California Swimming Pool Accident Guide
Swimming pool accidents can result in severe injuries with high medical bills, emotional trauma, significant recovery times, and the frustration of dealing with insurance companies. If you or a loved one was injured in a pool accident due to someone else’s negligence, contact us today for a free consultation.
Why Choose Cutter Law for Your Swimming Pool Accident Claim?
We are a small, family-centric law firm with strong California roots. Our founder, Brooks Cutter, is the proud father of two of our firm’s other attorneys—Margot and Celine Cutter. We understand how one person’s injuries can affect the entire family and how devastating the loss of a loved one can be.
When you hire Cutter Law, you get our whole law firm. Our lawyers collaborate on our cases so clients get a combined skillset rather than a single attorney’s. Our team works together, bringing everyone’s individual strengths to bear.
We have a strong background in handling complex cases involving catastrophic injuries such as multiple bone fractures, traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, and wrongful death.
Swimming pool injuries happen more frequently than you might think. We handle the following types of swimming pool accident cases:
- Slip and fall injuries
- Drownings
- Diving injuries
- Water slide injuries
- Chemical injuries
- Infections
- Electrical injuries
Our Case Results
Our firm has obtained significant case results for our clients, collecting hundreds of millions of dollars for our deserving clients. Some notable highlights include the following:
Attorneys Brooks and Margot Cutter obtained a $10 million settlement during jury selection for a trip and fall accident that resulted in major injuries.
Attorneys Brooks and Margot Cutter obtained a $350,000 for a client involved in a slip and fall accident in San Jose.
Everyone deserves skilled legal representation, especially when facing corporations and their insurers. We offer free consultations and take our cases on a contingency basis. We will explain upfront the percentage of compensation we receive if we win your case. If we do not secure compensation, you owe us nothing.
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Featured Premises Liability Attorney
Attorney John Roussas understands the perspectives and practices of insurance companies and individual defendants. He is able to use that understanding to help his clients achieve the best possible results in their cases.
This Family Owned Honest Lawyer Firm would be my first choice now and ever.
What To Expect From Our Swimming Pool Injury Attorneys
Our firm’s family-first orientation fuels our dedication to our clients. We understand what you are going through and how frustrating it can be to seek compensation. You can focus on healing while our team tirelessly tackles every aspect of your case by doing the following:
- Investigating the swimming pool incident
- Determining the full extent of your damages
- identifying all responsible parties and potential sources of compensation
- Filing any claims or legal action within the time limits set by law
- Negotiating with insurers
- Fighting for you in court if necessary
We will not add to your stress by taking your case and then ignoring you. Our attorneys will answer your questions and keep you informed throughout your claim. If you cannot come to our offices, we will meet you at home or in the hospital.
Damages Available for a Swimming Pool Accident
Compensation for swimming pool accident cases can vary significantly based on the accident details, your injuries’ severity, and other factors such as liability and negligence. Recoverable damages can include:
- Medical expenses and rehabilitation costs
- Lost wages and future earnings
- Costs to modify your home or vehicle to accommodate your injuries
- Home nursing or other aid care
- Pain and suffering, loss or consortium, and other emotional trauma
- Wrongful death damages, such as funeral costs and loss of future benefits, such as insurance
Economic losses in California injury cases are the things that you can measure with dollars and cents—the things like your lost wages, your past medical bills, your future medical bills, the money that you pay to have people come into your house and help you with your activities of daily life because your injuries just don’t allow you to do those things anymore.
John Roussas,
Partner at Cutter Law
Comparative Negligence
Any fault you hold for your swimming pool accident can decrease your compensation. Under California’s comparative negligence law, you can still recover if you were partly liable for an accident. However, the damages you can recover will be reduced in proportion to your share of the fault.
For example, if your damages are $100,000 and you are 30 percent at fault, you can recover $70,000. Unlike most other states, the California pure comparative negligence rule allows you to pursue compensation even if you were primarily responsible for your accident.
Insurance companies and defense attorneys use comparative negligence to justify reducing compensation. Our accomplished attorneys know how to fight back against claims that you caused the accident. In wrongful death claims, our pool drowning lawyers will not let the other party place unfair blame on your deceased loved one without a fight.
Who Is Liable for a Swimming Pool Drowning or Injury?
The party or parties liable for your damages depend on what caused your injuries and who was responsible for installing and maintaining the pool and warning you of hazards. Several parties could potentially be liable, including:
- Pool owners, such as private operators, hotels, apartment complexes, or water parks
- Property management companies
- Pool manufacturers or installers
- Lifeguards, other pool staff, and their employers
- Government entities
Swimming pool cases are generally governed by premises liability or product liability law.
