Santa Ana Car Accident Attorneys

Car accidents happen every day in the Santa Ana, CA, area and throughout the state. When these accidents happen, victims are likely to wonder how to recover compensation for their losses, especially when another driver is clearly to blame for their experience. When you or a loved one is struggling with the aftermath of a car accident, an experienced Santa Ana car accident attorney is the best asset you can have if you want to maximize your recovery to the fullest extent possible under California law.

The expert lawyers at Easton & Easton can provide the comprehensive and compassionate guidance you need to navigate your car accident claim successfully. We understand that every car accident claim involves unpredictable details, and every victim will have a unique experience.Our goal is to provide the client-focused legal representation car accident victims need to recover as completely as possible from these damaging incidents. So instead of attempting to navigate your legal affairs unassisted and risking your recovery on a technicality, allow our team of expert lawyers to manage your car accident case effectively and secure the compensation you deserve.

It’s natural to have many questions after experiencing a car accident in the Santa Ana, CA, area. You may wonder whether you can manage to secure compensation on your own by simply filing an insurance claim against the at-fault driver. However, even seemingly straightforward car accidents can lead to very complex legal battles. While California enforces a fault rule for car accidents, there is no guarantee that the at-fault driver’s insurance carrier will be cooperative in handling your claim, and your damages could easily eclipse their coverage limits.

Suppose you experienced a minor fender-bender at low speed that only caused minimal cosmetic damage to your vehicle. In that case, you probably don’t need to hire a lawyer to handle the matter with the other driver. Instead, a small insurance claim may be all you need to cover your vehicle repair costs. However, if you were injured in any way or if you simply don’t know how to approach your recovery process, you need legal counsel you can trust from an experienced Santa Ana car accident lawyer.

Finding the right attorney to represent your Santa Ana car accident claim can seem like an incredible challenge. A good lawyer should have a lengthy track record of successful cases similar to yours, a deep understanding of state laws and statutes that are likely to influence your case, and the ability to quickly ascertain the most advantageous and problematic aspects of your case. It’s also crucial to choose an attorney who upholds fair and transparent billing practices, so you know you can afford the legal counsel you need.

The Santa Ana car accident attorneys at Easton & Easton have cultivated a strong reputation as a leading personal injury firm representing Santa Ana, CA, community and surrounding areas. The Santa Ana car accident attorneys who will handle your case have more than 70 combined years of experience handling a wide range of motor vehicle accident claims. We take the time to get to know every client we represent to provide them with comprehensive and individualized legal counsel. We know that there are no one-size-fits-all solutions to personal injury claims, and every client has unique needs and concerns. As a result, we’re confident in our ability to maximize your recovery after a Santa Ana car accident that another driver caused.

Motor vehicle accidents can happen on virtually any road, and many of these incidents are entirely unpredictable. Even the most careful drivers cannot always anticipate other drivers’ actions, and sudden changes in traffic conditions can easily lead to accidents even when drivers pay close attention to their surroundings. Some of the most commonly cited causes of car accidents in the Santa Ana, CA, area include:

• Distracted driving, which is the most commonly reported cause of motor vehicle accidents across the country. Drivers have a duty of care to pay attention to their surroundings and to control their vehicles attentively at all times. Unfortunately, even a few seconds of distraction, such as talking with a passenger or using a cell phone, can easily result in a devastating accident.
• Driving under the influence (DUI) is both incredibly dangerous and illegal. Any driver who causes an accident because they consumed alcohol or drugs before getting behind the wheel will face not only criminal prosecution under California’s DUI laws but also civil liability for victims’ damages.
• Mechanical failures. All drivers have the responsibility of addressing mechanical issues with their vehicles as soon as they notice them. Failure to address a known mechanical problem that causes an accident could place liability on the driver, but if a mechanic failed to perform vehicle maintenance correctly, they might absorb liability instead. It’s also possible for a part manufacturer to face product liability if a defective part causes an accident.
• Speeding. Posted speed limits are not suggestions. While it’s common to see traffic flowing at five to 10 miles over the posted speed limit on some roads, drivers are required to adhere to posted speed limits to the best of their ability. Speeding reduces the time and space a driver has to slow down or stop to avoid a collision. Failure to abide by posted speed limits can easily lead to a driver incurring liability for an accident, and accidents that occur at high speeds are more likely to cause devastating and fatal injuries.
• Moving violations. Traffic signals allow drivers to anticipate the actions of other nearby drivers and stay safe while driving. However, drivers must follow the traffic laws at all times. Illegal turns and U-turns, failure to use turn signals where appropriate, and other moving violations can easily lead to serious accidents.
• Dangerous driving conditions. While Southern California generally enjoys pleasant weather through most of the year, severe weather can and does manifest in the Santa Ana area from time to time. Therefore, drivers need to use extra caution when driving in dangerous weather or in periods of poor visibility.

