California Personal Injury Lawyers
With Over 40 years Of Experience
Reiner & Frankel, LLP
Reiner & Frankel, LLP
We’ve won more than $600 million for our clients, 98 percent of the cases we’ve taken to trial, and the largest single plaintiff jury verdicts in the history of Shasta County and Humboldt County.
But because our clients are our neighbors, every case is personal.
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Understanding Personal Injury Claims in Northern California
The fundamental purpose of a personal injury claim is to hold a responsible party accountable for the harm they caused and to help the injured person recover the resources needed for their recovery. The legal concept at the heart of most of these cases is “negligence.” In simple terms, negligence occurs when someone fails to use reasonable care to avoid harming others.
To build a strong personal injury case, we must typically establish four key elements:
- A Duty of Care Existed: The person or entity that caused the harm had a legal obligation to act with a certain level of caution. For example, every driver on Interstate 5 has a duty to operate their vehicle safely.
- The Duty Was Breached: The person or entity failed to meet that standard of care. A truck driver who was texting while driving through Redding has breached their duty.
- The Breach Caused the Injury: There must be a direct link between the careless action and the injuries you sustained. The accident caused by the texting truck driver resulted in a traumatic brain injury.
- You Suffered Damages: The injury led to actual losses. These can include medical bills from Mercy Medical Center, lost income from being unable to work, and physical and emotional pain.
When these four elements are present, you may have a valid claim for compensation. Our role as your personal injury lawyer is to carefully investigate what happened, gather the evidence needed to prove these elements, and present a clear and compelling case on your behalf.
Our California personal injury lawyers are in it for YOU
In a perfect world, preventable accidents and injuries would be few and far between, and there would be no need for personal injury lawyers.
The real world is far from perfect. People, corporations and even government entities choose to ignore the rules designed to keep us safe. As a result, far too frequently, innocent people pay the price for the careless and reckless decisions of others.
Our clients come to us after the worst experiences of their lives. They’ve suffered injuries of all types, wanting justice, to be made whole, and to ensure that what happened to them doesn’t happen to anyone else.
At Reiner & Frankel, our California injury accident lawyers have over 150 years of combined experience helping people deal with the consequences of an imperfect world.
How an Experienced California Personal Injury Attorney Can Help
When you are focused on healing from a serious injury, the last thing you need is the stress of dealing with insurance adjusters and complex legal procedures. Our firm is structured to lift that burden from your shoulders and manage every aspect of your case, allowing you to concentrate on what matters most—your recovery. We follow a thorough and methodical process designed to build the strongest possible case for you.
Your First Contact with Our Firm
The first step is a simple, confidential conversation. When you call our office, you will speak with a team member who will listen to your story with compassion and respect. This initial consultation is free, and it is an opportunity for you to ask questions and learn more about your rights without any obligation. We want to understand what happened and how the injury has affected your life.
Our Comprehensive Case Assessment
If we believe we can help you, our attorneys will begin an in-depth investigation into the circumstances of your injury. This is a critical phase where we gather the evidence needed to establish fault and document the full extent of your damages. This may involve:
- Collecting and analyzing police reports from the California Highway Patrol, Redding Police Department, or Chico Police Department.
- Obtaining all relevant medical records and bills to understand your diagnosis, treatment plan, and future medical needs.
- Interviewing witnesses who saw what happened.
- Working with local and national expert witnesses, such as accident reconstructionists or medical professionals, whose opinions juries in Northern California respect.
This detailed preparation is essential for understanding the true value of your claim and building a powerful case.
Seeking Fair Compensation
Once we have a complete picture of your case, we will prepare and send a detailed “demand package” to the at-fault party’s insurance company. This document outlines our legal arguments, presents the supporting evidence, and demands fair compensation for your losses.
These losses, legally referred to as damages, often include both economic and non-economic harm. Economic damages are tangible financial losses like medical bills and lost earnings. Non-economic damages compensate you for less tangible harm, such as pain, suffering, and a diminished quality of life.
Our Commitment to Trial
Many personal injury cases are resolved through a settlement, which is a formal agreement to resolve the case for a certain amount of money without going to court. However, our firm’s reputation is built in the courtroom. We are trial lawyers, first and foremost.
Insurance companies and their lawyers know that we have the skill, resources, and resolve to take a case to a jury if their settlement offer is not fair. Our willingness to go to trial is often the most significant factor in convincing an insurance company to treat our clients’ claims seriously and offer the full compensation they deserve.
Our results speak for themselves.
We know how to win.
How We Can Help:
Car Accidents
Our car accident lawyers have represented thousands of people and families whose lives have been affected by accidents involving cars, trucks, motorcycles and pedestrians.
Truck Accidents
Our truck accident lawyers have years of experience which gives us the understanding to resolve the legal, medical, and insurance issues that arise after an accident and the resources to provide aggressive and competent representation.
Wrongful Death
Money can never bring back a loved one. But a wrongful death lawsuit can provide surviving family members with financial security and assist relatives in moving forward.
