If you suffered an injury in an accident or due to negligence, you have the right to seek compensation for your injuries, time missed from work, and to cover your medical bills for treatment. Insurance companies try to deny claims and underpay settlements in personal injury cases.
Turn to our experienced Southern California personal injury law firm, SMITH Legal Center, to help you build your San Bernardino case.
Many personal injury firms will suggest that you accept the first settlement offer from an insurance company. At SMITH Legal Center, we want to fight for your right to seek compensation for medical expenses, time missed from work, and pain and suffering due to your injuries. We have a winning record against insurance companies in California.
When looking for a San Bernardino personal injury attorney, choose our experienced team at SMITH Legal Center. We believe in every part of our mission statement: to listen to and support our clients in their pursuit of justice and fair compensation. Contact us today to schedule your free, no-obligation consultation for your personal injury case.
SMITH Legal Center Has a Winning Record Against the Insurance Companies
We have the experience, ratings, and winning record to back up our mission to fight for every client. At SMITH Legal Center, we have:
- A 99% success rate winning personal injury cases or settling outside of court
- Over 15 years of fighting for personal injury victims
- Won over 7000 cases for our clients
Whereas other personal injury lawyers might recommend taking the first settlement offer from an insurance company, we recommend you fight for your opportunity to win fair compensation for your pain, medical bills, and permanent disability from your accident.
At SMITH Legal Center, we aggressively pursue compensation for our clients against the insurance companies. Insurance companies often deny claims, quote less than the real damage or injury value when paying claims, or make a lowball settlement offer when dealing with injured people. Let us take the fight to the insurance company and help you build your case.
Definition of Personal Injury in San Bernardino
Broadly defined, personal injury is any physical, psychological, or emotional injury that the negligence of another party brings about. Common causes of personal injury claims include vehicular accidents, slip-and-fall accidents, bicycle accidents, and more.
What Should I Do After an Accident or Injury?
1. Seek Medical Help
Call an ambulance for serious injuries for yourself, the other driver, or passengers if necessary. You may visit your doctor or an urgent care clinic for an assessment of any aches or pains the next day if you have no immediate serious or catastrophic injuries.
2. Get Contact and Insurance Information of All Parties Involved
If you are able, collect personal information, insurance information, license plates, and any other information you can from all involved parties, as well as contact information from any witnesses nearby. Take pictures of their documents.
3. Take Pictures of Any Damage or Injuries
Take pictures of any damage to vehicles, property, bicycles, or affected objects at the scene of the accident. If anyone has visible injuries, take pictures while waiting for medical help to arrive.
4. Call Us at SMITH Legal Center
As soon as you are able, contact our experienced San Bernardino personal injury attorney team at SMITH Legal Center. We can request the police report, review your pictures, and collect witness reports to reconstruct the accident and begin building your case. We can also offer legal advice about how to speak with the insurance company if they contact you.
Am I Eligible to File a Personal Injury Claim?
If you sustained an injury in an accident, it is very likely that you can file a personal injury claim. Call us at SMITH Legal Center for a free, no-obligation consultation to find out if you have a case and what your next steps should be.
You Have the Right to Seek Compensation for Your Injuries
Many personal injury victims find that the insurance company denies their claim or offers a low settlement much lower than what they need to cover their expenses for medical treatment, time missed from work, and other damages. Whether you seek compensation through your insurance company or the other party’s insurance policy, you could face denial of your claim.
At SMITH Legal Center, we help our clients get appropriate legal representation in their personal injury cases to pursue fair compensation for their injuries. After an accident, you might have medical bills for surgery, physical therapy, prescription medication, and more. Additionally, you could be worrying about how you’ll pay for it all if you haven’t been able to work due to the accident.
Many victims believe that insurance is supposed to cover them in the event of an accident. However, insurance companies are reluctant to pay personal injury victims what they need to recover from their injuries so that they can have a high quality of life after an accident.
Having a reliable San Bernardino personal injury attorney from SMITH Legal Center by your side, who is willing to fight for your right to fair compensation, can make all the difference in your case.
What Kind of Compensation Can I Pursue?
After an accident, you can pursue compensatory damages—or punitive damages in cases of endangerment, intention, or recklessness. Compensatory damages cover everything from medical bills to the valuation of diminished quality of life, including:
- Medical treatment compensation
- Loss of income damages
- Property damage compensation
- Damages awarded for emotional distress
- Compensation for loss of enjoyment (quality of life)
On the other hand, if you believe the party at fault behaved in such a way to endanger you or others through intentional or negligent actions, you may pursue additional punitive damages to deter similar actions in the future. Punitive damages often pressure corporate entities to improve driver training, vehicle and safety equipment maintenance, and product safety.
A court may award punitive damages if there was no actual harm, but if the defendant’s actions were extremely dangerous, such as reckless driving under the influence that leads to property damage and public endangerment.
In cases of wrongful deaths, compensation or damages for the loss of a loved one as the result of negligence or purposeful endangerment can include:
- Funeral and burial expenses
- Financial contribution of the deceased to the household
- Value of household labor, including chores, improvements, and yard work
- Loss of consortium
- Loss of companionship
- Loss of moral support
For more information about your case, call our team at SMITH Legal Center today to schedule a free, no-obligation consultation.
How Much Compensation Can I Get?
