Long Beach Personal Injury Lawyer

The short answer is that it depends on three things: whether someone else’s carelessness caused the injury, what the medical record actually shows, and whether there is insurance that reaches the loss. Those are the questions the first conversation is for. It is free, it takes about half an hour, and if there is nothing worth pursuing you will be told that rather than signed up. Bring whatever you have: the collision or incident report if one exists, photographs, the name of anyone who treated you, and your own insurance policy. Do not wait on the report in Long Beach, because the Police Department says releasing one may take up to about six months, which is as long as the deadline for a claim against the City.

The first conversation costs nothing and creates no obligation. A Long Beach injury case is taken on a contingency fee, so there is nothing to pay up front and the fee is paid out of what is recovered. If there is no recovery, no fee is owed. The fee agreement is put in writing and signed before any work starts, which is what California law requires, and the costs of running the case are explained in that same agreement rather than left to the end. Ask about it on the first call.

It should not be assumed. Long Beach Transit describes itself as “a nonprofit public benefit corporation formed in 1963.” Its board is appointed by the Mayor and the City contributes part of its operating budget, but it is not a City department, and it publishes no claims procedure, claim form or claims deadline. That means the route for a transit bus injury is a question to be settled at the outset rather than at the end. Presenting to the wrong entity, or on the wrong timetable, is how a good case is lost. A Metro A Line injury is different again, because claims against Metro go to its own legal services office.