Other Motor Vehicle Accidents | California Personal Injury Lawyer Blog

Category Archives: Other Motor Vehicle Accidents

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

Car, Motorcycle, and Other Motor Vehicle Insurance; Comprehensive and Collision Coverage

Written on July 25, 2007 by Norman Gregory Fernandez, Esq. in Bus Accidents, Car Accidents, Damages, Editorial, Insurance, Motorcycle Accidents, Other Motor Vehicle Accidents, Products Liability, Train Accidents, Truck Accidents, Wrongful Death

Norman Gregory Fernandez, Esq. Comprehensive and Collision coverage on your car, motorcycle, or other motor vehicle will cover the damage to your car, motorcycle, or other motor vehicle if you are in an accident that is your fault up to the “Fair Market Value,” of your vehicle. It will also cover your vehicle up to Fair Market Value if it is stolen.

Some Comprehensive and Collision coverage’s will cover damage to your car, motorcycle, or other motor vehicle even if the accident was not your fault.

If the cost of repairing your vehicle exceeds the Fair Markey Value of your vehicle, than the insurance company will consider your car, motorcycle, or other motor vehicle to be a “total loss,” and only pay you Fair Market Value for your car, motorcycle, or other motor vehicle.

Now what is Fair Market Value? Fair Market Value is the amount of money that your vehicle is actually worth on the street. Many people confuse this issue. You may have paid $20,000.00 for your car, motorcycle, or other motor vehicle, and you may owe $15,000.00 on you car, motorcycle, or other motor vehicle, however, once you drive the car, motorcycle, or other motor vehicle off of the dealers lot, it automatically decreases in value. Although you have paid the above amount for your car, motorcycle, or other motor vehicle, and you may owe the above amount for your car, motorcycle, or other motor vehicle, the Fair Market Value of you car, motorcycle, or other motor vehicle may only be $10,000.00!

Insurance companies value your car, motorcycle, or other motor vehicle on many factors which include but are not limited to: Year, Make, Model, Mileage, Condition, what identical or similar car, motorcycle, or other motor vehicles are selling for in your area, etc.

Many times people find out the hard way when their car, motorcycle, or other motor vehicle is totaled or the repair cost exceed the Fair Market Value of the car, motorcycle, or other motor vehicle, that the amount you receive from the insurance company is way below the amount owed on the car, motorcycle, or other motor vehicle. In today’s market where new new vehicle’s average $25,000.00 or more this situation is not uncommon, especially when the cost of repairing simple fender and paint damage may exceed $5,000.00.

I recommend that you always purchase Comprehensive and Collision Insurance. Without this type of coverage, you will get nothing for your property damage if the accident is your fault, and/or you will be at the mercy of the other drivers insurance company if you are not at fault. Check with your insurance company and read your policy for any limitations of coverage.

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A call for Legislation to Protect Passengers of Mass Transit! The discrimination must End.

Written on July 21, 2007 by Norman Gregory Fernandez, Esq. in Bus Accidents, Car Accidents, Damages, Editorial, Insurance, Other Motor Vehicle Accidents, Personal Injury, Train Accidents, Truck Accidents, Wrongful Death

I have done many cases against various governmental operators of Mass Transit systems, and I have currently have cases going right now.

Problem #1; no buses or trains that I know of, have seatbelts to protect passengers who are riding in them. Airplanes do have such safety devices. Secondly, most buses and transit trains have metal rails or poles for people to grap onto both in front of the seats and in the aisles.

What happens when the bus or train has an accident? Everyone goes flying, and many people suffer catastrophic injuries, especially when they hit the metal poles on the seats and aisles.

Why are seatbelts required in cars but not on public transit buses or trains? It does not make sense to me.

I am making a public call for legislation that will require all public buses, trains, and school buses to have seat belts to protect passengers.

Problem #2; Riders of buses and trains that are involved in accidents that are not caused by the bus driver or train, are not covered by the mass transit system if the accident was caused by an uninsured motorist, or if the motorist that causes the accident does not have enough insurance to cover the loss to all passengers.

Imagine it; you are on a bus that flips over because an uninsured or underinsured motorist runs a red light. You basically have no real way to be compensated for your losses because the bus was not at fault, and the driver who was at fault was either uninsured, or underinsured, and there is not enough money to cover everyone’s losses.

This type of thing happens all the time to riders of mass transit.

Owners of vehicles can buy all types of insurance to cover themselves in case they are hit by an uninsured motorist, or underinsured motorist. I think it is high time the mass transit systems be required to maintain appropriate insurance, so that their riders are insured in the event of a bus or train accident being caused by an uninsured or underinsured motorist.