This is not an exhaustive list of all the ways a car accident can happen. Sometimes single-vehicle accidents occur due to the driver’s error or due to forces entirely beyond their control. However, an injured driver has the right to take legal action in response to an accident because of another driver’s negligence or intentionally harmful actions.

Suppose you are unsure whether you have grounds for legal action in response to a recent car accident you experienced. In that case, it’s vital to determine whether another driver involved is responsible for causing the incident. Determining fault for a car accident is much easier in some cases than in others. Your Santa Ana car accident attorney can help you gather the evidence you may require for proving another driver’s fault for causing your damages. There are four main components to negligence under California state law:

1. Duty of care. In any personal injury claim, the plaintiff must identify the defendant or defendants they believe to be responsible for causing their personal injury and prove they owed a duty of care to the plaintiff in the situation in question. For example, every California driver has a duty of care to refrain from driving under the influence of alcohol. Every driver also has a duty of care to pay attention to the road while operating their vehicle.
2. Breach of duty of care. Next, the plaintiff needs evidence to show that the driver failed to uphold their duty of care in the situation in question. This could be in the form of a specific action, such as driving under the influence, or inaction when a reasonable person would have likely acted differently, such as failing to address a known safety issue with their vehicle.
3. Damage. You may only file a personal injury claim in California if you suffered a loss due to the defendant’s negligence. Your Santa Ana car accident lawyer will help you calculate the damages resulting from your recent car accident.
4. Causation. Once the plaintiff has proven the full scope of their damages, they must also prove those damages only occurred due to the defendant’s negligence and not some other cause. In other words, the plaintiff must prove that if the defendant had exercised reasonable care in the given situation, their damages wouldn’t have happened.

Successfully establishing these four elements of negligence is crucial for recovering from a car accident in Santa Ana. Typically, the first step in recovering from a car accident is an insurance claim against the at-fault driver’s auto insurance policy, but taking further legal action in the form of a personal injury claim is often necessary when insurance is not enough to fully cover the victim’s losses. Thus, proving negligence is essential for insurance purposes and succeeding with a subsequent personal injury claim.

Every state upholds unique laws pertaining to auto insurance requirements for drivers and establishing liability for car accidents. California upholds a fault-based system, meaning a driver who causes an auto accident is responsible for the resulting damages. After most car accidents that occur throughout California, the injured driver files a claim against the at-fault driver’s insurance policy. California state law requires all drivers to maintain specific levels of different types of coverage:

• A California drivers’ auto insurance policy must provide at least $15,000 in bodily injury liability coverage for a single person harmed in an auto accident caused by the policyholder.
• The driver’s auto insurance policy must include at least $30,000 in bodily injury liability coverage for all people harmed in a single accident caused by the policyholder.
• California drivers must also have auto insurance coverage of at least $5,000 in property damage liability coverage.

Though not technically required, California strongly advises drivers to also purchase underinsured/uninsured driver coverage. This type of coverage can provide economic relief to the policyholder if an uninsured or underinsured driver causes an accident with their vehicle. California has the highest percentage of uninsured drivers in the country, so it’s a good idea for every driver to have this coverage option in their auto insurance policy.

