Tag Archive: emotional distress

Let’s Talk about Your California Car Accident.

California Car Accident InformationSo you have been in a Car Accident in the State of California. You know the accident is not your fault. You were injured. What should you do?

The first thing two things you need to do are; (1) get the other drivers information, and (2) get medical help; not necessarily in that order.

When you get the other drivers information, try to get as much information as possible, such as all of the information on their drivers license, their phone number, the year, make, model, license plate and vin number of their vehicle, the color of their vehicle, and even a description of the driver and their passengers. You also need to get their insurance information.

Without the other driver’s information, your chances of recovery in the accident are slim to none.

I have had people with great cases, who could not recover because they failed to get the information of the person who hit them.

Most uninsured motorist coverage policies also require you to identify the person who hit you.

With respect to your injuries, you need to seek immediate medical treatment. If you feel like you need to be transported by paramedic to the emergency room, chances are that you are probably right. It is better to error on the side of caution.

Even if you do not have medical insurance, all emergency rooms are required to treat you, and stabalize you. Go to the emergency room if you need to.

When you go to the doctor, make sure you tell the doctor about all of your problems; do not underestimate your complaints.

I cannot tell you how many people I have talked to who are hurt bad, yet when they describe their complaints, they hold back. How can a doctor treat you if you do not tell them what is hurting?

I know you are also concerned about getting your vehicle repaired, finding temporary transportation, and so on.

The best thing you can do now is to retain a personal injury attorney for your California car accident case.

There are many damages that you may be entitled to such as all out of pocket expenses related to the accident, pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, emotional distress, and so forth, which you have no clue how to value or go after on your own.

Further, if you are married, you spouse may also have a cause of action for loss of consortium even if they were not in the car with you.

I estimate that a reputable personal injury attorney such as myself, can get you more money in your pocket for your personal injury case, than you would ever get on your own in 99% of all cases.

The reason is simple, personal injury cases are complex.

The insurance companies exist for one thing only; to make a profit, not pay you money. If they can, they will try to get you to settle for pennies on the dollar for what your case is actually worth.

They may offer you a couple of thousand dollars on a case that may be worth tens of thousands of dollars.

They know that if you are unrepresented, that you are an easy mark!

Don’t be a victim a second time around. You should be worried about getting better, and not about fighting the insurance company. Let me do that for you.

If you have been injured in a car accident, or any other motor vehicle accident in the State of California, give me a call 7 days a week, 24 hours a day at 800-816-1529 ext. 1.

By California Car Accident Attorney Norman Gregory Fernandez, Esq., © March 3, 2011

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To Retain a Lawyer or to Not Retain a Lawyer, What Should You Do?

California Personal Injury Attorney Norman Gregory Fernandez

California Personal Injury Attorney Norman Gregory Fernandez

As a California Personal Injury Lawyer, I give free consultations to injury victims throughout the State of California almost every day.

Inevitably about 5% of the people I talk to have either tried handling their California personal injury matter on their own, or are very reluctant to “get lawyers” involved because of what they heard about lawyers, or are clueless about how the legal system works.

Ultimately, out of the 5% of the people mentioned above, about 1% or 1 out of 100 people I talk to decide to handle the matter on their own.

To me, an experienced California Personal Injury Attorney, it is inexplicable why someone would choose not to retain an attorney to handle their personal injury case. Let me tell you why.

Firstly, most people have no clue that they are entitled to recover the following damages in a typical personal injury matter:

Out of Pocket Expenses: All out of pocket expenses flowing out of the personal injury matter such as: loss of wages, medical cost, prescription cost, cost of travel to and from the doctor, prescriptions, loss of use of vehicle, either the repair cost of a damaged vehicle, or the fair market value of a damaged vehicle when the repair cost exceeds the fair market value, rental car, loss of future wages, future medical expenses, etc.

Non Economic Expenses: Pain & Suffering, Emotional Distress, Loss of Enjoyment of life (loss of enjoyment of life consists of compensation to a person for not being able to do things that they used to do, while they are injured. Such as cleaning, cooking, walking, dancing, going out, etc.)

In a nutshell a typical person has no clue that they are entitled to the things mentioned above, how to value such things even if they know about it, and most importantly, how to get it.

Going further, if an injured person is married, they typically do not know that their spouse also has a cause of action against the person who injured them for loss of consortium. Hell most personal injury lawyers in California do not even go for loss of consortium.

Loss of consortium in a nutshell is damages that a spouse of an injured party are entitled to, for the loss of the things that their spouse used to do with and for them in the marriage, because of their injury. In many cases loss of consortium can amount to a substantial amount of money.

I have just touched the tip of the iceberg with this article. Ultimately, only a fool has themselves for an attorney.

I can assure you that in 99% of cases, a person without an attorney will get less than a person with an attorney in a California Personal Injury case.

If you or a loved one have been injured in a California Personal Injury matter you may call my personal injury hotline 7 days a week, 24 hours a day for a free consultation at 800-816-1529 extension 1. You may also check out my personal injury website at http://www.thepersonalinjury.com.