Every case varies in the evaluation of injuries, damages, and severity of the offense leading to the injuries. At SMITH Legal Center, we know the strategies the insurance companies will use to keep from paying your claim. Call us today to have aggressive legal representation fighting for your right to compensation for your injuries.
How Long Will It Take to Receive Compensation in My Case?
Every case is different. Some show obvious fault by the negligent party and settle quickly for appropriate damages. Other cases aren’t as clear-cut and require more time to build an argument, estimate damages, and determine fault. Schedule your free, no-obligation consultation with us at SMITH Legal Center to learn more about your personal injury case.
What If I’m Also at Fault for the Accident?
You may still have a right to compensation for your injuries if you are also at fault for the accident. Several factors influence the amount of compensation you may receive in your case. Your San Bernardino personal injury attorney will need to build a case on the extent of your injuries, your actions to minimize injuries and property damage, and more egregious offenses by the other party.
Find the Right Legal Representation in San Bernardino
A San Bernardino personal injury attorney with SMITH Legal Center can help you fight for appropriate compensation for your injuries. We offer legal advice and representation to serve our clients’ best interests in their personal injury cases. Contact us today to schedule your free, no-obligation consultation for any type of personal injury case below.
Car Accidents
A car accident can leave you with life-altering injuries. Even minor accidents can cause whiplash and broken bones, while major accidents can lead to paralysis, spinal injuries, traumatic brain injuries (TBI), and death.
Call a personal injury attorney on our team at SMITH Legal Center to help you navigate the complexities of your auto accident case, from medical bills to lost wages from work and more.
Truck Accidents
A truck accident can be much more serious than a collision with another car. Trucks have more weight and, therefore, more force. A knowledgeable San Bernardino personal injury attorney can help you build
Scooter Accidents
Although scooters can be a fun and cost-effective way to travel around the city, riders face higher risks of injury in an accident. If you experienced injuries in a scooter accident on an ill-kept road or in a collision with another vehicle, contact our scooter accident lawyers at SMITH Legal Center. Call us to help you fight municipal negligence for road safety or seek compensation for scooter collision injuries.
Bicycle Accidents
Drivers in cars often do not watch for bicyclists, especially if distracted on their phones, intoxicated, or tired. Cities often aren’t bike-friendly, either, with street parking over bike lanes—if there even is a bike lane. If you experienced an injury from an accident while riding your bicycle, contact us at SMITH Legal Center for information about your next steps.
Bus Accidents
Buses are heavy, and even minor accidents can cause catastrophic injuries or death. A bus accident can lead to severe injuries for passengers, pedestrians, and other vehicles. If you suffered injuries in a bus accident, contact SMITH Legal Center immediately to seek compensation for your injuries.
Pedestrian Accidents
Being struck by a vehicle while walking can lead to serious injuries, even at low speeds. Pedestrian injuries can include scrapes, sprains, bone breaks, road rash, spinal injuries, and head trauma. If you or a loved one suffered injuries or death after a pedestrian accident, call a San Bernardino personal injury attorney on our team at SMITH Legal Center today.
Rideshare (Uber/Lyft) Accidents
Rideshare accidents will require different strategies depending on whether the driver was on-duty or not at the time of the accident. Whether you were in another vehicle or the passenger of the rideshare could also affect your case. An experienced personal injury attorney at SMITH Legal Center can help you navigate the complicated procedures in a rideshare accident case.
Slip and Fall Accidents
A slip-and-fall resulting from negligence can lead to serious injuries. Contact SMITH Legal Center today if you have injuries due to slipping or falling due to negligence by a company, person, or municipality.
Wrongful Deaths
Wrongful death cases fall under the umbrella of personal injury in California. Families can seek compensation for the death of a loved one in an accident. These cases are complicated, and compensation includes several factors. Hire the wrongful death attorneys at SMITH Legal Center to fight for your right to compensation for the loss of your loved one.
Motorcycle Accidents
The Bike Set Attorney® Marc Smith, founder of the SMITH Legal Center, is a motorcycle accident attorney who rides. As an experienced motorcycle attorney, he knows the complex nature of arguing for fair compensation for motorcyclists injured in motorcycle accidents.
Many juries rarely include anyone who rides a motorcycle. This can lead to an unintentional bias leading to the car drivers on your jury believing that the motorcyclist is at fault in every motorcycle accident. An attorney who rides can explain the factors of your case that demonstrate fault in an accident involving a motorcycle, including:
- informing the jury about steps you took to reduce injury to yourself and others
- defining traffic laws relevant to your accident to describe the sequence of events
- explaining your safety gear from the accident and how you took precautions to protect your life in case of an accident
Call us at SMITH Legal Center today for a free, no-obligation consultation for your motorcycle accident case. We also represent families of bikers killed in accidents in wrongful death suits.
Cost to Hire SMITH Legal Center for Personal Injury Cases
We work on a contingency fee basis, meaning that we don’t get paid unless we win your case or help you reach a settlement. Contact us today to learn more.
Contact our San Bernardino, CA, Personal Injury Attorney Team at SMITH Legal Center
At SMITH Legal Center, we want to help our clients fight for just compensation for their injuries. Review our testimonials to see real clients’ stories about how we helped them reach fair compensation for their injuries.
Contact us at SMITH Legal Center today to schedule a free, no-obligation consultation with a San Bernardino personal injury attorney. Call us at at 866-777-6484 or contact us online for legal representation in San Bernardino, CA.
