Suffering a serious personal injury—whether it is the result of an auto accident, a dog attack, or a dangerous or defective product—can be a traumatic and life-changing event.
Such an incident can be an enormous disruption and change to your life and routine, leaving victims and their families with tremendous emotional and financial strain.
If you have been seriously injured due to someone else’s negligence and/or wrongdoing, you may be able to recover compensation for your losses. For more than 46 years, an experienced Fountain Valley personal injury lawyer at Bisnar Chase has successfully handled all kinds of injury cases for our clients.
Our goal is to help injured victims and their families secure maximum compensation for their losses. We value the reputation that we have earned and secured over the years by providing quality legal representation and superior customer service to our clients and their families.
Please contact us if you are in need of advice and guidance with regard to your potential personal injury claim in Fountain Valley. Call 949-2023-3814 for a free confidential consultation.
Fountain Valley Personal Injury Lawyer
Have You Been Injured in Fountain Valley CA?
If you or a loved one has been injured in or near Fountain Valley, there are a number of steps you can take to ensure that your legal rights and best interests are protected and that you are properly compensated if the accident was caused by another person’s negligence.
Document the incident
Whether you have been injured in an auto accident on a local roadway or freeway or hurt yourself in a slip-and-fall accident in a neighborhood supermarket, documenting the incident is extremely important.
For example, if you have been injured in a car accident, make sure you file a report with the police while also ensuring that your account of the incident is mentioned in the report. It would also be a good idea to obtain a copy of this police report for your own records.
If you slip and fall in a supermarket aisle, file an incident report with the store’s owner or manager. This helps determine the time, date, and location of the incident.
Gather as much evidence as possible from the scene
The value of collecting pertinent evidence from the accident scene cannot be overemphasized. In many instances, your case may only be as good as the evidence you have.
So, if you have been involved in a Fountain Valley car accident, it would be a good idea to get as many photos as possible from the crash scene. In addition, it is also crucial to get relevant information from the other parties involved, such as other drivers, as well as contact information for any eyewitnesses.
It is important to collect this information immediately after the crash, as accident scenes tend to get cleared out pretty quickly. If you are injured and cannot get these critical pieces of evidence, ask a family member or friend to help you. Your Fountain Valley personal injury lawyer can also help you gather such evidence.
Obtain prompt medical attention
If you have suffered personal injuries in any type of incident, it is very important that you get prompt medical attention, treatment, and care.
For example, if you have fallen on someone else’s property, make sure you call 911 and get to an emergency room so you can get treated immediately. Similarly, if you have suffered injuries in a car accident, get medical attention immediately.
This helps establish and document the nature of your injuries and the treatment you received. So, in addition to putting you on the road to recovery, getting prompt medical care helps create a record that shows the extent of the injuries you sustained in the accident.
This documentation can prove invaluable to your Fountain Valley personal injury claim, especially if your case goes to trial. Even if you “feel fine” after the accident, it would be in your best interest to schedule a visit with your doctor.
Our Fountain Valley personal injury lawyers often find that injury symptoms may not surface for days or weeks after a traumatic event. So, the first step here is to get the correct diagnosis of your injuries and start recovering your health.
Be wary of what you say
Providing statements about the incident to anyone but the police or your personal injury lawyer can work against you. If possible, you should talk to your attorney before you talk to anyone else.
If you have been involved in a car accident, exchange basic information with the other parties involved. Don’t engage them in a conversation by talking about who was at fault.
Worse, do not admit fault or make statements that suggest you may have been at fault. Remember, anything you say can and in all likelihood, will be used against you.
If you have been injured in an accident, the other party’s insurance company will call you soon after. While you should report the crash details to your auto insurance company, please refrain from speaking with the other parties’ insurers or attorneys.
Never agree to provide a recorded statement. It is generally a good idea not to talk to anyone other than your injury lawyer regarding the incident.
Do not rush into a settlement
The insurance company often pressures injured victims into agreeing to a quick settlement. You need to remember that such an agreement tends to work in an insurance company’s favor.
The insurance company is not your friend in the aftermath of a personal injury accident. Their business model is based on not paying their customers or settling for the least amount possible.
