liable for their actions.

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Tags: attorney, Car Accident, Damages, law, norman gregory fernandez

PRODUCTS LIABILITY IN CALIFORNIA; WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW.

Written on July 10, 2007 by Norman Gregory Fernandez, Esq. in Car Accidents, Damages, Editorial, Insurance, Motorcycle Accidents, Other Motor Vehicle Accidents, Personal Injury, Products Liability, Truck Accidents, Wrongful Death

Norman Gregory Fernandez, Esq.

You may have heard the term products liability in newspapers, political speeches, or from your friends. In a nutshell, the term products liability is a legal term of art used to describe legal causes of action against manufacturers of products, and/or anyone in the chain of distribution, that sell a product which has a; manufacturing defect, design defect, or is otherwise defective due to the negligence of anyone in the chain of the distribution, and which causes injury to the user of that product.

A product could be defective if the manufacturer fails to warn of a risk known to them in using their product, and/or fails to provide a warning label on the product.

You may have heard of some of the infamous products liability cases in the news recently such as; the SUV rollover cases; the asbestos cases; the defective tire cases, tobacco cases etc.

If it were not for lawyers taking these types of cases to court, there would be many dangerous products on the market.

In some types of products liability cases, the person who has been injured may realize that they were injured due to a defective product. In other types of cases the person injured may have not known that there were injured due to a defective product.

In most products liability cases, expert testimony is required to prove that there was a manufacturing or design defect in a product.

In California, products liability causes of action are strict liability actions so long as you can meet your burden of proof. Strict liability means that you do not have to show negligence on the part of the manufacturer or anyone in the chain of distribution to recover damages for defective product.

The bottom line is this; if you have been injured while using a product, driving a car, or using certain types of medication, you should consult with the competent personal injury attorney who can analyze the facts of your case to determine if you have a potential products liability cause of action.

You have the right not to be injured by a product that has a manufacturing or design defect.

If you feel that you have been injured due to a defective product in this state of California you may call my office for a free consultation at 818-584-8831 extension 1, or you may check out my personal injury website by clicking here now.

If you’re out some of this in the California I highly recommend the consult with an attorney in your area.

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Tags: attorney, Damages, law, lawyer, News, norman gregory fernandez, Personal Injury

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