Fresno Car Accidents

Motor Vehicle Collision Lawyers Helping Victims in Fresno

After a car accident, you may be legitimately concerned about how you will pay for your medical bills and take time off work so that you can recover. Often, insurance adjustors call accident victims in an effort to obtain an admission and reduce the liability of their insured policyholder. It is important to retain an experienced lawyer before you talk to an at-fault driver’s insurance adjustor. At Sharifi Firm, our Fresno car accident attorneys may be able to represent you in a lawsuit to pursue damages such as medical bills, vocational rehabilitation, counseling, pain and suffering, emotional anguish, and loss of consortium.

Bringing a Car Accident Claim for Compensation

In most cases, car accidents are preventable results of negligent driving. You will need to establish that the at-fault driver failed to drive safely and that this failure was the actual and legal cause of your injuries. Sometimes there are multiple drivers at fault, including the accident victim. You will need to establish each driver’s negligence to recover compensatory damages from them. The jury will evaluate the total damages and assign a percentage of fault.

For example, a jury may determine that your total damages are $200,000. If it believes that one driver ran a stop sign, and this made him 50% at fault for your swerving out of the way, while another driver had an opportunity to brake and avoid hitting you but was texting while driving, and this made him 50% at fault, the first driver is potentially responsible for paying you $100,000, and the second driver is potentially responsible for $100,000.

California follows the rule of joint and several liability with regard to economic damages. Economic damages are usually documented and tangible damages, such as your medical bills, lost wages, and property damage. Each defendant may be held 100% responsible for your economic damages, even if they are only partially responsible for your injuries. A defendant who is held responsible for 100% of the damages, even though they are only partially to blame, may pursue other parties who may be to blame for your injuries for contribution. This rule is important because in some cases a driver may be uninsured and lacking assets, so they may be unable to pay a judgment even if they were partially to blame.

However, each defendant will only be responsible for their share of noneconomic damages, which means that it is critical to bring all possible defendants into a lawsuit. Noneconomic damages are intangible items of loss, such as pain and suffering, mental anguish, and scarring or disfigurement. These are the damages that a jury believes that you would naturally incur based on the types of injuries that you suffered. Although they are intangible, they must still be proven, and a skillful trial attorney may make a big difference to what a jury believes your case is worth.

Consult an Experienced Car Accident Attorney in Fresno

Fresno in San Joaquin Valley is the fifth-largest city in California. The city’s name is Spanish for “ash tree,” and it has a long history dating back to the Gold Rush. If you are injured in a crash in this area, the Fresno car accident lawyers at Sharifi Firm may be able to represent you in a lawsuit for damages. Our firm provides aggressive and diligent representation to victims. Contact us online or call Sharifi Firm at (866) 422-7222 for a free consultation with a motor vehicle collision lawyer.