Personal Injury and Wrongful Death
Serious injury or wrongful death deserves more than a quick intake script.
The first review connects responsibility, medical proof, life impact, available coverage, and any preservation or deadline issue.
What is at stake
Why this cannot sit on a shelf.
A collision, a fall, an unsafe property, or a preventable death has changed your health, your income, and your family's plans. The other side's insurer started building its version of the story on day one.
- Medical bills and lost income arrive before any claim is resolved.
- Scene conditions, vehicle damage, and nearby video can change or disappear within days.
- An early recorded statement or signed release can shape the rest of the claim.
When this may fit
Start with a fact pattern, not a conclusion.
A page cannot decide whether a claim exists. These are the kinds of facts that help the firm decide whether a closer review is appropriate.
Injury, treatment, death, or life impact is documented
Insurance or another recovery source may exist
Evidence to preserve
Keep the records that make the chronology testable.
Incident reports, scene photos, video, and witness details
Preserve the original, note where it came from, and keep a simple date index. Do not send sensitive records through a public form.
Medical records, bills, work restrictions, and a treatment timeline
Preserve the original, note where it came from, and keep a simple date index. Do not send sensitive records through a public form.
Insurance letters, claim numbers, damaged-property records, and preservation notices
Preserve the original, note where it came from, and keep a simple date index. Do not send sensitive records through a public form.
Evaluation
How the first review tests the matter.
Causation between the event and the harm
The weight of this factor depends on the complete facts, available law, and recoverable proof.
Past and future medical or life-impact evidence
The weight of this factor depends on the complete facts, available law, and recoverable proof.
Coverage, collectability, comparative fault, and litigation leverage
The weight of this factor depends on the complete facts, available law, and recoverable proof.
Deadlines vary by claim, party, forum, and facts. This page does not calculate a filing or notice deadline. If timing may matter, call promptly.
Open the related preparation guideWhat to expect
What the first review actually does.
- Conflicts and parties first
Everyone on every side is identified before a closer review, because a conflict controls whether the firm can look at the matter at all.
- A timing screen, not a deadline calculation
Known dates, notices, and procedural steps are reviewed against your facts. No web page and no first call can promise you a filing date.
- A preservation list
What may disappear first is identified early, including records held by an employer, an insurer, an agency, or a company.
- A next step you can act on
Engagement discussion, a request for specific information, a referral, co-counsel review, or a decline. No acceptance, outcome, or response time is promised.
Frequently asked
Personal Injury and Wrongful Death questions.
How long do I have to bring a California injury claim?
Deadlines vary by claim type, by who is responsible, and by the forum involved. Claims involving public entities can carry separate and much shorter notice steps. This page does not calculate your deadline. Call promptly so timing can be reviewed against your facts.
Should I give the other insurer a recorded statement?
You are generally not required to give a recorded statement to another party's insurer, and what you say can be used later. Consider getting the request reviewed first. Write down who called, when, and what they asked.
What if I was partly at fault?
Shared responsibility does not automatically end a California claim, but it can affect what is recoverable. Bring the facts you have, including the parts you are unsure about, so fault can be reviewed honestly rather than assumed.
First review
Send a short chronology and the parties involved.
The firm may accept, refer, co-counsel, or decline a matter after conflicts and fit review. Contact alone is not representation.