Traumatic Brain Injury
Our brain injury lawyers draw from decades of experience dealing with insurance claims, negotiated settlements, and even litigation to ensure our clients receive the full compensation they deserve for their injury.
Premises Liability
Premises liability cases typically center on something dangerous about a property that should have been fixed but was not. Our premises liability lawyers have represented hundreds of people who have been injured because of unsafe or poorly maintained properties.
Product Liability
Through product liability lawsuits, we have not only won for our clients the compensation they deserved, but our product liability accident attorneys have also played a role in making our communities safer.
Meet Our Personal Injury Lawyers
For over 40 years, Reiner & Frankel, LLP, has built a reputation handling complex and high-stakes California personal injury lawsuits. Our unwavering tenacity and integrity have earned us an excellent reputation in the courts, among our colleagues and with our courtroom adversaries.
Our attorneys have been repeatedly praised by peer-reviewed organizations including Super Lawyers, the National Trial Lawyers Association, AVVO and Martindale Hubbell.
Local Knowledge, National Recognition
Our focus is on making the community we live in a safer place, and making whole those who have been wronged due to negligence or oversight.
We live, work and raise our kids in the same communities as our clients. We see our clients at the grocery store, at school pick up and at football games.
So it’s not just words when we say that making our communities safer matters to us…
And making whole those who have been wronged due to negligence or recklessness of others is how we help.
Understanding California's Personal Injury Laws
The legal system has specific rules that govern personal injury claims. Two of the most important concepts for injured people to understand are the statute of limitations and the principle of comparative negligence.
The Statute of Limitations
The law sets a firm deadline for filing a lawsuit, which is known as the statute of limitations. In California, a person generally has two years from the date of the injury to file a personal injury lawsuit. If you miss this deadline, you will likely lose your right to seek compensation forever. There are some exceptions to this rule, but it is critical to speak with a lawyer as soon as possible to protect your legal rights.
Pure Comparative Negligence
Sometimes, an accident is not entirely one person’s fault. California follows a legal doctrine called “pure comparative negligence.” This means you can still recover damages even if you were partially to blame for the accident that caused your injuries. However, the amount of compensation you receive will be reduced by your percentage of fault.
For example, if a jury determines you were 20% at fault for a car accident and your total damages are $100,000, your final award would be reduced by 20% to $80,000. This rule ensures that compensation is divided fairly based on each party’s level of responsibility.
Our commitment to you:
- It costs nothing to contact us; our fees are based on what we recover.
- We never collect payment until you do.
- We will always be honest with you, and what you tell us is confidential.
- We will never settle for less than you deserve and for less than what’s right.
Our cases have been featured on:
Contact Our California Personal Injury Attorney for a Candid Case Evaluation
If a serious injury has impacted your life, you deserve to have your case reviewed by a compassionate and experienced legal team. Reiner & Frankel, LLP offers personalized legal solutions tailored to your accident-related needs. No two cases are alike, and we know that every client has individual circumstances that must be considered. Our highly qualified team is committed to helping you understand your options and seek the maximum compensation possible.
Contact us today at (530) 241-0290 or through our online form for a free case evaluation. We will discuss the details of your accident with you, explore every aspect of what happened, and help you reclaim the resources you need to move forward.
California Personal Injury FAQs
What does it cost to hire a California personal injury lawyer from your firm?
We handle personal injury cases on a contingency fee basis. This means you do not pay any attorney’s fees upfront. We only receive a fee if we successfully recover compensation for you through a settlement or a court verdict. Our fee is a percentage of the total recovery, so we are motivated to achieve the best possible result for you.
How long will my personal injury case take?
The timeline for a personal injury case varies widely depending on its complexity. A straightforward case might be resolved in a matter of months, while a complex case involving a catastrophic injury or a dispute over fault could take a year or more, especially if it goes to trial. We will always be candid with you about the expected timeline for your specific case.
Should I speak with the other party’s insurance adjuster?
It is generally advisable to be cautious when speaking with an insurance adjuster from the other side. Their job is to protect their company’s financial interests, which often means minimizing the amount they have to pay. They may try to get you to make a recorded statement that could be used against you later. It is best to consult with an attorney before providing any detailed information to the other party’s insurance company.
What if the person who injured me does not have insurance?
If you were injured in a car accident by an uninsured or underinsured driver, you might still be able to recover compensation through your own auto insurance policy, provided you have Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist (UM/UIM) coverage. We can review your policy to determine if this coverage is available to you.
How is pain and suffering calculated in a California personal injury case?
There is no simple formula for calculating pain and suffering. It is a form of non-economic damage meant to compensate for the physical discomfort and emotional distress resulting from an injury.
To determine a fair amount, we will consider factors such as the severity and permanence of your injury, the intensity of the pain, and the overall impact the injury has had on your daily life and well-being.
What compensation can I recover in a California personal injury case?
You can recover both economic and non-economic damages. Economic damages cover tangible financial losses, such as medical bills, lost wages, and property damage. Non-economic damages compensate you for less tangible harm, such as pain, suffering, emotional distress, and a diminished quality of life.
The specific types and amounts of compensation depend on your case.