Legal Question in Personal Injury in California

Re: ''auto accident and small claims''

In case you don't already know, you only have one year from the date of the accident to file a lawsuit seeking damages for personal injury and three years for property damage. If you want to sue for more than $5,000 you could file in Superior Court Limited Jurisdiction and sue for up to $10,000 in damages. The filing fee is about $90, it varies from county to county. You can get the papers from the clerk's office at the courthouse. Tell them you want to file a Complaint for Personal Injury and Property Damage and they will give you the proper forms. They are self explanatory and simple to complete. The person you are suing is the driver of the other vehicle, not his insurance company if he was insured. If he was insured at the time of the accident the insurance company will be more likely to settle since they won't want to pay their attorney to handle the lawsuit since it will cost more to defend the lawsuit than pay the claim. If the driver was not insured I would just go through Small Claims since it is not likely you will be able to collect much more than $5000 from the defendant. Even if they have assets i.e. vehicles or a house it is extemely hard to force the sale of real property to honor such a small judgment. If they have a job you can garnish their wages and their bank account if and when you win the case. Do some investigating before you go through the hassle of filing in Superior Court so you can get $7,000 instead of $5,000. Do a car registration and dead search and see if they own any vehicles or property. See if you can find out if they have a job. Basically see if their will be any way you will get the money before you go the extra steps. Good luck.

Re: ''auto accident and small claims''

It is worth hiring a lawyer. Especially when most attorneys would take the case on a contingency basis. With that amount of property damage and medical bills, you should be looking at a settlement near $ 20,000.00 or more. Did you miss work? Then add lost wages and multiply them by 3 to 5. Do you have residuals (any lingering pain)? Then add future physical therapy and multiply that amount too. An experienced attorney knows how to get what you deserve. Please call me directly at (619) 222-3504.

Re: ''auto accident and small claims''

No, it must be one case. You can still go to small claims but you waive damages over $5,000