As it stands right now, passengers of mass transit are at the mercy of the road, and have no legal means to protect themselves if an accident is caused by someone other than the transit system. I feel that it is discriminatory to the riders of mass transit, not to provide them with appropriate legal protection and insurance in the case of accidents which are not the fault of the transit system.

I hope that the California State Legislators hear my call for mandatory seatbelts, and mandatory insurance for mass transit riders.

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Another Big Insurance Company Scam Revealed; Check your Policy!

Written on July 18, 2007 by Norman Gregory Fernandez, Esq. in Car Accidents, Damages, Editorial, Insurance, Motorcycle Accidents, Other Motor Vehicle Accidents, Personal Injury, Truck Accidents

You are an average driver a great driver, or even a not so great of a driver, you purchase car, motorcycle, or other motor vehicle insurance to cover your car, motorcycle, or other motor vehicle in case you are in an accident; you buy uninsured motorist coverage to cover you in case you are hit by an uninsured motorist or a hit and run driver.

You have no fear because you have purchased insurance from one of the big name insurance companies, and you have been with them for many years. You figure that since you have full coverage and that you have been a dedicated and loyal customer for many years, that the big name insurance company will take care of you if you have an accident.

Suddenly one day, you are hit by a driver who runs from the scene of the accident. You are now the victim of a hit and run driver. It may have happened so fast that you were not able to get a license plate number, or be able to identify make or model of the car that hit you. In a worst case scenario, you may suffer injuries that rendered you unconscious or so injured that made it impossible to identify the car that hit you. Your car is totaled, you are injured, and you cannot work.

You then call your insurance company to report the claim, and to seek compensation under your uninsured motorist policy.

Your big name insurance company that has readily accepted your premium payments for many years then tells you “sorry we cannot cover your loss because you do not have a license plate number of the person that hit you, or their driver’s license number.” You have just basically been scammed by your big name insurance company.

They tell you “sorry if you look at the fine print in your policy on page so and so, it states that we will not cover you unless you can identify the car or driver that hit you.” You tell them that it happened so fast it was impossible to get their plate because they ran, or you tell them that you were unconscious and unable to get their information. You tell them that your insurance agent specifically told you that you would be covered for such a loss. They tell you sorry Charley, (you are shit out of luck) your policy does not cover you.

As a personal injury lawyer, I am so sick of this scam, especially from huge insurance companies that are raking in billions of dollars in profits each year, that I finally had to expose the scam, and in some cases the fraud. This article will not win me brownie points from the insurance companies that I regularly go up against, and I could care less. They know who I am, and I know who they are.

I am hereby calling on all the readers of my Blog to call their insurance companies to see if they are covered under their uninsured motorist policy, if a hit and run driver hits them and they are unable to identity the car or person that hit them. If they say no, simply go to an insurance company that will cover you. The risk of harm substantially outweighs the benefit of taking a chance. That is why you buy insurance in the first place.

You would be shocked by the fact that the top names in the insurance industry routinely deny coverage under such circumstances. They force you to prove that you were hit by an uninsured motorist. How can you do this if the person that hit you ran from the accident before you could identify them? You can’t.

There are many what I would call reputable insurance companies that will cover you under such a circumstance. I submit to you that you are better off taking your money to an insurance company that does not play the hit and run driver scam to deny you coverage.

I am not going to identify the insurance companies that play the hit and run driver scam in this article, nor the ones that don’t, for liability reasons. In a future article, I will give my opinion of the top 3 insurance companies for helping their clients, and the 3 absolute worst. As a personal injury lawyer I know which companies are good and which ones are not. I personally do not play games with the insurance companies. It they do not pay my clients what they are entitled to, I either sue or demand arbitration for my client’s. In worst case scenarios, I will sue for insurance bad faith, fraud, and other potential causes of action.

The idea of insurance is to protect you in case something happens. The last thing you need, is to find out that you have been paying premiums loyally for 20 years only to find out that the insurance company only cares about one thing; profits. They will pay you nothing, or as little as possible, so that their profits are as high as possible, by denying you coverage whenever they can, or forcing you to fight them to get you what you are legally entitled to.

As a personal injury lawyer, I can tell you now; without a competent personal injury lawyer fighting for you to get you what you are entitled to, you will absolutely never get what you are entitled to, even though you may think otherwise. The insurance companies look at unrepresented claimants as fish waiting to be fried.

