California Personal Injury Lawyer, Attorney, Blog

Most often when people think about false imprisonment, they think about people being falsely arrested by the police. Most people don’t know that non-police officers can be liable for false imprisonment under many different circumstances.

The purpose of this article is to give a brief synopsis of the civil tort of false imprisonment in the state of California.

A basic definition of civil false imprisonment is; “a person intentionally holding another person within the bounds of a fixed area, without the consent of the person being held, and without a privilege that would excuse the conduct.”

For instance, let’s say that a man locks a woman in a room without her permission. This would be a classic case of civil false imprisonment.

Another example would be a person holding something of value to another person with the intent to make them stay in a certain place, and without the consent of the person whose valuables are being held.

Civil false imprisonment could also include one person grabbing onto another person without their consent, and holding them so that they cannot leave.

There are many other examples of false imprisonment that I can provide, however, the above examples are meant to give you an idea of what the civil tort of false imprisonment is in the state of California.

One key element of the civil tort of false imprisonment is that the person being held must reasonably believe that they cannot leave. Reasonable is a legal term of art used in the legal world. What reasonable basically means is: what would a reasonable prudent person do or believe under similar circumstances.

Another key element of the tort of false imprisonment is that the person doing the imprisoning, must not have a privilege to do so.

Examples of privileges that would allow a person to hold another person within the bounds of a fixed area are: shopkeepers who are investigating shoplifting at a store; civilians who have witnessed a felony, and place the person who committed a felony under citizen’s arrests; or police officers who have probable cause to believe that a crime has been committed.

As with other intentional torts, victims of false imprisonment are entitled to not only compensatory damages, but they may also recover punitive damages. (Punishment)

If you feel you have been the victim of a false imprisonment in the state of California, feel free to call me for a free consultation at 818-584-8831 extension 1, or you may go to my personal injury website by clicking here now.

If you feel that you may have been the victim of a false imprisonment outside of the state of California, I highly recommend you consult with an attorney in your state and/or area.

By Norman Gregory Fernandez, ESQ. , Copyright 2006

A slip and fall, and or trip and fall case is pretty much self explanatory. The case arises from a person slipping and/or tripping and falling, and sustaining injuries as a result.

However, there are special circumstances involved in these types of cases which would give rise to you actually being able to pursue a legal case for damages against a person or entity.

THE NECESSITY OF A DANGEROUS CONDITION
The Slip and Fall, and/or Trip and Fall, must be the result of a dangerous condition either on Public or Private Property.

Obviously most human beings slip and/or trip and fall many times in their lives. The law will not allow you to recover each and every time you slip and/or trip and fall.
The law will allow you to recover damages for injuries that result due to a dangerous condition on public and/or private property, and that the owners or persons responsible for the property knew or should have known about.

WHAT IS A DANGEROUS CONDITION?There are literally an infinite number of dangerous conditions that could result in your slipping and/or tripping and falling. Some examples of dangerous conditions we have dealt with are:
• Dangerously slippery surface
• Water or other wet substance on floor
• Cracks in a sidewalk or walkway
• Poorly maintained stairs or hand rails
• Holes in grass, sidewalk, street, or walkway
• Uneven stairs or surface
• Food and or other objects left on the floor
• Debris left on the floor
• Negligently placed parking stops in parking lots
• Unmarked steps
• Ice on walkway or in parking lot, etc.

THE NECESSITY OF NOTICE TO THE OWNER OR PERSON CONTROLLING THE PROPERTY WHERE THE DANGEROUS CONDITION EXISTS The owner or person controlling the property where you suffer a slip and/or trip and fall must either know about the dangerous condition, or should have known about the dangerous condition through reasonable inspections, before you can legally recover against them in these types of cases.

This part of a slip and/or trip and fall case is the most difficult to prove, which is why many lawyers do not take or handle these types of cases.

The testimony of an expert witness is required in many of these types of cases to prove that a dangerous condition existed and that the owner or controller of the property either knew or should have known about the condition.

I handle these types of cases. If you have suffered a slip and/trip and fall injury in California you may call me for a free consultation at 818-584-8831 ext.1 or go to my slip and fall website by clicking here for more information.

If you have suffered a slip and/trip and fall injury outside of California I highly recommend that you consult with a lawyer in your area.

By Norman Gregory Fernandez, Esq. , Copyright 2006

This type of car, motorcycle, and other motor vehicle insurance coverage will pay you a certain amount of money per day to procure a rental car in case you are in an accident.

Check with your insurance company to ensure that you will be covered either when you are at fault, or the other person is at fault.