By California Personal Injury Lawyer Norman Gregory Fernandez, Esq., © February 10, 2011

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Tort Reform is a big Scam; Why Tort Reform will Hurt You and take away more of Your Freedom!

Tort Reform is a ScamWhen you hear the term “Tort Reform” realize they what you are really hearing is a call to take away your legal right to get compensation when you are injured due to the negligence of another, to protect big business, the insurance companies, the big pharmaceutical companies, and big medicine; as though they are not rich enough.

You will be the only one getting screwed with tort reform; mark my words.

 I hear a certain political party constantly preaching about tort reform this and tort reform that in a way to demonize personal injury attorneys as the fall guys for excessive costs of medical care, insurance, and everything else you can imagine.

You see they like to blame attorneys for taking on big business, the insurance companies, the big pharmaceutical companies, and big medicine, when they screw up and harm you.

Hell, 99.9% of the time, we are the only way you are going to be compensated when you are harmed due to the negligence of big business, doctors, pharmaceutical companies, or big insurance companies.

You don’t hear members of this political party telling you this do you?

One thing they don’t tell you is that since the 1970’s, there has already been a cap on general damages in medical malpractice cases of $250.000 in the State of California.

This means that if a doctor screws up and let’s say cuts out your only good kidney, or let’s say misdiagnosis an illness like cancer, you only get $250,000 for general damages in the State of California. Does this seem right to you? Hell no!

The laws of the State of California basically protect doctors from their negligence and the laws have done so since the 1970’s. States such as Texas have in the past couple of years, recently enacted their own tort reform laws. My understanding is that in Texas there is a $750.000 cap on general damages.

California is way behind the eight ball in this regard; we can only get $250,000 for general damages. It is time to either remove the cap in California or to increase it to reflect the inflation that has occurred since the 1970’s.

Look if you are the victim of medical malpractice, how much would the pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, and emotional distress be worth to you if let’s say a doctor screws up and cuts off the wrong leg, or even caused the death of a loved one?

Do you want some law to prevent you from recovering from your loss? This is tort reform. It is time to get educated folks and stop believing those talking heads who pocket big bucks from those who would save money with tort reform.

This is the essence of tort reform; it is taking away your legal rights, to protect a class of persons or corporations from the harm that they cause by limiting what you can get from them if they screw up your life.

You will see that one political party preaches about less government, and less regulation and intrusion, and they in the same breath will argue to regulate your legal right to obtain compensation as an individual when you are harmed. Who are they protecting? Big business, big medicine, insurance companies, everyone but you. These people are full of shit.

It does not matter what political party you are from when your life gets turned upside down in a personal injury case does it. In the end we are all the same; when we are sitting on our couch injured and hurting due to the negligence of another, all we want is to get better, to get compensated, and to get our lives back. Tort reform prevents this. This is what pundits do not tell you.

These are the same guys that are saying that providing medical coverage to millions of Americans, and prohibiting insurance companies from denying you coverage for pre-existing coverage is a bad thing. These guys are despicable.

It is time to expose the lies America. Tort reform is against your interest and your freedom as Americans.

This is another way to screw the little guy and protect those who are already making a fortune at your expense!

It is time to become educated folks. I am on the front lines of this fight on a daily basis. Any one of you could be sitting in my office looking for help for your personal injury case; you never know. What you should know is tort reform is bad for you; it is bad for all of us.

By California Personal Injury Attorney Norman Gregory Fernandez, Esq., © 2009

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The Importance of Keeping Your Liability Insurance Even in Tough Economic Times.

California Personal Injury Attorney Norman Gregory Fernandez discusses the importance of maintaining liability insurance in tough economic timesMy office has been swamped with accident victims who are not at fault in motorcycle, car, truck and other motor vehicle accidents, yet had no liability insurance at the time of the accident.

In California if you drive a motor vehicle such as a car, motorcycle, truck, etc., without basic liability insurance, you are precluded from recovering general damages such as pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, emotional distress, etc. (California Proposition 213)

In other words if you lose a leg, or become a quadriplegic, you will only be entitled to out of pocket expenses only if you drive without liability insurance. To add insult to injury, you could lose your license, have your car impounded, and face penalties from the State.

If you cannot afford liability insurance, there is a special program through the State of California to obtain cheap liability insurance. If you cannot get that, flat out don’t drive. It is not worth it.

My law firm is one of the few law firms that will represent accident victims throughout the State of California who did not have liability insurance at the time of the accident. We do not condone it, but we believe that everyone deserves a fair shake. We will do everything we can for you, even if you were an uninsured victim of a motor vehicle accident.

I am recommending that if you cannot afford liability insurance, you should use public transportation until you can. It is illegal to drive in the State of California without minimum liability insurance to cover you in case you are fault in an accident.

The flip side of the coin is that all California motorist should carry uninsured motorist coverage in an amount equal to what they would want to cover themselves for in case they are injured, to protect yourself from a person who is at fault in an accident against you, yet has no liability insurance.

Motorcycle riders should carry a minimum of $500,000.00, five hundred thousand dollars in uninsured motorist coverage because of the usually catastrophic injuries that result from motorcycle accidents.

By California Accident Attorney Norman Gregory Fernandez, Esq., © 2009

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