Unless you are a lawyer, you really have no clue what your legal rights are when you are involved in a motor vehicle accident. That is why we personal injury lawyers exist, and that is why you would be a fool not to retain a personal injury lawyer to help you through this complex area of the law.

If you are located anywhere in the State of California and you have had a car, motorcycle, truck, or other type of motor vehicle accident, you may give me a call at 818-584-8831 for a free consultation, or go to my personal injury website at www.thepersonalinjury.com. I do not play games with the insurance companies. They will either pay on cases that I accept, or be hailed into Court; it’s their choice.

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Tags: law, lawyer, 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

You may have a Black Box Data Recorder in your Car and Not Even Know it.

Written on July 16, 2007 by Norman Gregory Fernandez, Esq. in Car Accidents, Editorial, Insurance, Motorcycle Accidents, Off Topic Articles, Other Motor Vehicle Accidents, Personal Injury, Truck Accidents

California Personal Injury Lawyer Attorney Norman Gregory Fernandez Editorial I am sure that many of you have heard the term “Black Box” data recorders which are usually associated with airplanes and airplane accidents.

Did you know that many manufacturers are now installing Black Box Data Recorders in Cars? probably not. Black Box data recorders have been put into cars for years now and nobody knows it, or it has been kept very low key; now you know.

Black Box data recorders in cars can give data such as speed at the time of an accident, gear position, braking position, direction of car, whether seatbelts were being worn, etc.

Obviously this type of data is huge for personal injury lawyers such as me. It can help get around the he said, she said, arguments for who as at fault in an auto accident, and get right to the root of actual fault. Many Personal Injury lawyers do not even know about Black Boxes being installed in cars.

There is one dilemma when it comes to Black Boxes in cars; your right to privacy is out the window. It can be predicted in the future that GPS enabled black boxes will allow Big Brother to track your movements, and potentially even disable your car.

You can read a couple of stories about Black Boxes in cars by clicking here, and by clicking here.

Technology can be good and bad. In the hands of the wrong people, it can be used to usurp the freedoms we so love in the United States. I say cast a weary eye on anyone who wants to use fear as a motive to get us as Americans to give up the freedoms that generations of us have fought and died for.

The least the car companies could do is to let us know if a Black Box is installed in our car, and to let us know what its capabilities are. As a matter of fact I think it should be legally mandated that we as consumers be notified by car manufactures if a Black Box is installed in our car.

Like I said above, the technology can be good, and it can be bad if misused by those who would seek to take our freedoms and right to privacy away. Let us have the choice.

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Don’t be a Fool; If you have are involved in a Car, Motorcycle, or Other Motor Vehicle Accident, Call a Personal Injury Lawyer As Soon As Possible!

Written on July 15, 2007 by Norman Gregory Fernandez, Esq. in Car Accidents, Damages, Editorial, Insurance, Motorcycle Accidents, Other Motor Vehicle Accidents, Personal Injury, Truck Accidents

the frustration of California Personal Injury Lawyer Attorney Norman Gregory Fernandez by people trying to settle injury accidents without a lawyer I cannot tell you how sick it makes me feel when someone calls me after they have been in a car, motorcycle, or other motor vehicle accident, after they have already allowed themselves to be screwed out of the money that they are entitled to by a savvy insurance company adjuster.

I just gave a consultation today to a person (sex and name removed for privacy) who was involved in a serious car accident with serious injuries. This person was driving a brand new $40,000.00 car that was hit so hard that frame damage was caused to the car.

They were also seriously injured in the accident, and are still treating for their injuries. What did this person do? They signed a settlement agreement for the bodily injury portion of their case for $750.00, which only allows for 3 months worth of medical treatment and/or a total of $3,000.00 in medical treatment; that is it. They got $750.00 and an allowance for only 3 months or 3k in medical treatment. They got royally screwed!

They called to see if I could get them out of the settlement which they had signed. They also wanted to see if I could help them force the insurance company to pay for the fair market value of the car of the new car that suffered frame damage, rather than them being forced into accepting a repair of a car that has suffered frame damage.

I absolutely could not believe it. The person who called me is basically shit out of luck. It would be almost impossible to get the rock solid settlement agreement with the insurance company set aside. They called me too late.

I do the property damage portion of personal injury cases for free minus cost and expenses that I incur in getting the property damage portion of the case settled. I recover cost and expenses for property damage settlement at the end of the case. I do this as a service to my clients so that they can get their cars fixed or so that they can get another car to replace one that has been totaled. How can someone get their car repaired or replaced if a personal injury lawyer takes a percentage of property damage? Do not sign up with any personal injury lawyer that would take a percentage of your property damage loss!