Sometimes insurance companies will require you to pay for a rental car out of your own pocket and then submit bills to them for reimbursement. Most of the time this type of coverage only pays $20.00 to $30.00 per day up to a dollar maximum, or for a maximum of 30 days.

In many instances, the cost of getting a rental car and insuring the rental car against loss will exceed your rental car coverage policy. However, we always recommend buying rental car coverage in your insurance policy. We cannot tell you how many times we are faced with client’s who were not at fault in an accident, and they have lost their only transportation.

If the at fault motorist’s insurance does not immediately cover you for rental car payments, you will be stuck paying the entire amount on your own until either your vehicle is repaired, or you procure another vehicle. We know this is not fair. This is why we always recommend getting Rental Car Insurance Coverage.

By Norman Gregory Fernandez, Esq. , Copyright 2006

A wrongful death case is a case where a person dies due to the intentional or negligent act of another, or entity. The law allows relatives, domestic partners, and persons who depend upon the wrongful death victim for support to sue for wrongful death. The issue of who can sue for wrongful death is covered below.

Wrongful death cases are traditionally amongst the most emotionally charged cases in personal injury.

Wrongful death cases can take many forms. For instance; a loved one could be killed in a car or motorcycle accident that was not their fault; a loved one may have been killed due to excessive use of force by the police or a private security agency; a loved one may have been killed due to a dangerous condition on public or private property, including defective roads or improperly placed road signs; a loved one may have been killed due to the defective construction of a building on real property; an unborn child may have died due to the negligence of a doctor, or due to an assault and battery on the mother; a loved one may have been killed due to a defective product, or negligent repair.

A wrongful death case can arise when someone was injured in an accident, and then subsequently dies as a result of their injuries.

TIME LIMIT TO FILE A LAWSUIT FOR YOUR WRONGFUL DEATH (CALIFORNIA STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS)

The present Statute of Limitations for filing a lawsuit for wrongful death in the State of California is two (2) years from the date of the accident or incident causing the wrongful death. If you do not file a lawsuit within two (2) years, you lose your right to sue! CCP § 335.1

There are exceptions to the above rule if the wrongful death was caused by the negligence of a doctor or health care provider, or due to building defects.

If the defendant to the wrongful death action is a governmental entity, a claim must be filed with that governmental entity within 6 months from the date of the accident. If the entity rejects the claim, you must then file a lawsuit within one (1) year from the date of the wrongful death.

=> Read more!

I have written an article about Contingency Fees which you can find by clicking here now. If you want to learn about what a contingency fee is, read the article in the link above first, before reading this article.

As a lawyer, I evaluate many factors before I decide to a take Motorcycle, Car, or other Motor Vehicle injury accident cases on a contingency basis.

The absolute first thing I evaluate is LIABILITY. Is the potential client that comes to me at fault or are they the victim? Although I handle cases for victims and at fault persons, I will not take a case on a contingency basis for at fault persons, and I doubt any other personal injury lawyer will either.

Liability is a tricky subject. In the State of California we use what is called a comparative negligence system to determine liability. In many accidents one or more persons will be 100% at fault in an accident. No problem if my other criteria are met, I will take the case on a contingency basis.

However, let’s say that liability is not crystal clear. Let’s say you have 2 persons who are in an accident and each one shares some fault in the accident. Let’s say one person is deemed to be 10% at fault and the other person is 90% at fault. In most situations I would consider representing the person who was only 10% at fault on a contingency basis.

However, let’s say both persons are 50% at fault, or equally at fault in an accident. Since each party would share the same responsibility for the accident, they could not recover against each other. This would be the type of case I normally would not take unless certain other factors are met.

Picture in your mind a nice pumpkin pie. Cut a piece for your percentage of fault, and the other parties percentage of fault. This will give you a good example of how a Jury or a personal injury lawyer would look at the case. If the other party gets the whole pie chances are that you have a good case that I would consider taking.

=> Read more!

Under Insured insurance coverage will cover you for the difference between your actual damages, and the at fault persons insurance coverage.

In other words, let say you are hit by a person who has minimum insurance coverage, (10k/15k/30k) who is at fault in the accident. Under normal circumstances the most you will be able to recover from their insurance company is for your injuries, and out of pocket loss, etc., is $15,000.00. Let's say your actual medical bills and out of pocket loss is $100,000.00 (This does not include the other non-out of pocket damages you are entitled to!). What are you going to do?

If the person who hits you does not have any assets there is little chance that you will ever collect the $85,000.00 difference from them if you sue to get a judgment. If you do get a judgment, they could declare bankruptcy and discharge the debt they owe to you in its entirety.

