Fullerton Car Accident Lawyer

More than a thousand car accidents are reported every day in California. If you are involved in one of these accidents in the Fullerton area, and you’re injured because the other driver was negligent, schedule a consultation with a Fullerton car accident lawyer at The Paris Firm.

Many car accidents in California result in only scrapes, bruises, and minor vehicle damage, but far too many accidents are catastrophic or fatal. In 2024, more than 3,800 people lost their lives on California streets and highways. Thousands more sustained severe and catastrophic injuries.

For more than 26 years, Fullerton car accident attorney Eric Paris has represented the injured victims of negligent drivers in Fullerton and across Southern California. If you are one of those injured victims, schedule a free case evaluation by calling The Paris Firm at 909-325-6185.

Why Take Your Case to The Paris Firm?

If you are injured in the Fullerton area because another driver was negligent, you are entitled by California law to pursue compensation for lost income, medical expenses, and other injury-related losses, but you’ll need a lawyer’s help to win the compensation and justice you deserve.

If you have grounds to file a personal injury claim, Fullerton car accident attorney Eric Paris can review the specifics of your case and fight to recover your compensation. What you can recover depends on the details of the collision and the extent of your car accident injuries.

When you retain The Paris Firm to represent your car accident claim, you pay nothing up front. We handle traffic accident claims on a contingency basis. If, for any reason, you are not compensated at the end of the claims process, you will owe no lawyer’s fee to The Paris Firm.

What Can The Paris Firm Do for You?

Filing a personal injury lawsuit doesn’t necessarily entail a jury trial, but it’s a way to show the other side you’re serious about pursuing justice. In some cases, an acceptable settlement can be negotiated quickly after an injury victim formally files a lawsuit.

A Fullerton car accident lawyer at The Paris Firm can answer your legal questions after a car accident, investigate how the accident happened, examine the evidence, and negotiate with the at-fault driver’s insurance company for a fair and reasonable resolution of your injury claim.

But if fault for the accident is in dispute, or if no fair and reasonable settlement amount is offered in the out-of-court negotiations, The Paris Firm can take your case to court, explain to a jury how you were injured (and how seriously), and ask the jury to award your compensation.

Personal injury law in California is exceedingly complicated. After a car accident, you need to know your rights and options. Your car accident lawyer at The Paris Firm can explain what you need to know, what you need to do, and when you need to do it.

What Mistakes Should You Avoid?

If you seek to recover damages after a car accident, you can’t make any mistakes that could delay your case or make you ineligible for compensation. The injured victims of negligent drivers make the following mistakes far too frequently:

1. failure to gather key evidence at the crash scene
2. failure to seek immediate medical treatment
3. speaking to the at-fault driver’s insurance company
4. misrepresenting or exaggerating how the crash happened or the extent of the injuries
5. failure to promptly retain the advice and services of a California car accident attorney

What Causes Car Accidents?

Almost every car accident in California can be linked to some form of negligence: aggressive driving, distracted driving, driving while fatigued, or driving under the influence. Negligence is the root cause of virtually every car accident, but sometimes, it’s not a driver’s negligence.

When there’s a car accident, and neither motorist was negligent, liability may be assigned to:

1. a government agency for a poorly maintained or poorly designed roadway
2. a vehicle or parts manufacturer for selling a defective product to a consumer
3. a repair shop or mechanic that performed shoddy repair work on one of the cars

Take These Measures After a Car Accident

A traffic accident attorney can advise you later, but there will be no attorney to advise you at the scene of a car accident. You must take steps to put yourself in the best possible legal position, and that means gathering the evidence that will confirm your personal injury claim.

If anyone is injured, the priority after a car accident is to call 911 for police and medical assistance. Take photos of the damage to the vehicles, the accident scene, the license plates, and your personal injuries. If there were witnesses, ask for their names and contact information.

Make copies of all documents and photos generated by the accident, and store them securely. Too many car accident victims arrive at their first consultation with a personal injury attorney without photographs, medical records, or anything else that proves they’ve been injured.

A Medical Exam is Essential

If you’re not rushed to a hospital or treated at the scene of a car accident, obtain a medical exam promptly, ideally in the first 24 hours after the accident. You may feel fine, but a latent or difficult-to-detect injury can go undiscovered and develop into a serious medical condition.

And without an immediate medical exam, you may be unable to prove you were injured in that specific accident. The other driver’s insurance company could claim you were injured in some other way or not at all. Failing to seek immediate medical help casts doubt on your injury claim.

Obtaining medical attention and adhering to your doctor’s orders establishes the medical documentation you must produce to file a personal injury claim. And if you haven’t been injured, a medical exam can confirm it and give you peace of mind.

After Receiving Medical Treatment, What’s Your Next Priority?

After you’ve been treated for a car accident injury, the next priority is retaining legal counsel. Your lawyer needs to examine evidence and obtain witness statements as quickly as possible. Your lawyer can then develop an effective strategy for recovering your compensation.

Don’t speak with anyone who represents the other driver’s insurance company. Anything you say could be misinterpreted or twisted and used against you. Refer any questions and inquiries from the other driver’s insurance company to your car accident attorney.

And don’t take an insurance company’s first settlement offer, either. Let your attorney negotiate with the company on your behalf. A car accident attorney at The Paris Firm can negotiate for a fair and generous resolution of your auto accident injury claim.

What Compensation Can You Recover?