The actual process of filing an insurance claim after a car accident is much easier in theory than in practice. All insurance carriers have a legal obligation to investigate every claim received for damages and process all insurance claims in good faith. Unfortunately, many insurance company representatives engage in unethical and even cruel tactics to avoid paying out as much as they should. When insurance companies unreasonably delay claim processing, misrepresent aspects of a policy or claim, or attempt more overt methods to coerce a claimant into accepting a lowball insurance settlement, this is known as bad faith.

An experienced Santa Ana car accident lawyer can be tremendously helpful when dealing with a difficult insurance company. They can assist their client in drafting the client’s original claim for coverage and highlight the specific parts of the policy that apply most succinctly to the policy in question. If the insurance company attempts any dubious tactics, you will have responsive legal counsel ready to respond swiftly and aggressively on your behalf. In most cases, simply having an attorney sign off on your demand letter for coverage is enough to discourage the insurance carrier from attempting any bad faith tactics in handling your claim.

Unfortunately, even if everything goes smoothly with your insurance claim process, there is no guarantee that you will recover the full extent of your damages through insurance. Therefore, if you exhaust the at-fault driver’s insurance coverage maximums and still have remaining damages, you will need a Santa Ana car accident lawyer to assist you in taking further legal action against the at-fault driver.

Once you and your attorney have determined the full scope of your claimable damages and secured as much coverage as possible from the at-fault driver’s auto insurance policy, you may need to initiate a civil claim against them to secure the remainder of your damages that their insurance did not cover. A civil claim for car accident damages falls within the purview of personal injury law. In a personal injury claim, the plaintiff must submit a complaint to their local courthouse that outlines their damages and identifies the party or parties they believe to be responsible for causing those damages.

After the courthouse receives the plaintiff’s complaint and determines the plaintiff has met all applicable procedural requirements, the court serves the appropriate paperwork to the defendant. Then, it allows them the opportunity to submit a response. Ideally, the defendant will accept liability and agree to the plaintiff’s proposed terms for compensation. However, this rarely occurs as most defendants will either deny liability or disagree with the number of damages sought by the plaintiff.

At this point, the case can go one of two ways. The two parties may agree to meet for settlement negotiations, or the defendant may demand a trial. Litigation will be more expensive and time-consuming for both parties, and settlement generally offers a much speedier resolution for both the plaintiff and defendant. As a result, the vast majority of civil claims filed in the US settle outside of court.

Settlement negotiation often requires compromise from both parties to be effective. The plaintiff may need to agree to slightly less compensation than they could have secured through a successful trial. Still, in exchange, they obtain compensation much faster and avoid a significant amount of legal fees for the time required to complete the trial. The defendant may need to accept liability in exchange for moving past the situation as quickly as possible and settling for less than a judge might require in litigation.

Ultimately, settlement may not work for many reasons, and the two parties will need to proceed with litigation to settle the car accident claim. The case will then unfold with preliminary hearings and pretrial motions from both parties before the discovery begins. “Discovery” in the legal world refers to the sharing of evidence, sworn statements, and documentation gathered by the plaintiff and the defendant, so there are no surprises in court. Once discovery concludes, then the trial begins. The judge will oversee testimony from both sides and consider all admissible evidence both parties have to provide. When a car accident claim is litigated in court, the judge has the final say regarding the defendant’s liability and the plaintiff’s recoverable damages.

Every personal injury plaintiff in California must understand the state’s pure comparative negligence law. If you believe you are partially responsible for causing your claimed damages in any measure, you can expect this law to come into play in your case. The pure comparative negligence law states that a plaintiff still has the right to recover damages in a personal injury claim even if they are partially responsible for causing their damages. The judge overseeing the case would assign the plaintiff and the defendant fault percentages based on their levels of contribution toward causing the incident in question.

Consider an example of a car accident caused by a drunk driver in which the injured driver was driving at night and forgot to turn on their vehicle’s lights. Of course, the drunk driver would be more at fault for the incident due to illegally operating their vehicle while intoxicated. Still, a judge would likely assign the injured driver some percentage of fault since they were driving without their vehicle lights engaged. If the judge determines the plaintiff to be 25% at fault for causing the accident, the plaintiff loses 25% of their case award. In a $100,000 claim, this would result in $75,000 instead for the plaintiff.

