California Personal Injury Lawyers
Personal Injury Law Office in Newhall
The California personal injury lawyers at Bish & Cutting, APC guide you to maximum injury recovery with clear legal advice, getting you medical care when there’s no health insurance, and making wrongdoers pay for their bad choices.
Getting Compensation You Deserve
Types of Personal Injury Claims
Personal injury is a broad term that includes many different kinds of incidents caused by the negligence of another. We defend people who were injured in:- Slip and Falls
- Car Wrecks
- Motorcycle Collisions
- Bus Crash Injuries
- Pedestrian Injuries
- Truck Collisions
- Construction Injuries
- Dog Bites
- Wrongful Death
- Medical Malpractice
Understanding Personal Injury Claims
There are some universal rules that apply, in the most part, with all of these cases. One of these being the statute of limitations. In California, you will have two years from the date of your injury to bring your claim or to settle. This might differ for certain cases such as slip and falls on municipal property as well as medical malpractice. It would be wise to sit down with one of our California personal injury lawyers to determine if your statute of limitations is two years, or if your case is different. Our advice pertaining to the statute of limitations is to not wait them out. You should not be bringing your claim to an attorney with a week to spare. There is a lot of preparation that goes into these cases and we need time to do them. There is also a significance to calling an attorney as soon as you possibly can. A huge part of our job is to collect evidence. We do that by taking pictures, talking to witnesses, and recreating the scene. The sooner you come to us, the better the results are going to be. Here’s why: imagine seeing a car crash on the highway one day. You offer your contact information to the injured driver as a witness. You think they’re going to call you soon so you keep your ringer on your phone looking for a phone call. What if they were to call you eight months later? Do you think you could give them an accurate memory from that event? Most likely not. When we take on a case, we always hope that we’ve been contacted as soon as possible so that we can get the clearest memories from people about the crash. Your witnesses might remember something very fuzzy even a few weeks after the collision, so there is no time to waste. Secondly, let’s say you were involved in a construction injury. If we are not contacted in a timely manner, by the time we get to the scene of the incident, your coworkers have most likely continued to do their job and keep building or repairing. If we can’t get to the scene right away, the hazard that caused your injuries could have disappeared or been cleaned up. That goes for injuries such as slip and falls as well. The hotel might have repaired the broken sidewalk that you tripped on, or the jutting tile in the lobby that made you fall. You can help us with these cases by collecting as much evidence as possible. If you’re physically able to, take photos and videos of the scene. Get a picture of your injuries, if you were hit by a car on a bike for instance, a photo the damage to your bike would be worth a thousand words to the insurance company when you ask for property damage compensation.Frequently Asked Personal Injury Questions
How Do I File a Personal Injury Claim?

Is There a Minimum for Medical Bills to Be Covered?
The simple answer is there is no threshold or minimum. Medical bills are what they are. Oftentimes, especially at the beginning of a case, what you think hurts is minor could and sometimes develop into something much more significant and long-lasting, and medical bills will go up with the treatment that we will set you up with. The answer is they don’t matter, especially in the beginning.What if I Have a Preexisting Injury?
I have a client who was involved in a car crash that we’re going to trial for, but he’s had multiple previous collisions, one of which resulted in two neck surgeries. In our crash, he also injured his neck and he was very concerned about how his previous injuries would affect or impact the injuries he suffered in our wreck. Luckily, in the state of California, laws make accommodations for people with preexisting conditions. The law essentially states that you take the person as they are. As someone who violates the laws and the rules of our state, you don’t get the benefit of somebody being already injured before to escape responsibility. If you an injury that you suffered previously that was re-aggravated by the current situation, you are entitled to compensation for that re-aggravation, and for the new or heightened pain you’re suffering.Can I Sue for Emotional Distress?
Part of any personal injury claim, in addition to the injuries themselves, is an emotional component, the human losses. What has this injury cost you emotionally? What has it done for your family, for your mental health, or for your self-esteem? To me, most times, that is actually a bigger claim than the injuries. It is also a much more difficult claim to prove because it’s not tangible and it’s very subjective. That is where a good lawyer and a good relationship with a lawyer that’s built on trust helps bolster that claim.Should I Take a Settlement Offer?
Our job as lawyers is to get the best possible outcome for you as a client. That, essentially, is how cases get resolved. It’s a haggling process that we like to think of something as a back and forth negotiation, same as when you buy a car or when you negotiate for a price of a house; usually the first offer is not the best. There’s usually more money, and it never hurts to ask to see if there is more money. My suggestion is, if there’s an offer and it’s the first offer, go back to that party and see if there’s more money available.Can I Switch Personal Injury Attorneys?
Yesterday I met with a person who is represented by an attorney in a lawsuit and one of her concerns was whether or not she could switch attorneys because she wasn’t happy with her representation. The answer is yes, you are the client and the holder of your case. You can switch attorneys at any time you want. If the lawsuit has been filed, that’s simply done through a substitution of attorney; it’s a legal form. Your current counsel has to sign it. It is an ethical obligation. They have to turn over your file within five days of request. The process is much simpler if the lawsuit hasn’t been filed yet; that is simply just calling your attorney and telling them that you’re going to find someone else, and then they should turn over your file. No documents need to be filed, although I would recommend and suggest that you put that in writing so there’s a paper trail.Will My Case Go to Trial?
The majority of those clients would probably prefer that their case doesn’t go to trial because it’s a setting that’s unfamiliar, uncomfortable, and scary to a lot of people. Statistically speaking, about 95 to 96% of the cases resolve before trial, whether that’s through litigation or informal discussions with insurance companies directly. The decision is always going to be yours. Offers will be made on cases, and it will be up to you as a client to decide whether the offer makes sense, whether we can make or obtain a higher offer through additional work or counter-discussions, and ultimately, the decision to go to trial will be up to you. We will never force you to go to trial. All we can do as lawyers is give you the best advice and present you with both sides of the situation for you to make an informed decision.Can I Avoid Going to Trial?
The simple answer is yes. Again, as the client, you are the holder of the case and the ultimate decision whether or not the case goes to trial will lay on your shoulders. However, some cases, to get the best possible outcome, have to go to trial. Whether the offer is low or you feel like you’re being treated unfairly by the other side, sometimes the only way to make a point and to take a stand is to go to trial. Part of having a good lawyer that you trust is to have somebody who can prepare you for trial, remove a lot of the stigma and the fear of the process, and make it comfortable enough as to where you can sit, have a conversation, and relay your story to the jury to get the verdict you believe is just.Will My Case Settle Before Trial?