The real money in an injury case is the bodily injury portion of the case, and not the property damage portion of the case. I cannot and do not feel that it is appropriate for any personal injury lawyer to take a percentage of property damage claims; so I don’t. I actually want to help my clients.

You can read the articles that I have written about personal injury cases at my personal injury website by clicking here now, or you can go directly to www.therpersonalinjury.com which is my personal injury website.

What is wrong with people out there? I know that for some reason whether it be political or other reason, that people call us personal injury lawyer’s ambulance chasers. There is such a negative stigma about personal injury lawyers, that someone like the person I gave the consultation to today would screw themselves out of what they are entitled to rather than call a personal injury lawyer for help. It absolutely makes no sense to me. Do they honestly think that an insurance company has their best interest at heart? No way, they are in business to make a profit, not to help you!

I can tell you right now that I am no ambulance chaser. My job as a personal injury lawyer is to get my client’s what they are entitled to if they are injured due to the negligence of another. I do not chase clients; they come to me when they are in need of help. Beware of any lawyer that calls you after an accident trying to get you to sign up with them; these lawyers are in fact ambulance chasers! If you need my help, simply give me a call. I will tell you over the phone FOR FREE what I think of your case. A good personal injury lawyer does not have to chase cases; the cases will come to them if they are good. I do not want to sound egotistical; but I am good at what I do, that is why people call me for their personal injury cases.

The poor person that I spoke to today has no clue what the true nature and extent of their injuries are, how much their medical bills will be, and they allowed themselves to be conned into signing a rock solid settlement agreement in return for basically a nothing settlement.

I told this person that the insurance company adjuster was probably laughing as they got them to sign the settlement agreement, because they knew they had a sucker who was not represented by counsel. The insurance company adjuster will probably get a raise for this settlement!

Now I must state for the record that not all personal injury lawyers are created equal. There probably are personal injury lawyers that do take a percentage of whatever they recover for you for property damage and all other aspects of the case. I do not do that. There probably are some personal injury lawyers out there who are bad apples and who will not take cases to trial if necessary. I am not one of them.

If you have been the victim or a car, motorcycle, or other motor vehicle accident here in California give me a call AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. Do not be a sucker like the person who called me today. Remember; any information that you give the insurance company can be used against you in your case. Call me first.

Some may look at this article as an advertisement for my personal injury practice. This article may in fact be an advertisement. However, I genuinely care about my clients and want to help them to the best of my ability. I am writing this article out of frustration more than anything else. I am sick and tired of people calling me after it is already too late.

Do yourself a favor; go to my personal injury website and read the articles that I have written on the subject. If god forbid you are in an accident maybe you won’t be a sucker like the poor person I talked to today. There is nothing worse than my having to tell someone that there is nothing I can do for them.

My firm has offices in Chatsworth, Norwalk, Van Nuys, and San Francisco, California. We handle personal injury cases throughout the State of California. If you are hurt in an accident give me a call at 818-584-8831 extension 1, or go to www.thepersonalinjury.com for more information. I will send my investigator out to you to sign you up so that you do not have to worry about coming into the office.

The only thing you have to lose by not calling is the money that you are entitled to in an injury accident that is not your fault! No personal injury lawyer can ethically guarantee the outcome of a case and that goes for me as well. However, I can guarantee that my firm will work our butts off to get you as much money as possible for you in your case.

For those of you who want to go at it alone without a personal injury lawyer on your side; good luck, you will need it.

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

You just had a Car, Motorcycle or other Motor Vehicle Accident; Now What?

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

Personal Injury, Car Accident, Motorcycle Accident Injury Lawyer Norman Gregory Fernandez

The statistics are amazing. 9 out every 10 persons who drive a car will eventually be involved in a car accident in their lifetimes. 3 out of every 9 persons will be in a car, motorcycle or other motor vehicle accident that involves alcohol.

You can see an article about what to do if you are involved in a car accident or other motor vehicle accident on my personal injury website by clicking here now.

You can see an article about what to do if you are involved in a motorcycle accident on my motorcycle accident lawyer website by clicking here now.

Many car, motorcycle, or other motor vehicle accidents involve someone in the car being injured and some do not. Most personal injury lawyers will not represent you on a contingency basis (no money out of your pocket unless there is a recovery) unless there are injuries involved in an accident. Some firms including mine can provide representation on a fixed fee or hourly basis to help you recover for out of pocket losses when you are in an accident with no injuries.