It’s essential to have legal counsel from an experienced Santa Ana car accident lawyer if you are concerned about comparative negligence coming into play in your car accident claim. The higher the plaintiff’s fault percentage in a personal injury claim, the more vulnerable they are to a counterclaim from the defendant. Your Santa Ana car accident attorney can effectively leverage the facts of your case to help you reduce your comparative negligence as much as possible, consequently maximizing your compensation to the fullest extent possible under California state law.

Car accidents can be incredibly damaging, and having expert lawyers on your side to guide you through your case proceedings is the best way to ensure you receive the compensation you deserve after a serious car accident in Santa Ana, CA. While the at-fault driver’s auto insurance policy may offer some relief from your economic losses, a personal injury claim is the most effective method of securing compensation for car accident damages. Your car accident claim can help you recover several types of compensation for your economic damages, including:

• Medical expenses. California state law allows a personal injury plaintiff to claim all medical expenses they incur due to a defendant’s actions as economic damages in their personal injury claim. Thus, the plaintiff may have immediate and future medical expenses that qualify for compensation due to the defendant’s actions. For example, you can include hospital bills, ambulance fees, and other immediate medical expenses in your car accident claim, but you also have the right to seek compensation for your anticipated long-term medical expenses resulting from the accident, such as physical therapy, future surgeries, and rehabilitative treatment you are likely to require.
• Lost income. Your car accident could leave you too injured to work for an extended time, and you have the right to claim your wages lost during your recovery period. Additionally, California state law allows a personal injury plaintiff to recover compensation for lost future earning capacity. For example, suppose your car accident resulted in any permanent disability or medical condition that will prevent you from returning to work in the future. In that case, your Santa Ana car accident attorney can help you hold the defendant accountable for lost future earnings, calculating how much you would have reasonably expected to earn until retirement age had your accident not occurred.
• Property damage. While the defendant’s auto insurance policy may offer some coverage for vehicle repair costs, you can include the remainder of your vehicle repair or replacement costs in your civil claim, as well as the cost of replacing any other personal property lost in the accident.

Your economic damages could be much more than you initially expected when you have the right legal team handling your case. Easton & Easton knows how damaging any car accident can be, and our goal is to help our client explore every available avenue of recovery. Additionally, we can help our clients secure compensation for their non-economic damages as well.

Most people know the term “pain and suffering” regarding personal injury law, but they may find it challenging to imagine assigning a monetary value to something intangible like physical pain or emotional distress. A good Santa Ana personal injury lawyer will help their client recover pain and suffering compensation that reasonably reflects the severity of their injuries and the long-term medical complications they are likely to experience from them.

There are several methods an attorney can use to calculate acceptable pain and suffering compensation for their client:

• A “per diem” calculation is most appropriate when the victim is expected to make a complete or mostly complete recovery from their injuries. This pain and suffering compensation awards a specified amount for each day until the victim reaches maximum medical improvement from their injuries.
• A lump sum calculation is more common in cases that involve permanent disabilities and other long-term effects. For example, if the victim of a car accident suffered a spinal cord injury or another injury that causes a permanent disability, this will forever diminish their quality of life, prevent them from working, and may even prevent them from living independently in the future. Therefore, the attorney may seek a lump sum calculated by multiplying their client’s claimed medical expenses by a factor of two to five to reflect the severity of their experience.

Pain and suffering compensation holds a defendant accountable for a plaintiff’s physical pain, psychological trauma, and emotional distress resulting from a serious car accident. It’s common for pain and suffering compensation to form the bulk of a plaintiff’s recovery in an accident claim resulting in a permanent disability.

Proving fault for your recent car accident in Santa Ana, CA, may seem perfectly simple at first, only for you to gradually realize that any personal injury claim can escalate into a highly complex legal battle. While you can rely on your Santa Ana car accident attorney to guide you through your proceedings, there may be some aspects of your case that require input from specific professionals. Expert witnesses often play critical roles in car accident claims. For example, some may help a plaintiff establish liability for claimed damages, while others may help a plaintiff prove the full extent of their damages to the court.

