Oakland Personal Injury Lawyers
If someone else’s carelessness caused you or a loved one harm or injury, you may be able to seek damages. You will need the help of a reliable Oakland personal injury lawyer, and the Cutter Law legal team is here to help.
A personal injury attorney represents your interests if you are involved in an accident with another car or collide with a commercial truck, suffer health complications due to medical malpractice, need assistance with a workman’s compensation claim, or suffer other injuries resulting from another person’s actions.
Accidents can happen in any area of Oakland, and afterward, medical bills can quickly add up. When you are hurt and need help, choose an advocate from Cutter Law to get the compensation you deserve. We have over 130 years of combined legal experience, and we put that to work for you.
Contact us today to discuss your circumstances.
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Dedicated Oakland Personal Injury Lawyers Work for You
Many clients ask, “What is a personal injury case?” Personal injury is a broad area of the law, and the circumstances of each case vary. However, personal injuries all share common characteristics: negligence, recklessness, or oversight of another party causing injury to someone.
Car accidents are among the most common kinds of personal injury cases. In Oakland, the likelihood that you or a family member will be involved in a collision in your lifetime is high. City streets in Oakland are among the deadliest in the state, and over two dozen roadways have been named “high injury corridors” by the Safe Oakland Streets Initiative.
Other personal injury incidents happen because a business owner, manager, or manufacturer allows hazardous working conditions or doesn’t enforce proper safety protocols like those set forth by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).
Workplace injuries are a common cause of personal injury lawsuits. Unsafe conditions can cause injury to a person visiting a place of business, including shoppers, vendors, or clients.
The team at Cutter Law represents plaintiffs and victims in many types of personal injury cases, such as those from:
- Defective consumer products
- Medical malpractice or misdiagnosis
- Construction site accidents
- Boating accidents
- Car accidents
- Pedestrian accidents
- Collisions with a city bus or commercial vehicle
- Dog bites
- Nursing home abuse
- Slip, trip, and fall accidents
We also handle wrongful death cases arising from personal injury incidents as well as other personal injury claims. We offer free consultations to examine the circumstances of your accident and discuss the facts of your case. Call us today to arrange a meeting.
Seeking Damages After an Oakland, California, Accident
Personal injury lawsuits help accident victims receive compensation for their losses and future expenses, such as personal property damage or medical treatment.
Personal injury lawyers help build cases, proving that the injuries suffered arose from the accident and documenting the need for ongoing care. To receive damages in a personal injury lawsuit, your attorney must establish proof that you suffered economically, physically, and emotionally.
California Personal Injury Law
California has certain legal requirements to file a personal injury claim. First, the claim must be filed within the state’s personal injury statute of limitations, which in most cases is two years from the date of the accident. Medical malpractice statute of limitations and consumer product defects are different.
The statute of limitations is the length of time an injury victim has to file a suit. If they miss that deadline, they no longer have legal recourse to seek damages. The exception to this limit is the “discovery of harm” rule, which allows the victim to file suit within two years of the date they discovered something harmed them.
For example, people with lung damage from long-term asbestos exposure may not realize it for years.
California has different statutes of limitations for different types of personal injury cases. The statues are as follows:
- Personal Injury: two years
- Wrongful Death: two years
- Nursing Home Abuse: two years from the date of the incident or two years from the date of discovery
- Product Liability: two years from the date of the incident or two years from the date of discovery or ten-year statute of repose
- Medical Malpractice: three years from the date of the incident or one year from the date the error happened
A plaintiff’s attorneys must also ensure that their case meets a burden-of-proof threshold. Personal injury cases go through civil court, which has different rules than criminal court.
Instead of proving your case “beyond a reasonable doubt,” your attorney must simply demonstrate that a preponderance of the evidence proves your claim. In other words, your evidence shows that your claim has more than a 50 percent chance (or higher) of being true.
Civil cases have lower standards of proof than criminal ones, but that does not mean they are always easy to prove. Your Oakland personal injury lawyer will gather evidence, like witness accounts, about the situation and may even conduct an independent investigation into who caused your accident.
More About California Personal Injury Cases
Each type of personal injury case has different causes, circumstances, and common injuries. Our firm handles many types of personal injury cases, from a twisted ankle caused by a fall on a wet floor to catastrophic construction site accidents. If your spouse, child, or parent died from an accident, we can also file a wrongful death suit on your behalf.
Here are more details about the most common kinds of Oakland personal injury cases.
Vehicle Collisions
Interstate 580, Interstate 980, and the McArthur Freeway bisect Oakland. Car accidents are all too common on these highways, from two-vehicle collisions to multicar pileups and wrecks involving commercial trailers or buses.
Cutter Law handles dozens of car accident cases each year, and we have helped many clients secure the compensation they deserve.
Texting and driving, eating while driving, not paying attention or knowing the rules of the road, and driving under the influence are the most common causes of car accidents.
The first step in proving your car accident claim is establishing liability, which happens when you file a report with the Oakland Police Department after the accident. When officers arrive, they will examine the scene, interview witnesses, inspect the vehicles involved, and possibly test to see if anyone was under the influence. Then, they will compile the police report, which typically establishes the cause of the accident and who is liable.