We find that in many instances, an at fault persons coverage is not enough to cover our client's actual damages and they get stuck in the catch 22 situation discussed above.

We believe that it is always better to error on the side of caution. We always recommend purchasing Under Insured Coverage for a minimum of $100,000.00 or more. The more the better. This is your way of insuring yourself, against an at fault persons deficient coverage.

By Norman Gregory Fernandez, Esq. , Copyright 2006

This type of Insurance policy covers the difference between the Fair Market Value of your vehicle, and what you actually owe on the vehicle if your vehicle is totaled in an accident.

When you purchase a new or used car, motorcycle, or other vehicle on credit from a dealer, more often than not you are required to not only purchase Comprehensive and Collision insurance, but you are also required to purchase GAP insurance so that the finance company knows that will be paid in full if the car is totaled in an accident.

Regardless of whether it is required or not, we always recommend purchasing GAP Insurance coverage if you owe a lender money for a car, motorcycle or other vehicle.

You do not want to get stuck paying thousand’s of dollars on a car, motorcycle or other vehicle loan after an accident, if your vehicle has been declared a total loss after an accident. Comprehensive and Collision Insurance coverage only covers up to the fair market value of the car, not what you owe a lender for your vehicle.

We cannot tell you how many times victims of accidents find out the hard way that their insurance company will not pay enough money on a property damage claim, to cover what is owed on the vehicle. Nobody wants to get stuck for thousands of dollars in payments on a vehicle they no longer own, or that is totaled. We recommend getting GAP Insurance on your vehicle if you owe money on the vehicle.

By Norman Gregory Fernandez, Esq. , Copyright 2006

I have heard many people throw the term of assault around to describe someone being physically abused. The purpose of this article is to describe what the civil tort of assault and the civil tort of battery are in plain language.

The legal definition of civil Assault is; an intentional act which causes a reasonable and imminent apprehension of a harmful or offensive contact which is un-consented. I know, it sounds like a bunch of gibberish.

Civil Assault basically boils down to this; if someone gets in your face and raises their hand as though they’re going to hit you, and ordinary people in a similar circumstance would believe the same thing, you have just been assaulted. Civil assault does not require or an actual touching, or physical contact to be legally actionable.

The legal definition of a Civil Battery is; an intentional act which causes a harmful or offensive contact which is un-consented. Yes I know, what does that mean?

Civil Battery basically boils down to this; if someone hits you, and you have not consented to being hit, you have just been battered.

In the civil realm, battery can take many forms. For instance, a battery can occur if someone intentionally hits or touches something that is connected to you. An example of this type of battery would be; let’s say you are holding a paper plate full of food, and someone hits the plate purposely to knock the food at of your hand; you have just been battered. Another example of this type of battery would be; let’s say you are sitting in your car and someone comes up and hits your car purposefully; you have just been battered.

I am not going to go into a dissertation on the multitude of possibilities here. The purpose of this article is just to describe an assault and battery is in plain language. So you now know that assault, and battery, are two separate torts. Each is a distinct and separate tort, which is a separate legal cause of action.

In the civil realm, you have a right to sue for assault and battery if you are the victim of these torts. With respect to damages, you are not only entitled to all damages proximately caused by your being assaulted and/or battered, and you may also be entitled to punitive damages.

Punitive damages are punishment damages. Many of you have heard the term punitive damages and do not know what it means. In civil law, punitive damages are ordinarily allowed by statute, or for common law torts involving intentional acts. Punitive damages are allowed for particularly egregious conduct.

If you believe you been the victim of an assault and battery in the state of California, you may call me for a free consultation at 818-584-8831 extension 1, or visit my website at www.thepersonalinjury.com.

If you believe that you been the victim of an assault and battery in a state other than California, I suggest that you consult with an attorney from that state to determine if you have a cause of action.

By Norman Gregory Fernandez, Esq. , Copyright 2006

The name speaks for itself. This type of insurance coverage will cover you for your "non-property" related damages (Bodily Injury, Pain and Suffering, Loss of Enjoyment of Life, Emotional Distress) in a Car or Motorcycle injury accident, if the other motorist who is "at fault," has no liability insurance.

In the State of California we feel that this type of coverage is mandatory due to the vast amount of people driving around illegally without insurance. This coverage will also cover hit and runs.

We recommend purchasing the most UM/BI coverage you can afford, and at least a minimum of $100,000.00 if you drive a car, and a minimum of $500,000 if you ride a motorcycle.

If you are in an accident and the other motorist is uninsured, this coverage will be your only recourse in many instances. Do not drive in California without some kind of UM/BI coverage.

By Norman Gregory Fernandez, Esq. , Copyright 2006