Insurance adjusters are trained to minimize these payouts. They are not looking out for you. They work for the insurance company, and their role hinges on working out deals that benefit their employer.
Your personal injury lawyer is the only one working for you and bearing your interests. So, do not rush into a settlement or sign any agreement until you’ve talked to your injury lawyer.
Once you do, there may not be a way to undo that step and its subsequent terms. You may not be able to seek any further compensation once you’ve agreed to a settlement.
Injury Cases That We Handle in Fountain Valley
At Bisnar Chase we have a team of skilled personal injury attorneys with a wealth of experience handling all sorts of cases with outstanding results. We are here to help anyone who lives or is injured in Fountain Valley or elsewhere across Orange County.
If you have sustained an injury in an accident type not listed below, check our practice areas page or contact us directly to find out if we can help you. Even if we cannot take your case, we can point you in the right direction.
- Car Accidents: Recent stats show that four people died and nearly 500 others were injured in car accidents in Fountain Valley over a single year. Car crashes can be deadly and are common on the congested roads of Southern California.
- Dog Bites: Fountain Valley is home to a huge number of dogs. But dogs can become aggressive and cause serious injuries, particularly when they have irresponsible owners or poor training. Contact us for help with a Fountain Valley dog bite lawsuit.
- Pedestrian Accidents: Through an average year in Orange County there are about 800 pedestrian injuries and more than 30 deaths. Fountain Valley is filled with busy streets and intersections, and a collision involving a pedestrian can result in serious or fatal injuries.
- Truck Accidents: Fountain Valley is filled with businesses, and that means plenty of commercial vehicle traffic through the area. Trucks are large and heavy and cause serious damage when they are involved in collisions. Contact us now if you have been involved in a truck crash in Fountain Valley.
- Cycling Accident: Many people choose to cycle in Fountain Valley, with the California climate making it a great mode of transport year-round. But cyclists are vulnerable to dangerous driving from the vehicles around them, and a bicycle accident can have serious consequences.
- Premises Liability: Property owners and managers of commercial premises have a duty of care to visitors. For example, if you suffer an injury in a slip and fall accident in a Fountain Valley store, you may be able to file a lawsuit.
- Bus Accident: Whether you are a passenger on a bus involved in an accident, or you are injured in a collision with a bus, it is likely to leave you badly hurt. Make sure you are aware of your legal rights.
- Defective Products: When an injury is caused by a dangerous, defective, or malfunctioning product that has been purchased or received in Fountain Valley you may have a strong legal case. Contact us to find out.
- Motorcycle Accident: There are more than 800,000 motorcycles registered in California, and plenty of those are on the roads throughout Orange County. As with other road incidents on this list, motorcycle accidents can be deadly.
- Wrongful Death: If any kind of accident involving negligence results in a fatality, you may be able to file a wrongful death lawsuit in Fountain Valley. Contact us to find out more.
- Employment Law: This is not a type of injury claim, but Bisnar Chase also has a team focusing on employment cases. If you have been the victim of a workplace incident ranging from harassment and wrongful termination to wage and hour disputes in Fountain Valley, we can help.
2024 Top-Rated Fountain Valley Personal Injury Lawyers
One of the most important steps for securing the compensation you deserve after a traumatic injury is to seek and obtain the counsel of an experienced Fountain Valley personal injury lawyer. Certain aspects in this regard will help you choose the right lawyer for your case. Key factors include:
- Strong knowledge of local courts
- Experience with cases like yours
- A trial lawyer
- A law firm with the resources to see your case through
- A track record of success
- Reviews from satisfied clients
- Free initial consultation and a no win no fee promise
First, you need to find someone in your area who is familiar with local courts and specializes in personal injury law. Look for someone who has significant experience handling personal injury cases exclusively.
Visit the attorney’s website to see what types of cases they handle, their success rate, and the types of verdicts and settlements they have obtained for injured clients in the past.
Retain a lawyer who also has trial experience. While it is a fact that a vast majority of personal injury cases are settled outside a courtroom, you may still need a lawyer with trial experience—one who is not afraid to take your case to trial should the need arise.