Premises liability focuses on the duty of care the property owner or operator owes to keep their premises free from hazards. In a premises liability case, you must establish that the accident resulted from an unreasonably hazardous condition the defendant knew or reasonably should have known about but failed to address.
Swimming pool injuries often result from pool owners’ failures to adequately secure their pools. Drownings and other injuries can also result from slippery surfaces, lack of lifeguards, and poor maintenance.
California’s product liability laws impose liability on manufacturers that make and market products without hazardous design or manufacturing defects. An accident victim can hold a defendant liable if they designed, manufactured, distributed, or sold a defective pool or component that caused an injury.
More than one party may be liable for your accident, and you must name all of them so you don’t miss a chance at potential compensation. Our award-winning attorneys have decades of combined experience determining liability in personal injury claims and a proven track record of success representing people like you and your family in settlement negotiations and court.
Time Limit To File a Claim for a Swimming Pool Injury or Death
California has a two-year statute of limitations for personal injury lawsuits, including swimming pool accident claims. The clock starts running on the date of your accident. However, if a loved one has died from a pool accident, you also have two years from the date of death to file a wrongful death claim.
If you are suing a government entity in California, you must file an initial claim within six months. The government agency then has 45 days to respond. If it denies your claim in whole or part or takes no action, you can file a formal lawsuit. After a denial, you have six months to file a lawsuit. If there is no response to your claim, you must file your lawsuit within the two-year statute of limitations.
Some exceptions exist to the statute of limitations, such as for minors or when the defendant flees the state. In these cases, the clock is “tolled” and doesn’t run until the minor turns 18 or the defendant returns.
If you miss the applicable deadline for your lawsuit, the court will likely dismiss your case, and you will lose the opportunity to pursue compensation for the accident.
If you think you have a potential claim for a swimming pool injury or death, contact us immediately so we can determine the applicable time limit. Our skilled attorneys will file all of your paperwork on time so you have a chance at compensation.
401 Watt Avenue Suite 100 Sacramento, CA 95864
1901 Harrison Street Suite 910 Oakland CA 94612
51 E St Santa Rosa, CA 95404
When To Contact Cutter Law After a Swimming Pool Accident
If you or a loved one was injured in a swimming pool accident, contact our attorneys as soon as possible. Acting quickly gives us more time to gather important evidence, such as surveillance footage and maintenance records, which may be controlled by the property owner. If needed, we can ask the court to compel them to turn it over.
Early involvement also allows us to build a strong case before entering negotiations with the insurance company. Most claims settle out of court, but insurers may delay or offer less than you deserve if they think your case is weak or the statute of limitations is approaching.
Don’t take on the insurance company alone. Contact our team of experienced premises liability lawyers today for a free, no-obligation consultation.
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Start with a free consultation. We listen to what happened, how it’s affected your life, and what you need to move forward.
You’ll have a direct line to our attorneys. We keep communication open and ensure you always know what’s happening with your case.
From day one, we go all in—gathering evidence, negotiating with insurers, and preparing for trial if needed. You pay nothing unless we win compensation for you.
Yes, you can sue a restaurant if the restaurant knew or should have known about the hazardous condition and you suffered an injury from the fall.
You may be able to sue a public park for injury if the government entity responsible failed to maintain safe conditions.
You can sue a hotel for negligence if you were injured due to unsafe conditions which the hotel should have reasonably prevented.
As a family run California law firm we pride ourselves in providing every client personal attention and representation. The outstanding results we have gotten for our fire clients are a direct result of our commitment to understanding and presenting all aspects of their case.
Hear from our previous clients about the relationships we build together.
In my interactions with Mr. Cutter and his staff, I found them to be very professional, knowledgeable, thorough and responsive/communicative/receptive to questions and able to relay information in a way that could easily be understood by all. I enjoyed the opportunity to work with him/his office and would enthusiastically recommend his/their firm to anyone in need of the legal services he/they provide.
One of the standout features of this firm is their personalized approach to each case. They take the time to listen to their clients and understand their unique situation. They then work tirelessly to build a strong case and fight for the maximum compensation that their clients deserve. Overall, I highly recommend this personal injury law firm to anyone who needs legal representation for their injury claim.
Brooks has a long-established, respected reputation as a skilled trial attorney and a record of proven success.