The Car Accident Lawyers At Callahan & Blaine Are Here For You
Getting into a car accident is never easy, especially if you are injured. The team at Callahan & Blaine is going to bring decades of combined legal experience to your case.
- We have the resources and skills needed to take on any opponent, regardless of their size.
- Callahan & Blaine hires the most experienced personal injury attorneys in Newport Beach, ones who are ready, willing, and able to take your case to trial to secure the compensation you deserve.
- You will never have to worry about out-of-pocket costs and will pay no attorney fees unless we successfully secure the compensation you deserve. We believe that everyone should be able to have good legal representation, regardless of their financial situation.
Your Newport Beach Car Accident Attorney Is An Advocate
Car accident cases should be straightforward, but they rarely are. When insurance companies get involved, you need to be aware that they are not on your side. Even when you are not at fault, they will work to lower your settlement amount.
Your attorney will gather all evidence from the car accident in order to prove the other party’s negligence. Our Newport Beach car accident lawyers will ensure you are evaluated by a trusted medical professional who can help assess the overall costs of your injuries.
Car Accidents Can Be Severe
Car accidents happen all the time, and many of them result in only minor injuries. However, even minor injuries can lead to major medical bills. There are times, though, when car accidents cause serious injuries. It is not uncommon for the team at Callahan & Blaine to see the following injuries in the aftermath of a crash:
- Broken and dislocated bones
- Severe lacerations
- Internal organ damage
- Internal bleeding
- Spinal cord injuries
- Whiplash injuries
- Traumatic brain injuries
- Concussions
- Head-on collision
These injuries often lead to medical expenses reaching into the tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars. The California Office of Traffic Safety says that there were 3,602 fatalities and more than 273,000 injuries due to car crashes in the latest reporting year. Over 13,000 of those injuries were classified as “serious.”
When Should You Call a Newport Beach Car Accident Attorney?
If you or somebody you care about has been injured or sustained property damage in a Newport Beach car accident, you need to consider speaking to an attorney as soon as possible. If you call an attorney right after the accident occurs, preferably the same day, an attorney can get involved and help you gather the evidence needed to prove liability. A Newport Beach car accident lawyer will also walk you through every step that you need to take to receive maximum compensation for your losses.
However, we do understand that not every individual thinks they need to speak to an attorney right away, particularly for seemingly minor vehicle accidents. Just because you do not call an attorney right away does not mean that you cannot call at any point during the car accident claims process. If you receive any pushback from the insurance carriers of the at-fault party, or if any person involved tries to blame you for the crash, you need to speak to an attorney right away.
Contributory and Comparative Negligence
It is not uncommon for there to be more than one driver at fault after a vehicle accident occurs in Newport Beach. Often, we talk with people who think they will not be able to recover any compensation if they are partially at fault, but that is not true.
A few states around the country operate under a contributory negligence system. Under contributory negligence laws, individuals are not able to recover compensation if they are in any way responsible for causing an accident, even just 1%. However, the majority of states have done away with this type of system.
Most states have moved towards a comparative negligence system where individuals can recover compensation if they are partially responsible for causing a crash. Typically, this means that an individual can recover compensation if they are less than 50% responsible for the incident. However, California operates under a pure comparative negligence system, which means an individual can recover compensation even if they are up to 99% at fault for the incident.
In a pure comparative negligence system, a crash victim will receive reduced compensation based on their percentage of fault for the incident. For example, if an individual sustains $100,000 in medical and property damage expenses as a result of a rear-end collision, but they are found to be 20% at fault for the incident because one of their brake lights were out, they would receive $80,000 instead of the full $100,000. This loss of $20,000 accounts for their 20% of fault for the incident.
Filing a Claim With Insurance vs. Filing a Lawsuit
The vast majority of vehicle accident claims in Newport Beach will be resolved through a settlement with insurance carriers. Most people are relatively familiar with filing an insurance claim after a vehicle accident occurs. When this happens, there will typically be an initial investigation, and an insurance carrier will offer a preliminary amount of money for a person’s injuries and property damage. When a settlement offer is made, a crash victim may need to counter the offer and ask for more money if they do not think they have been offered a fair amount.