Sometimes, the litigation process may be your best option to ensure the defendant pays fair compensation. When you are looking to retain a lawyer, you may wish to consider a Fountain Valley personal injury lawyer who is an active member of local and state trial lawyer groups. Attorneys committed to success with their personal injury practice tend to collaborate with peers.
You also need the law firm handling your case to have substantial resources, not just in terms of staffing but also in terms of their ability to have expert witnesses and subject matter experts provide testimony if required.
Preparing a personal injury case may quickly become expensive. Several steps have associated costs, such as taking depositions and getting the necessary experts to testify.
Try to assess the law firm during your initial consultation. How do their offices look? Do they seem successful? How did the person at the front desk treat you? How did the lawyers and other firm employees treat you during your visit? Did they offer you a free initial consultation and do they work on contingency?
Your personal injury lawyer should be someone you like and trust, as cases may take several months to years to settle or decide. They should also have a proven record of success.
Bisnar Chase fulfills all of these requirements. Our 99% success rate sets us apart from many other firms. We also take pride in providing superior representation to those inaccessible law firms you can never reach. We are here to help you, whether in Newport Beach, Westminster, or Los Angeles.
Damages in a Personal Injury Case
There are a number of different types of damages that you could receive in a Fountain Valley personal injury case. Here are some of the damages that are most commonly awarded in such cases:
Medical expenses
This includes costs relating to emergency transportation, hospitalization, cost of surgeries, medication, medical equipment, and doctor visits. Some severely injured victims may incur future medical costs.
For example, if you need to undergo back surgery as the result of an auto accident in which you were injured a year ago, then that expense should also be part of the compensation you receive.
Lost wages
When you are injured in a traumatic incident, you may not be able to return to work for a while or until you completely recover from your injuries.
You may lose days, weeks, or even months of work, resulting in loss of income and severe financial challenges for you and your family. This is particularly true in cases where the injured victim is the sole breadwinner or primary wage earner.
Families may also suffer without health or other benefits during this time. These types of losses should be part of the personal injury claim.
Rehabilitation costs
Most injured victims need some rehabilitative treatment or therapy to get them back to their pre-accident condition. For example, individuals who have suffered broken bone injuries may require several weeks of rehabilitation to regain strength and mobility in the affected area.
This might include physical therapy, chiropractic care, and so on. Often, health insurance may not cover these types of rehabilitative costs. The patient may have to pay these expenses out of pocket. However, these are expenses you should include in your personal injury claim.
Pain and suffering
When you are injured in a Fountain Valley accident, you may experience not only physical pain but also emotional trauma. Injured victims may become depressed or suffer post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, which might require counseling and treatment.
A number of these traumatic incidents, such as car accidents and dog bites, also result in scarring and disfigurement. This could have a serious psychological impact on victims as well.
Permanent injuries
Unfortunately, many victims may never completely recover from their injuries. This is particularly true in cases where victims have sustained catastrophic injuries, such as amputations.
In these situations, they may never be able to return to their jobs or earn a subsequent livelihood. Such victims may be entitled to receive disability benefits and additional compensation for permanent injuries, disabilities, loss of future income, and inability to earn a livelihood.
Wrongful death
When a loved one is killed as a result of someone else’s negligence or wrongdoing, you may be able to seek compensation by filing a wrongful death claim.
Such claims seek compensation for damages, including medical expenses, funeral and burial costs, lost future income, pain and suffering, and loss of love, care, and companionship.
Contact one of our Fountain Valley personal injury lawyers for a free case evaluation. Call 949-203-3814 today.
Contact a Fountain Valley Personal Injury Lawyer
At Bisnar Chase, we are committed to providing our clients with quality legal representation and recovering just compensation for them. We are proud of the track record we have achieved in getting positive results for our clients in Fountain Valley and throughout Orange County.
We have recovered money in over 99% of our cases. We have been advocating for average citizens and consumers for more than 46 years – inside and outside of the courtroom.
We also provide a no win no fee guarantee, which means you do not pay anything unless we recover compensation for you. Initial consultations are always free and carry no obligations.
With more than $900 million won including punitive damages, and thousands of clients represented, our firm has earned a reputation as one of California’s toughest injury law firms. Please call (949) 203-3814 for a free consultation with one of our experienced injury lawyers in Fountain Valley.
