California Personal Injury Legal Questions

Every claim or law suit has two basic elements: Liability (fault) and damages (how much). Many times a person may have a good claim but the damages are insufficient to interest a lawyer in taking your case. If the damages are modest you may wish to sue in Small Claims Court, where no lawyers are allowed and the damages are limited to $10,000.... Read Answer

If she rear-ended your car, unless you were backing up or made a sudden stop for no reason, she is at fault and you have no liability. Whether you have insurance or not only matters as to any claim you might have for pain and suffering, which you indicate did not occur. She may be trying to take advantage of you by making you think you owe her something when you do not.... Read Answer

If your portion of the settlement was $5,000 or more, it would have to have been placed in a blocked acct., which you could access at 18. if no-one in the family knows which bank, you can look at the court file and the receipt will tell you. If you don?t have the court case no., you can find it by indexing your name (it may be under dad's name).... Read Answer

Speak to a local criminal law attorney about your complicated situation. I would think the police have already searched the trunk and they likely would hold you responsible unless you tell them who the other two people are. The tow company might not let you remove anything from the car as it is still evidence for a possible criminal charge. Why would you feel the Police might be nice to you if you refuse to co-operate with them? The insurance company for the owner of the other car will come after you for the amount of property damage they paid for.... Read Answer

You are entitled to Workers' Compensation disability benefits, which are 2/3rd of salary [since non-taxable, would be close to your net take home pay, but there is an upper limit as to how much has to be paid] and whatever benefits your contract with the school district provides. Speak to Personal for more information. If you currently get 60%, then it is unlikely you are legally entitled to anything more.... Read Answer

Whether or not you had insurance on your car, the drunk driver is responsible for the damages to your vehicle. If he is convicted of a felony, you would also be entitled to your attorney fees, but if he has insurance just submit the claim to his insurance carrier. The police report should indicate who his insurance company is, if any.... Read Answer

Nothing can be taken from you until there is a judgment against you, which happens at the end of a trial. So you could move to another state and it would be difficult to get a judgment against you. Some insurance carriers will give a grace period to renew the insurance so check with the insurance company, but otherwise they have no contractual duty to cover you. If you knew your e-mail was not working, you should have done something about it. From your description, I can not tell how the accident occurred.... Read Answer

It is not extortion as that requires the other party trying to get something from you. It is however a crime to threaten to murder someone. There is no law saying after 2 weeks something left behind becomes the property of the owner of the unit or land where it was left. She has to give you a reasonable notice and time to get your possessions. Report her to the police.... Read Answer

Send him a registered letter demanding that he and his supervisor contact you within the next week with a detailed statement of what they have done or you will take the necessary steps, including but not limited to a small claims suit, complaint to the Ca. Consumers Department [you should use their exact name, which I do not remember].... Read Answer

The first thing that should have been done would be to obtain and record an abstract of judgment. This can be renewed every ten years. If the defendant ever tries to buy or sell real estate, bingo! You get paid. You can also set for hearing an examination of defendant's income and assets; this is called an Order for Appearance of Judgment Debtor. If both of these things have not been done, see if the collector will transfer back to you, so you can proceed. Some collectors don't do anything except write a letter or two. Others are very tenacious.... Read Answer

I would assume not since you are no longer the owner or have possession of the firearm and did not cause the illegal act to occur. ?If, however, you sold it to someone you knew might use it improperly or was not legally entitled to own a weapon or violated State law as to the transfer of weapons, you might be liable.... Read Answer

There is no way of knowing what the results will be. I would think the case has to be tried in 2 parts first whether there is any liability [if device not approved by FDA and used without your approval and is what caused injury to you] and then for each person what their damages are [your recovery would be based upon what your damages are, including any need for future surgery to remove the hardware if it is harmful]. Contact the attorney who is handling the case to see what the possibility of settlement is and what reasonably you might receive. If the total damages exceed the defendant's ability to pay, then you will not get more than your share of their assets.... Read Answer

Your lack of insurance means in California you can not collect for pain and suffering but can for all other damages [car damage, rental car until repaired, medical bills, wage loss]; their lack of insurance means you will have a tough time collecting anything even with a judgment. Find out what assets they have and try to work out a reasonable payment schedule.... Read Answer

In California, the owner of the vehicle is jointly liable with the driver for the first $15,000. ?So the plaintiff is correct as to the suit. If your father's insurance paid for the damages, they will provide for free an attorney to represent you [the duty of the attorney is to represent your interests and not the insurance company's, although often that is not how it is handled], but if they paid what is the other driver suing for [non-property damages?]. That you should not have been driving alone did not cause the accident so it is irrelevant, except your father's insurance company may deny coverage.... Read Answer