Panorama City Personal Injury Lawyer

Stores, malls, and parking lots in California owe a duty of reasonable care to keep the premises safe for shoppers. If you slipped on a spilled liquid, tripped on a broken tile, fell on a wet entryway, or were hurt by a falling display, the property owner or tenant may be liable. The case usually turns on whether the hazard existed long enough that the property should have discovered and fixed it. Before leaving the location, ask for an incident report, photograph the hazard, and get witness contact information. Then call us before talking to the store’s risk management or insurance contact.

Three places generate the most cases: the Panorama Mall and Roscoe-Van Nuys retail corridor for slip-and-fall and parking lot collisions; the major surface streets, especially Van Nuys, Roscoe, Sepulveda, and Woodman, for intersection crashes and pedestrian strikes; and the 405 and 5 freeway corridors for high-speed auto, motorcycle, and truck collisions. Apartments and short-term rentals along the area’s residential blocks also generate landlord negligence and premises liability claims.

Car and auto accidents, slip-and-fall and premises liability, motorcycle and bicycle crashes, truck and big-rig collisions, pedestrian accidents, rideshare cases involving Uber and Lyft, dog bites, drunk driving cases, brain injury and whiplash, burn injuries, and wrongful death. If you are not sure whether your situation fits, call and ask. The first conversation is free.

You may still have a claim through your own uninsured motorist (UM) or underinsured motorist (UIM) coverage if you have it on your auto policy. California requires insurers to offer UM/UIM coverage, though drivers can decline it in writing. Hit-and-run claims are also typically covered under UM. We can help you file the claim, push back on lowball offers, and pursue the at-fault driver directly if they are eventually identified.

Your recovery is reduced by your percentage of fault, but you can still recover even if you were mostly at fault. If a jury finds your damages were $100,000 and you were 30 percent responsible, you collect $70,000. This is more plaintiff-friendly than most states, which is why insurance companies work hard to inflate the injured person’s share of fault. Pushing back on that fault allocation is one of the most important parts of building the case.

Generally two years from the date of injury for most personal injury and wrongful death claims under California law. If a government entity is involved, including a city, a Caltrans roadway, a Metro bus, or a public hospital, you typically have only six months to file an administrative claim. Specialized rules can shorten or extend these deadlines, so it is worth a quick call to confirm where you stand before time runs out.

No. We represent people injured in Panorama City regardless of where they live, and we represent Panorama City residents injured anywhere in California. If you were visiting the area, working here, or just passing through when the accident happened, that does not change anything about your ability to bring a claim or your eligibility to work with us.