If you’ve been involved in a car accident in Oakland, whether driving on the highway or running errands through Alameda, you should always seek medical attention afterward. Car accident injuries may not show up right away, but first responders can diagnose the extent of your injuries and recommend proper medical care.
Common injuries after a car wreck include:
- Concussion or traumatic brain injury (TBI)
- Bruises, lacerations, and contusions
- Sprains, strains, and damage to ligaments and tendons
- Neck, spine, and back injuries
- Fractures and broken bones
- Partial or total paralysis
Many car accident injuries require emergency treatment and ongoing medical care, therapy, or rehabilitation. If you didn’t cause the accident, then the at-fault party can be held responsible for all your medical bills, including aftercare. They could also be responsible for repairing or replacing your vehicle.
Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect
Neglect and abuse in Oakland nursing homes, assisted living communities, and other long-term care facilities are tragic, as they affect the frailest and vulnerable members of our community. At Cutter Law, we take nursing home abuse and neglect cases seriously and can help your family protect your loved one and get the justice you deserve.
Understaffing, lack of training, low budgets, and general negligence all contribute to nursing home accidents. Worse, people in nursing homes and other care facilities are easy victims of unscrupulous predators.
If you notice one or more signs of abuse of your loved one, such as those listed below, please call the Cutter Law team:
- Cuts and bruises
- Malnourishment
- Poor personal hygiene and grooming
- Bedsores
- Changes in behavior or withdrawing
Neglect can worsen already-present medical conditions or lead to residents not being bathed, changed, and fed regularly. Many people in nursing homes require mobility assistance, including lifts and transfers. When done incorrectly, people get dropped, which can cause bruising, fractures, and other injuries.
Premises Liability
Premises liability refers to the obligation of a business or other property owner to ensure that their building is safe. In California, state law regulates the duty of care to which property owners must adhere.
This duty includes removing any trip hazards and making sure that the floors aren’t wet or slick, which can cause people to slip and fall. If a business has carpeting, it should be flat, without places people can trip.
Maintaining safe grounds includes ensuring that parking lots and walkways are well lit or that stairways have firm railings. If you slip and fall, trip, or otherwise hurt yourself while visiting a car dealership, going to the library, or even shopping at the Waterfront, you may have a case for liability against the property or business owner.
Workers' Compensation and Workplace Injuries
Oakland is home to a busy port, manufacturing and industrial facilities, and construction sites. All of these workplaces have high instances of on-the-job injuries, but it is still the responsibility of the business owner or contractor to ensure that the workplace is safe.
OSHA standards govern many industries and influence best practices to ensure worker safety.
However, accidents can happen, and in these industries, they can be life-changing and catastrophic. Crushing injuries, burns, broken bones, and head injuries happen all too frequently. In some cases, exposure to toxic chemicals or fumes can harm workers.
Other types of work can cause injury as well. Repetitive motion injuries, like carpal tunnel syndrome, can also constitute a personal injury case. Damage to the knees or back from excessive lifting and bending can lead to serious health concerns and chronic pain over time.
If you’ve been hurt on the job, talk to our legal team. We can determine whether you have a cause for a workplace injury lawsuit.
Oakland Settlements and Verdicts
At Cutter Law P.C., we have a long record of successfully representing Oakland injury victims. Below is a representative snapshot of the successful cases our law firm has handled:
$240 Million
Trial attorney Brooks Cutter took a lead role in a nationwide case against Boston Scientific and Guidant following a recall of the manufacturer’s pacemakers and cardiac defibrillators.
$7.6 Million
Medical malpractice jury verdict on behalf of a young woman who suffered a spinal cord injury after doctors failed to diagnose a tumor on her spine.
$ 2.4 Million
Brooks Cutter and Margot Cutter won a $2.4 million dollar verdict on behalf of the children of a man who died after a staff doctor at a hospital lied and transferred a patient to another hospital that was not equipped to handle the patient.
$1.85 Million
Attorneys Todd Walburg and Celine Cutter represented a cyclist in Sonoma County, California who suffered a broken jaw and a mild traumatic brain injury after she rode her bike through a large pothole.
Types of Damages from a Personal Injury Settlement
California personal injury plaintiffs may receive three types of damages:
- Economic, including medical bills and other calculable costs
- Noneconomic, like pain and suffering from the accident or mental anguish
- Punitive, which punishes the negligent party and serves as a deterrent to others
California has no caps on damages in personal injury cases, with the exception of medical malpractice claims, which have a $250,000 cap on non-economic damages, including pain and suffering.
Do you need an Oakland personal injury lawyer?
If you’ve been injured in an accident that wasn’t your fault, you may be able to seek damages in a personal injury lawsuit.
The legal team at Cutter Law, professional personal injury attorneys in Oakland, can advocate for you every step of the way, from determining the facts of your case all the way to a courtroom.
Call us today for a free consultation.
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Our Office Location
Oakland Office
Cutter Law P.C.
1999 Harrison Street Suite 1400
Oakland, CA 94612
Related Pages
- Oakland Bicycle Accidents
- Oakland Brain Injury
- Oakland Bus Accidents
- Oakland Car Accidents
- Oakland Medical Malpractice
- Oakland Motorcycle Accidents
- Oakland Pedestrian Accidents
- Oakland Personal Injury
- Oakland Truck Accidents
- Oakland Sexual Assault
- Oakland Wrongful Death