However, it is sometimes necessary for a car accident victim to file a lawsuit against the at-fault party and their insurance carrier. When a lawsuit gets filed, the case into the civil court system, which is different from a car accident insurance claim.
It is not uncommon for an insurance claim settlement to precede a personal injury lawsuit in these circumstances. Typically, individuals will only file a lawsuit in the event the insurance carrier of the at-fault party refuses to offer a fair settlement or denies the claim altogether.
One of the major differences between filing a claim with an insurance carrier and going forward with a personal injury lawsuit is the timeframe it takes to recover compensation. In general, car accident insurance settlements will resolve within a few weeks or a few months. However, when a personal injury lawsuit is filed, it could take well over a year for the case to be settled.
Even after a personal injury lawsuit is filed, most cases are resolved through out-of-court settlements between attorneys and the insurance carriers involved. However, in the event both sides do not reach a fair settlement agreement, it may be necessary for the case to be heard by a personal injury jury.
How to Handle Uninsured and Underinsured Motorists in California Car Accident Cases
Individuals in the state of California are not required to carry uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage as part of their regular auto insurance policies. However, we strongly recommend that all drivers in this state purchase this type of insurance.
Anytime a person sustains an injury or property damage in an accident caused by an uninsured driver, recovering compensation can be challenging. If a driver does have uninsured motorist coverage, they can turn to their own insurance carrier to recover compensation for injuries and property damage expenses. However, if they do not have this type of coverage, they will have to file a personal injury lawsuit against the at-fault driver in order to recover compensation from the at-fault driver’s personal assets.
It is also not uncommon for individuals to sustain injury property damage expenses above and beyond what the at-fault driver’s insurance limits cover. This is why it is important to also purchase underinsured motorist coverage that can kick in and help cover the additional expenses above and beyond what the other party provides.
If you have been injured in an accident caused by an uninsured or underinsured driver, we encourage you to reach out to an attorney who can help you with your claim. A lawyer can help you deal with your own insurance carrier when it comes to recovering compensation from your underinsured or uninsured motorist coverage. If you do not have these types of coverages, an attorney can help you file a personal injury lawsuit against the other driver to recover additional compensation.
Compensation for Car Accidents in Newport Beach
There may be various types of compensation available to Newport Beach car accident victims. At Callahan & Blaine, we work diligently to recover both economic and non-economic losses on behalf of our clients.
- Economic damages. We also refer to these as “special damages” that revolve around the calculable losses a person sustains after a Newport Beach vehicle accident. Some of the main types of economic losses that we help clients recover include coverage of their:
- Vehicle accident medical expenses
- Property damage expenses
- Lost income if they cannot work
- General household out-of-pocket expenses
- Non-economic damages. These types of losses are also referred to as “general damages” and revolve around the more immeasurable types of losses victims sustain in these incidents. We say that these are immeasurable because there are no direct bills or receipts that we can add up to calculate a Newport Beach vehicle accident victim’s:
- Physical pain and suffering damages
- Loss of quality of life damages
- Emotional and psychological distress
- Loss of consortium for a spouse or family members
The total amount of compensation available to crash victims will vary depending on the circumstances surrounding each particular Newport Beach vehicle accident. In general, an attorney will gather up all of the calculable expenses to properly calculate economic damages. However, calculating non-economic losses is more challenging. In order to do this, an attorney will often turn to a “multiplier method,” which means they will add up all of the economic expenses and then multiply that total by a set number (usually a number ranging from 1.5 to 5).
For example, if an individual sustains $50,000 worth of medical bills and property damage in an accident caused by another driver, an attorney may use a multiplier of “three” to reach a non-economic damage total of $150,000. Overall, the attorney would seek $200,000 on behalf of their client.
Contact a Newport Beach Car Accident Lawyer Today
If you need a Newport Beach car accident attorney, you can contact us for a free consultation by clicking here or call us at 888-284-0809.