When it comes to proving liability, accident reconstruction experts and engineers can prove invaluable for proving exactly how an accident occurred. They can explain the physics and mechanics of an accident stepbystep in an understandable way for the court to consider. When it comes to establishing the full scope of the plaintiff’s claimed damages, expert witnesses from medical backgrounds can help the plaintiff prove the full scope of effects the accident has had on their personal health and well-being. This can be valuable for substantiating claims of pain and suffering.

Any car accident claim can evolve into a complex legal battle. The first steps a victim takes after an accident can dramatically impact the outcome of their civil case and the quality of their recovery. If you experience a car accident and are critically injured, then the only thing you can do is wait for paramedics to arrive and transport you to the hospital. However, you may be able to move around safely after a less severe accident or if you only sustained minor injuries. It is imperative to be careful if you think you only suffered minor injuries, however. The adrenaline surge caused by accident can dull pain sensations, and you may be hurt worse than you initially realize. If you feel safe doing so after the accident is over, slowly and carefully check yourself and your passengers for injuries before checking on the other driver or drivers involved in the crash.

California requires all drivers to immediately call 911 and report car accidents that cause significant property damage, injuries, or death. It is always best to report an accident if you are not sure whether it technically qualifies for a report. This will ensure you meet your legal obligation and generate a police report of the accident to which you may need to refer later. While you wait for first responders, take photos of the crash scene, including pictures of your injuries, the damage to your vehicle, and the positions of the vehicles in the road. These photos could be crucial for a future insurance claim or civil claim against the at-fault driver.

When the police arrive on the scene, they will interview everyone involved and record their statements. Answer their questions honestly but do not say anything they might construe as an admission of fault, even if you think you may have contributed to causing the accident. Once they take your statement and allow you to leave, you should seek medical treatment immediately.

It’s common for people to walk away from car accidents believing themselves unscathed, and then be completely unable to move out of bed the next day due to immense pain. Once the adrenaline flushes out of your system, you will feel the full effects of your accident, and prompt medical care can not only help you manage your symptoms but also identify injuries that may not be immediately noticeable. The record that you sought immediate medical treatment will also support your legal interests in a future insurance claim or civil claim against the at-fault driver.

Once you have received medical care, obtained a medical report from your doctor, and secured a copy of the police report from the accident, you are ready to speak with a Santa Ana car accident attorney about your legal options.

Time is a critical consideration after any car accident in California. Prompt legal action helps to ensure the freshness of evidence and the reliability of eyewitness testimony that you might require to succeed with your legal matters following the accident. A Santa Ana car accident attorney is the best resource to have on your side when working toward your recovery from a car accident. Once you secure legal representation, the attorney should begin handling your case by thoroughly reviewing your documentation and the available evidence to prove liability and the extent of your claimable damages.

You can rely on your Santa Ana car accident lawyer to handle the insurance claim process on your behalf so you can secure some measure of compensation as quickly as possible after your accident. However, when insurance is not enough to fully cover your losses, you will need to rely on your attorney to help you explore further options for legal recourse against the at-fault driver, including a personal injury claim.

When you choose Easton & Easton as your Santa Ana car accident attorneys, our team will provide compassionate and responsive legal counsel through every phase of your case. We’ll handle your preliminary legal affairs and help you determine the best direction to take your case to maximize your recovery, so you can rest assured knowing your legal interests are in capable hands while you focus on your recovery. Our goal is to maximize your compensation to the fullest extent possible. When another driver has caused an accident with your vehicle, you shouldn’t be left to pay for the aftermath.

If you or a loved one is struggling with injuries, property losses, and trauma caused by another driver’s negligence in Santa Ana, CA, Easton & Easton is ready to assist you with your recovery. We can provide the answers to your most important legal questions and help you approach your car accident claim with confidence. If you are ready to discuss your recent car accident with an experienced Santa Ana car accident lawyer, contact Easton & Easton today to schedule a consultation with our team.