My firm will represent you on a contingency basis (no money out of your pocket unless there is a recovery) if you have an injury case that we accept.

You will see in the articles that I posted links to above, that it is critical to try to retain an attorney within the first 24-48 hours after an accident to get the prosecution of your case started.

There are many people that come to with me their cases after first going at it alone with the insurance company, only to realize that they are getting no where. Even I as a personal injury lawyer would not represent myself in a personal injury case. A good analogy is that trying to prosecute your own case is like trying to perform a medical operation on yourself. Only a fool has himself for a client!

For those of you who to try to go at it alone, anything you say to the insurance company, including recorded statements can be used against you in your case. It is important to let your attorney speak for you. Once you retain me on your case, we will do all of the work for you. Obviously you will need to keep us up to date on your medical treatment, and if litigation is commenced you will need to cooperate with us to take the case to trial if a trial is necessary.

You must realize that the insurance companies are in business to make money. They will do everything they can to either not pay you, or not pay you what you are entitled to. Do not expect an insurance company adjuster to voluntarily tell you what you are entitled to, or offer it to you. They would probably lose their jobs if they did!

If you have a car, motorcycle, or other motor vehicle accident, in California, and retain my firm; The Law Offices of Norman Gregory Fernandez & Associates, we will send our investigator out to you usually within 24 hours or less to gather the information about your case, get the necessary forms for us to represent you signed, take pictures, etc. Many other personal injury lawyers require you to come into their offices to retain them. We understand that if you are injured this can be a real hassle. We can even email you the necessary forms to sign up with our firm on your case.

The Law Offices of Norman Gregory Fernandez & Associates does everything possible to make the process of signing up, and obtaining a settlement or judgment as convenient as possible for you.

For those of you that do not have medical insurance; our firm can refer you to doctor’s who will take your case on a lien basis so that you can get medical treatment.

Once you retain my firm, our professional pre-litigation staff, litigation staff, and trial attorneys will do everything necessary to get you the maximum settlement or judgment possible.

Beware of any lawyer that makes a guarantee as to the outcome of your case. It is not only unethical to make a guarantee as to the outcome of your case, it is impossible to guarantee the outcome of a case. No lawyer is clairvoyant!

If my firm does take your case, it is because we believe that there is a substantial likelihood of being able to get a recovery for you. We put our money where our mouth is!

If you have a car, motorcycle, or other motor vehicle in the State of California, you may call my office 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for a free consultation at 818-584-8831 extension 1. If it is after hours our automated system will attempt to connect you to a lawyer to speak to you about a case. You may also submit your case through the Internet for a free case evaluation by clicking here now.

I have done consultations at 5:00am on Saturday mornings and try to make myself available to my clients after hours and on the weekends when necessary. Injury accidents do not ordinarily fit the normal 8:00-5:00pm Monday through Friday schedule. You should not sign up with a personal injury lawyer unless they are willing to accommodate your schedule and injuries.

You can check out my personal injury website by clicking here or by going to www.thepersonalinjury.com.

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Tags: attorney, Car Accident, 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

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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Car, Motorcycle, and Other Motor Vehicle Accident Insurance; Rental Car Coverage.

Written on July 7, 2007 by Norman Gregory Fernandez, Esq. in Car Accidents, Damages, Editorial, Insurance, Motorcycle Accidents, Other Motor Vehicle Accidents, Personal Injury, Truck Accidents

Car and Motorcycle Accidents, Rental Car Insurance This type of car, motorcycle, and other motor vehicle insurance coverage will pay you a certain amount of money per day to procure a rental car in case you are in an accident.

Check with your insurance company to ensure that you will be covered either when you are at fault, or the other person is at fault.

Sometimes insurance companies will require you to pay for a rental car out of your own pocket and then submit bills to them for reimbursement. Most of the time this type of coverage only pays $20.00 to $30.00 per day up to a dollar maximum, or for a maximum of 30 days.

In many instances, the cost of getting a rental car and insuring the rental car against loss will exceed your rental car coverage policy. However, we always recommend buying rental car coverage in your insurance policy. We cannot tell you how many times we are faced with client’s who were not at fault in an accident, and they have lost their only transportation.

If the at fault motorist’s insurance does not immediately cover you for rental car payments, you will be stuck paying the entire amount on your own until either your vehicle is repaired, or you procure another vehicle. We know this is not fair. This is why we always recommend getting Rental Car Insurance Coverage.

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