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Riverside Personal Injury Attorneys

Getting hurt in a car or truck accident or other personal injury can affect your life in numerous ways. You’re physically hurt and in pain, sometimes for weeks or months, sometimes much longer. You’ve also missed work to deal with your injuries and might find yourself unable to do the job you used to do. You can’t provide the level of care and support at home like you used to, and your family members must pitch in to help take care of you and do the things you used to do. Your entire life can be disrupted or changed forever, all because another driver was looking at his or her phone instead of the road and crashed into you.

When you suffer a personal injury because of another person’s negligence, they might be liable to you for the harm they have caused. California law gives you the right to collect money damages for your medical expenses, lost wages, pain and suffering, and other legal damages. Getting the other party to pay for your damages isn’t always so easy, however. As the plaintiff in a personal injury case, the burden falls on you to prove your case. You have to prove the other party caused your injury through their negligence, and you have to prove how seriously you were injured. Meanwhile, the negligent defendant and their insurance company will do everything they can to pay as little as possible or avoid liability altogether if they can.

Ochoa & Calderon can help. Our firm is dedicated to helping the people of Riverside and Southern California who have been injured by a distracted driver, a negligent shopkeeper, or some other responsible party. We’ll take on the task of building a strong case that proves the other party’s liability to you, and we’ll fight to get results that meet your needs. You focus on getting better and getting your life back in order after a serious accident; Ochoa & Calderon will focus on recovering significant compensation for you.

Call Ochoa & Calderon for help with any personal injury in Riverside or Southern California, including:

  • Car Accidents
  • Truck Accidents
  • Motorcycle Accidents
  • Bicycle Accidents
  • Pedestrian Accidents
  • Slip And Fall Accidents
  • Dog Bites
  • Defective Products Injuries
  • Wrongful Death

How Personal Injury Claims in Riverside Work

Personal injury law is the law of negligence. A negligence claim has four major elements, and each component must be proven by the weight of the evidence to hold the negligent party accountable. These factors are: Duty, Breach, Causation and Damages.

Duty

You must prove the other party owed you a duty of care. Car and truck drivers owe a duty to drive carefully, competently and attentively for the safety of other drivers, pedestrians, and bicyclists on the road. Store owners owe a duty to keep their premises in a reasonably safe condition. Product manufacturers have a duty to put out products that are designed and manufactured safely. Dog owners have a duty to restrain their pets and keep them from biting or attacking.

Breach

You must prove the other party violated their duty of care. This is usually shown by demonstrating negligence. Speeding, reckless driving, running a red light, distracted driving and drunk driving are all breaches of the duty of care. Property owners who fail to periodically inspect the premises and fail to promptly clean up a spill, pick up fallen merchandise or fix a defective step have breached their duty of care. Product manufacturers who fail to warn about the dangers of their product or provide instructions for their safe use are in breach of their duty. Dog owners who let their dogs roam unleashed in public or an unfenced yard are liable if their dog attacks or bites a person in public or while lawfully on private property.

Causation

You must prove that the other person’s negligence (breach) is the cause of your injury. It must be both the “cause in fact” and the legal or “proximate” cause of your injury. These are technical legal terms that can be difficult to understand. A driver may have been speeding or texting when they hit you but claim your injuries happened because you weren’t wearing your seat belt. A property owner might claim the hazard on their property was obvious and could have been avoided had you been watching where you were going. A product manufacturer might claim you misused the product, and a dog owner could say you provoked the attack by leaning in to pet the dog without asking the owner first. Defendants might be able to avoid liability by claiming their negligence was not the cause of your injury. They can also reduce any amount they have to pay by showing that both you and they were partially to blame.

Damages

In a personal injury claim, you can recover compensation for present and future medical expenses as well as lost income for the time you missed from work or if you became disabled. You can also recover damages for harm such as pain and suffering, emotional distress, mental anguish, loss of enjoyment in life, scarring or disfigurement, loss of marital relations, and more. However, you have to be able prove all of the damages you are claiming. Defendants and their insurers might dispute your claims. They’ll say you weren’t really seriously injured and are exaggerating how bad you got hurt. They might also say your injuries were caused by some other accident or a pre-existing condition.

How Ochoa & Calderon Can Help

With more than 15 years of experience helping injured people in Riverside recover compensation, our firm knows how to build a strong case that proves every element of a personal injury negligence claim. With a strong case in hand, we are ready to negotiate a settlement or litigate your case in court if need be. Building a strong case is important not just for trial but also to get a favorable settlement out-of-court by showing the insurance company you have put in the time and effort to prove their insured’s liability to you.

Importantly, we’ll know what your claim is worth and can advise you on whether the insurance company’s offer is reasonable. Without representation, the insurance adjusters are likely to take advantage of you and offer you far less than they actually owe. This won’t happen when you are represented by experienced personal injury attorneys who are ready to fight for you.

Call Our Riverside Personal Injury Attorneys Today

If you’ve been hurt in a Riverside car or truck accident or suffered any personal injury in Southern California because of another’s negligence or misconduct, call Ochoa & Calderon for a free consultation on your claims. We only charge a fee after we are successful recovering compensation for you. No recovery, no fee.

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