If you suffer catastrophic injuries in an auto collision, such as a traumatic brain injury, a spinal cord injury, or a limb injury that requires amputation, or if you’re temporarily or permanently disabled because of the accident, you’ll need to recover the maximum available compensation.

In the worst scenario, which happens far too frequently, a lifetime of medical care and treatment may cost several million dollars. In personal injury cases based on auto accidents, the damages that injury victims may seek and recover include compensation for:

1. Medical expenses: Settlements and jury verdicts in car accident cases almost always compensate victims for pending medical bills and projected future medical costs.

1. Lost wages: Settlements and verdicts in these cases usually reimburse car accident victims for lost wages and projected future lost wages.

1. Damaged or destroyed property: If your vehicle or anything else you own is damaged or destroyed in a car accident by another driver’s negligence, you are entitled by California law to reimbursement for the property’s replacement or repair.

1. Pain, suffering, and emotional distress: The injured victims of negligent motorists can recover “non-economic” damages for their suffering, pain, and emotional distress resulting from a car accident.

1. Other losses: If a car accident injury prevents you from pursuing activities and hobbies, you may recover compensation for the loss of the “enjoyment of life.” If spousal intimacy is impaired, you may also recover damages for loss of consortium.

Punitive damages are seldom awarded in car accident cases. Punitive damages are awarded only when the at-fault driver’s actions were exceedingly reckless or intentionally dangerous. They are intended to deter and penalize reckless and dangerous driving.

How is Liability for Motor Vehicle Accidents Determined?

In California, to prevail with a personal injury lawsuit and prove the other motorist was at-fault, you and your car accident lawyer must show that the following conditions applied when the car accident happened:

1. The presumably at-fault driver (the “defendant”) owed you (the “plaintiff”) a duty of care. Under California law, drivers owe other motorists, passengers, and pedestrians the duty to drive an automobile responsibly and safely, with reasonable awareness and caution.

1. Instead, the defendant breached the duty of care by failing to act as an average, reasonable individual would have acted in a comparable situation.

1. The defendant’s breach of their duty of care and their subsequent negligent driving are the direct causes of your injury. (If a driver crashes into your car and you walk away unhurt, you’ll have no grounds to file an injury claim.)

1. Justice requires the at-fault driver to compensate you for your medical costs and related damages.

When Drivers Share Fault

California’s civil courts operate under a “pure comparative negligence” system. This means that if you are injured in a car accident in the Fullerton area and are partially responsible, you can still recover some damages.

You may be up to 99% responsible for a car accident in California and still recover a percentage of your damages. If jurors determine that you were 49% at fault for a car accident, you may still recover up to 51% of your damages.

Let’s say a reckless, speeding driver runs a stop sign, crashes into you, and your damages total $100,000. Let’s also say you were driving 7 or 8 miles per hour over the posted limit, so a jury finds you were 30% at fault. In this case, you can recover only 70% of your damages ($70,000).

What Happens When You Settle an Accident Claim?

Settling a car accident claim means that you agree to accept financial compensation in return for dropping your claim. In California, an accident claim can be settled before or even during a personal injury trial.

When you settle, you sign a form that releases the at-fault driver from further liability or legal action. You won’t be allowed to seek any additional compensation. You shouldn’t accept a settlement offer unless your attorney recommends it.

The decision to reject or accept a settlement offer is yours alone, but attorney Eric Paris can offer insights and sound advice. If no acceptable offer is forthcoming in the settlement negotiations, he can take your injury claim before a jury and advocate on your behalf at trial.

What Else Should You Know?

California doesn’t require drivers to carry uninsured motorist coverage, but you should. Even if they’re ordered by a court to compensate you for your damages after a car accident, some people, for whatever reason, carry no insurance coverage and have no way to pay you.

Uninsured motorist insurance covers you in collisions with hit-and-run drivers and drivers with no car insurance. Purchasing uninsured motorist coverage is the best way to protect yourself from situations where filing a personal injury lawsuit won’t help you.

How Can You Locate the Right Attorney?

Southern California teems with personal injury lawyers. If you are injured by a negligent driver in a car accident, you need to find the right one. Before you agree to be represented by a lawyer, ask these questions and any others you have, and get answers that satisfy you:

1. How many car accident claims have you handled that are comparable to mine?
2. How many car accident claims have you taken to trial? What were the results?
3. Do you have references from former clients?
4. How much is the fee, and how does payment work?

Do your research and make sure you are comfortable with the attorney you choose, because you may be working together for several months or longer.

Contact The Paris Firm Promptly After a Car Accident Injury

Under California’s statute of limitations, you have two years to file a personal injury lawsuit after a negligent driver injures you. The deadline may be extended for minors who were under 18 when they were injured and for victims with latent injuries that were not immediately detected.

But any personal injury claim you pursue will be a much stronger claim if you undergo an immediate medical examination and follow it up with immediate legal action. Don’t wait two years or even two weeks to schedule a consultation with an attorney at The Paris Firm.

Schedule a Free Consultation

Call our law offices immediately after a medical provider has examined and treated your injuries. It’s better if your lawyer examines the evidence while it’s still fresh and speaks to the witnesses before their memories fade.

For 26+ years, attorney Eric Paris has represented the injured victims of negligent motorists in Southern California, and he’s ready to put that experience to work for you. You can schedule a free consultation with The Paris Firm by calling 909-325-6185.