Legal Question in Personal Injury in California
i was in a minor car accident on MARCH 1ST the other person was found at fault but their own insurance was investigating their coverage and i just found out that she wasnt covered and they have no insurance so now i have to take them to court. the car damages were 4,000 since its a 2003 chevy impala. and i had to go to the ER because the seat belt locked on me and it gave me bruising i had to stay home from college because he gave me a note to miss 4 days 1 of those days was being at the ER so i couldnt sleep and it left a big think black line as a bruise how much can i ask for i was wanting 800-1,000 but i consulted with 5 attorneys and they said my case wasnt worth much and they wished my good luck. what am i entiled to? if i have the pictures of how my bruising started and how it ended one with my face and the other without my face but took a picture of the area? and i have a police report stating it was that girls fault. and once again i called everywhere and they said they cannot help and im new to this since its my first accident. and now i need to go to small claims as they told me and im completely lost.
i need help with this please
1 Answer from Attorneys
You are asking the wrong people, really. Lawyers are prohibited from appearing in small claims court unless they are the actual plaintiff or defendant. So most of us know nothing about it. There is a lot of information available at the California Courts website: www.courtinfo.ca.gov and most county court websites and court clerks' offices have a lot of information as well. I'm not sure if it is in publication anymore, but there also used to be a good book on small claims published by Nolo Press. You can google them for their website.