Personal Injury Lawyer Los Angeles

If you were hurt in Los Angeles because of someone else’s carelessness, you usually have two years to file a lawsuit, but only six months to file a claim if a City, County or Metro vehicle or property was involved. A personal injury lawyer in Los Angeles helps you identify the right agency, deadline and court.

Pacific Law Firm is based in San Francisco and represents injured people throughout Los Angeles County, meeting with clients by phone and video. The first consultation is free.

How Long Do I Have to File a Personal Injury Claim in Los Angeles?

In most cases, you have two years from the date of the injury to file a lawsuit (CCP § 335.1). Property damage, such as vehicle repairs, has three years. If a public agency is responsible, you must first file a written claim with that agency within six months.

Claim	Deadline	Law
Injury lawsuit against a person or business	2 years from the injury	CCP § 335.1
Property damage	3 years	CCP § 338
Claim against a city, the county, Metro or another public agency	6 months from the injury	Gov. Code § 911.2
Lawsuit after the agency rejects the claim	6 months after a written rejection notice, or generally 2 years from the injury if no notice is sent	Gov. Code § 945.6

Different rules can apply to children and to medical malpractice. Confirm your date with an attorney rather than relying on the general rule.

What If a City of LA, LA County or Metro Vehicle or Property Caused My Injury?

You must file a written claim with the right agency within six months before you can sue. Filing with the wrong office does not stop the clock, so start with who owns the street, vehicle or building.

If the injury involved	File the claim with	How to file
City of Los Angeles: city streets and sidewalks, LAPD or LADOT vehicles, city buildings	Office of the City Clerk, 200 N. Spring St., Room 395, City Hall	The City Clerk’s online claims portal, by mail, or in person. Email and fax are not accepted. File with the City Clerk, not the City Attorney.
County of Los Angeles: county roads, Sheriff’s Department vehicles, county hospitals and facilities	Executive Officer, Board of Supervisors, Attention: Claims, 500 W. Temple St., Room 383	A signed, written claim by mail or in person
LA Metro buses and trains	LACMTA Legal Services, One Gateway Plaza	Metro’s Claims for Damages form, in person or by mail only. Emailed claims are rejected.

After you file, the agency has 45 days to accept or reject the claim (Gov. Code § 912.4). If it does nothing, the claim is treated as rejected. After a written rejection, you have six months to file a lawsuit.

Other cities in the county, such as Long Beach, Pasadena and Santa Monica, have their own claim offices. Freeway hazards usually involve the State of California, which has its own claims process.

What Do You Have to Prove in a Los Angeles Injury Case?

You have to prove that someone was negligent, that you were harmed, and that their negligence was a substantial factor in causing the harm (CACI No. 400). California requires everyone to use reasonable care toward others (Civ. Code § 1714). A driver who runs a red light on Wilshire or a store that ignores a spill in an aisle has failed that duty.

Evidence that typically matters in Los Angeles cases includes:

Police or CHP collision reports
Photos and video from phones, dashcams, Metro cameras and nearby businesses
Witness names and statements
Medical records that tie your injuries to the incident
Pay records showing time missed from work

What If I Was Partly at Fault?

You can still recover. California uses pure comparative fault, set by the state Supreme Court in Li v. Yellow Cab Co. (1975), so your recovery is reduced by your share of the blame but not barred. If your damages are $100,000 and you are found 20% at fault, you recover $80,000.

Insurers often argue that the injured person shares the blame, because every percentage point lowers what they pay. Our guide on how comparative fault works in California walks through examples.

Can I Recover If I Didn’t Have Car Insurance at the Time?

Yes, but usually only economic damages. Under Proposition 213 (Civ. Code § 3333.4), an uninsured driver or vehicle owner, or a driver convicted of DUI for the crash, generally cannot recover non-economic damages such as pain and suffering. Medical bills, lost wages and property damage remain recoverable.

Who the rule covers: the owner of an uninsured vehicle involved in the crash, a driver who cannot show proof of insurance, and a driver convicted of DUI for that crash.
Who it does not cover: passengers who don’t own the car, pedestrians and bicyclists.
The DUI exception: if the driver who hit you was convicted of DUI for the crash, an uninsured injured person may still recover non-economic damages. A conviction is required; an arrest alone is not enough.

This rule often decides how a claim should be valued. Tell your attorney about your insurance status at the first meeting.

What Damages Can I Recover in a California Personal Injury Case?

You can recover economic damages for your financial losses and non-economic damages for pain, suffering and the effect on your life. Punitive damages are available only in rare cases.

Economic damages: past and future medical bills, lost wages, lost earning capacity, property damage, and out-of-pocket costs such as transportation to treatment.
Non-economic damages: pain and suffering, emotional distress, loss of enjoyment of life, and disfigurement.
Punitive damages: awarded only when there is clear and convincing evidence of malice, oppression or fraud (Civ. Code § 3294), as in some drunk-driving cases.

