California Personal Injury Law Quiz

California Personal Injury Law Litigation Department Training Program

• Personal injury law in California deals with compensation for harm or injuries caused by someone else's negligence or intentional actions.
• Types of personal injury cases include motor vehicle collisions (car, motorcycle, truck, bicycle, pedestrian), premises liability (slip and fall accidents, dog bite cases), product liability, medical malpractice, and wrongful death cases.
• Wrongful death cases occur when someone dies due to the negligence, recklessness, or intentional act of another person or entity, and surviving family members may seek compensation through a lawsuit.
• Elements of a personal injury case include duty of care, breach of duty, causation, and damages.
• In most personal injury cases, the defendant must have acted negligently to be held liable, but there are exceptions such as strict liability for dog bites and defective products.
• The statute of limitations for personal injury cases in California is two years from the injury, or one year from the date the injury was discovered if not immediately apparent. For government claims, the administrative claim must be filed within six months of the injury.
• California follows a comparative fault law, meaning that even if the injured party is partially at fault for the accident, they can still recover damages. California is a pure comparative fault state, allowing recovery even if the injured party is 99% at fault.
• Compensatory damages aim to make the plaintiff whole, and can include economic damages (medical expenses, loss of earnings) and non-economic damages (pain, suffering, emotional distress).
• Punitive damages are meant to punish the defendant for egregious conduct and deter similar behavior, requiring clear and convincing evidence of oppression, fraud, or malice.
• There are limitations on damages, such as the inability to recover punitive damages in a wrongful death case unless the defendant was convicted of felony murder, and the limitation on noneconomic damages for uninsured plaintiffs in motor vehicle accidents, except in cases involving an intoxicated driver.
• To recover in a personal injury case, the plaintiff must prove the defendant's liability by a preponderance of the evidence.
• California Civil Code governs the measure of damages, and specific sections outline the definitions and limitations of economic, non-economic, and punitive damages.