Personal Injury

A serious injury can upend your health, your work, and your family’s finances overnight. When someone else’s carelessness caused it, a personal injury lawyer can hold them accountable and pursue the full compensation California law allows.

Smith Trial Group represents injured people throughout Orange County and Southern California. We handle cases on contingency, advance the costs of litigation, and prepare every case to be tried. Our results include a $10 million jury verdict and a $1.9 million settlement for our clients.

On this page: Cases we handle · How a claim works · Compensation · Shared fault · Deadlines · FAQ

Personal Injury Cases We Handle

• Car accidents and truck accidents
• Motorcycle accidents and bicycle and e-scooter accidents
• Uber and Lyft accidents and pedestrian accidents
• Drunk driving accidents and crashes caused by dangerous road conditions
• Dog bites and slip and fall injuries
• Defective products
• Construction accidents and third-party claims beyond workers’ comp
• Brain injuries, spinal cord injuries and other catastrophic injuries
• Wrongful death

How a Personal Injury Claim Works

Most claims are based on negligence: someone owed you a duty of reasonable care, failed to meet it, and caused your injuries. Proving that takes evidence, including police and incident reports, photographs, witness statements, video, vehicle or property data, and your medical records.

1. Investigation. We gather and preserve the evidence before it is lost and identify every party and insurance policy that may be responsible.
2. Treatment and documentation. You focus on recovery. We track your medical care, lost income, and the ways the injury affects your daily life.
3. Demand and negotiation. Once the full extent of your injuries is known, we present the claim to the insurers and negotiate.
4. Litigation and trial. If the insurers will not pay what the case is worth, we file suit and take the case to trial.

What You Can Recover

California law allows injured people to recover:

• Medical expenses, past and future, including surgery, therapy, and long-term care
• Lost wages and reduced future earning capacity
• Pain and suffering, emotional distress, and loss of enjoyment of life
• Property damage
• Punitive damages in cases involving malice, oppression, or fraud, such as some drunk-driving cases

We also negotiate medical liens and insurance reimbursement claims at the end of a case, so that more of the recovery goes to you.

What If You Were Partly at Fault?

California follows pure comparative fault. You can recover even if you share some responsibility for an accident; your compensation is reduced by your percentage of fault. Insurers routinely overstate an injured person’s share of blame, which is one reason it pays to have an advocate.

Filing Deadlines

California generally allows two years from the date of injury to file a personal injury lawsuit. When a city, county, state agency, or public transit district is involved, a formal government claim usually must be filed within six months. Evidence fades quickly, so it is best to speak with a lawyer as soon as possible.

Helpful resources: California Courts Self-Help Center · California Department of Insurance

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does a personal injury lawyer cost?

Nothing up front. We work on a contingency fee, which means our fee is a percentage of what we recover for you, and we advance the costs of the case.

Should I accept the insurance company’s first offer?

Usually not before speaking with a lawyer. Early offers are often made before the full cost of your injuries is known, and accepting one ends your claim.

How long will my case take?

It depends on your recovery and how the insurers respond. Many cases resolve within a year; cases that go to trial take longer. We will give you a realistic timeline.

Related guides: What to do after a car accident · How much is my case worth? · Dealing with the insurance adjuster