Medical liens affect what you take home. Serious injuries in Los Angeles are often treated at trauma centers such as Los Angeles General Medical Center (formerly LAC+USC), a Level I trauma center. Hospitals, health insurers, Medi-Cal and Medicare can each claim repayment from a settlement. Negotiating those liens is part of resolving a case. For a closer look at the numbers, see how personal injury compensation is calculated.

Los Angeles Personal Injury Cases We Handle

Whether you call it an injury lawyer or a personal accident attorney, Los Angeles cases tend to start in a few places: the freeways, the sidewalks, the job site and, at worst, a family’s loss. Each type has its own page:

Car, truck, motorcycle, pedestrian and bicycle crashes. Many start on the I-405, I-10, US-101, I-5 or I-110. See our Los Angeles car accident attorney page.
Slip, trip and fall injuries. Falls in stores, apartment buildings, parking structures and on broken sidewalks. See our Los Angeles slip and fall lawyer page.
Work injuries. Port, warehouse, construction and film-set injuries, often with both a comp claim and a third-party claim. See our workers’ compensation lawyer in Los Angeles page.
Fatal accidents. Claims for families who lost someone to another person’s negligence. See our Los Angeles wrongful death attorney page.
Medical malpractice. These cases have their own deadlines, notice rules and caps on non-economic damages.

For everything Pacific Law Firm handles across California, see our practice areas.

How Much Does a Personal Injury Lawyer Cost in Los Angeles?

Nothing upfront. Pacific Law Firm handles personal injury cases on contingency: the fee is a percentage of the recovery, and there is no fee if there is no recovery. California requires every contingency fee agreement to be in writing and to spell out its terms (Bus. & Prof. Code § 6147).

Your written fee agreement must state	What it means for you
The contingency percentage	The share of the recovery that goes to the attorney
How case costs affect the fee and your recovery	Whether filing fees, records, experts and depositions come out before or after the fee is calculated
Whether you could owe anything outside the agreement	No surprise bills for related work
That the fee is not set by law	The percentage is negotiable
A signed copy for you	You keep the terms in writing

Case costs are separate from the attorney’s fee, and the order of deductions changes what you take home. Take a hypothetical $100,000 settlement with a one-third fee and $5,000 in costs. If costs come out first, the fee is $31,667 and you receive $63,333. If the fee is taken from the full amount, the fee is $33,333 and you receive $61,667. Medical liens are then paid from your share.

Will My Case Go to Trial at LA County Superior Court?

Most personal injury cases settle without a trial, but a case should be prepared as if it will be tried. If a lawsuit is filed, it goes to the Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles.

The court has moved personal injury cases out of its centralized Personal Injury Hub and into independent calendar courtrooms. New cases are generally heard in the judicial district where the injury happened. Downtown cases go to the Stanley Mosk Courthouse, and other districts use courthouses in Pasadena, Pomona, Compton, Inglewood, Chatsworth and Beverly Hills. In an independent calendar courtroom, one judge handles the case from filing through trial.

A Los Angeles personal injury attorney will typically move a case through these stages:

Claim and negotiation with the insurer, often before any lawsuit is filed
Filing in the correct district
Discovery: written questions, document exchange and depositions
Mediation with a neutral mediator
Trial, if the case does not settle

Working With a Personal Injury Attorney in Los Angeles, CA, From San Francisco

Pacific Law Firm does not have a Los Angeles office. Our office is at 535 Mission St #14 in San Francisco, and we represent clients throughout Los Angeles County by phone and video, so you do not need to travel to us.

Attorney Aria Noosha founded the firm and personally guides strategy on every case. A Harvard Law School graduate licensed in California since 2021, Aria works with clients in English, Spanish and Farsi.

Talk to a Personal Injury Lawyer in Los Angeles

If a public agency may be involved, the six-month claim deadline leaves little time. A Los Angeles personal injury lawyer can tell you which deadline applies and what your claim needs. Call 855-722-5290 or request a free consultation.

Frequently Asked Questions

Should I give a recorded statement to the other driver’s insurance company?

You are not required to give the other driver’s insurer a recorded statement, and anything you say can be used to argue you were at fault or not badly hurt. Your own policy may require you to cooperate with your insurer. Speak with a lawyer before giving either one.

What if the driver who hit me has no insurance?

Check your own policy for uninsured motorist (UM) coverage. California insurers must offer it, so you likely have it unless you turned it down in writing. UM coverage can pay for your injuries as if the at-fault driver had been insured.

Who pays my medical bills while my case is pending?

Usually your health insurance, Medi-Cal or Medicare, or medical payments coverage on your auto policy. Some providers treat on a lien and are paid from the settlement. Whoever pays first may ask to be repaid from your recovery.

How long does a personal injury case take in Los Angeles?

It depends on how serious the injuries are and whether a lawsuit is needed. Many claims settle within months after medical treatment ends. A case that goes to court can take a year or more.

Do you handle cases outside Los Angeles?

Yes. Pacific Law Firm represents injured people across California from our San Francisco office.

This page is general information, not legal advice. Contacting Pacific Law Firm does not create an attorney-client relationship.