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Thought Leadership in Personal Injury

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Common Types of Personal Injury Claims in California

Personal injury claims in California arise when someone is injured due to another party’s negligence, unsafe conduct, or failure to meet a legal duty of care. These cases can involve a wide range of situations, including roadway incidents, unsafe property conditions, and defective products.

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I feel your pain: the Gerry Spence method taken over the top

On Thursday, May 3, I met with Ms. B___ and her daughter. Ms. B___’s arm, specifically her radius, was shattered when she took a bad fall. Surgery, a plate, ten screws. I took notes as she told me how she could not work at the hospital for now and how difficult it was to care of herself. On Friday, May 4, I had a court appearance in Redwood City.

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The Stoic

The lawyers sat there, stunned. The doctor sat across from them, giving the couple time to absorb the information. Their three-year-old daughter’s cough and fever? Not pneumonia. Cancer. A tumor. A big one, crushing the little girl’s right lung. Rare – a few hundred reported cases. And tough odds. Chemo, a surgery, more chemo. A year-long process and the hope that it doesn’t recur… because recurrence with the particular cancer does not end well.

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Sep 24

21.8 Do great things

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We contribute to our historic legal fabric by doing our best in all things The lawyer thought about the place an individual plays, one small mote in this great timeless universe. Document review can do this to a person. How can one’s actions, seemingly small and potentially meaningless in the vastness, have any effect? Whether document review, a privilege log,...
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Apr 30

8.4 Federated states

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Avoiding traps: central differences between federal and California state courts The lawyer evaluated the fact pattern, considering venue potential. This case was likely headed to federal court, with complete diversity of citizenship. While a local defendant could be added to defeat diversity, the question remained: was the case better served in federal or state court? Grandeur Most knuckle-dragging personal injury...
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Apr 19

14.3 Argue your position

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Preparing for and delivering motion practice oral argument The lawyer arrived early in the law and motion department. The tentative for defendant’s summary judgment motion? “Parties to appear.” Not a lot to go on. Stacked on the dais’s edge were actual books. Squinting, the lawyer made out numbers on the California Appellate Reports spines. One applied to the lawyer’s case,...
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Mar 02
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1.9 Allied powers

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The mediator, an older male retired judge, spoke directly to the lawyer, ignoring the lawyer’s boss. The mediator did this despite the fact lawyer’s boss was without question the power in the room. While a long time ago, it still should not have happened. It was so off base it took the lawyer some time to recognize the behavior for what it was. The mediator, ignoring the lawyer’s boss, talked past her because the mediator saw her as insignificant. She was a woman, after all.

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Feb 02
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1.1.18 As the dust settles

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The lawyer listened. The situation had gone off the wire. Not fatal. Also not good. How had it happened? Ultimately the lawyer owned it. And within leader ownership, it was important to determine what led to the issue. Process failure, delegation failure, communication failure? All of these? None? Time to dig in, grab those involved, and conduct an After-Action Review.

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Jan 24
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17.18 Exhibiting behavior

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The lawyer looked at the butcher block, counting up the incidents the lawyer and the witness had discussed. “I’m sorry – that’s, let’s see – one, two, three, four, five collisions involving your truck driver in the 18 months before he runs over a pedestrian in a crosswalk?” The jury glowered at the witness. The butcher block exhibit was having its effect.

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Nov 02
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15.5.6 Joint and several mediation

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The lawyer looked around the room. With the lawyer was the team – skilled counsel handling a multi-plaintiff case. The clients? Unique individuals, all. A business leader, a social media maven, a researcher, a transactional lawyer – seated around a large conference table at mediation. The clients’ only commonality? They were a few of the many cyclists injured over several days by a paving defect, created and left unresolved despite a multitude of calls following a trenching operation.

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Oct 25

17.17 The show must go on

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Get the right equipment to present successfully The lawyer sat in the courtroom gallery, straining to listen as a video deposition playback began. The audio, through laptop speakers, was turned up as high as it could go. The tinny sound could barely be heard. The judge, watching the jurors cupping hands to their ears, interrupted the proceeding. “The jury can’t...
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Sep 25

17.16 Jury research

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Talk to jurors post-verdict to learn, improve, and evaluate the verdict The lawyer sat waiting, the thud-thud-thud of adrenaline-addled blood pounding into the lawyer’s brain while the lawyer waited for the judge to review the verdict before handing it back to the clerk to be read. The clerk read it, one side uplifted and the other dejected. “Would either side...
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