So you got into a fender bender. Your car is in the shop and your neck is sore. You may have bruises, cuts, headaches, or fatigue that keeps you home from work. Your primary care physician refers you to a physical therapist, where you have to do exercises and get bodywork for the next ten weeks. Even after all that, you feel the aches from the crash.
Most people don’t want to get caught up in lawsuits, especially not after an unexpected accident. Most likely, you just want to heal and move on with your life. But even if your injuries weren’t your fault, you can suffer major consequences – some lifelong. And if someone else is responsible for your injuries, they should be held accountable for their actions.
A personal injury claim helps put legal responsibility (or liability) where it belongs. Whoever caused your injuries must also pay for your damages in a way that “makes you whole” – as close to “as if your injury never happened” as possible. After all, you shouldn’t be left on the hook for all those medical bills and lost wages if you were a victim of negligence.
When Is an Injury Bad Enough to Sue?
It can be hard to gauge the seriousness of our own injuries, especially if we don’t have the time or space in our busy lives to get checked out by a doctor. But after an accident or incident, your injuries may be much more serious or severe than you realize.
Your injuries may be worth considering a lawsuit if you’ve suffered:
- Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI) – Head injuries can range from concussions with lingering symptoms to moderate or severe brain trauma that causes memory loss, cognitive dysfunction, or personality changes. Even a seemingly “mild” TBI can have lasting effects that impact your ability to work, drive, or enjoy your life. This makes legal action a valid and often necessary option so that you get the support you need.
- Spinal Cord Injuries – Injuries to the spinal cord can lead to partial or complete paralysis, chronic pain, or serious mobility issues. Even less severe spinal trauma, such as herniated discs, can require surgery and extensive rehabilitation, often with permanent limitations on your physical movement or strength.
- Broken Bones and Fractures – While some fractures heal quickly, others – especially compound, displaced, or multiple fractures – can lead to long-term consequences. These injuries often involve surgical repair, immobilization, and physical therapy, all of which add to your medical and financial burden. A lawsuit can help.
- Internal Injuries – Blunt force trauma can cause hidden damage such as internal bleeding, organ bruising, or rupture. Injuries to the lungs, kidneys, liver, or spleen are life-threatening and typically require emergency surgery and hospitalization. These are clear indicators of the seriousness needed to pursue a lawsuit.
- Severe Burns – Second- and third-degree burns are extremely painful and may require skin grafts or reconstructive procedures. In addition to long recovery times, these injuries often result in permanent scarring, disfigurement, or functional impairment, especially when burns cover large areas or affect sensitive regions like the face or hands.
- Amputations or Loss of Limb Function – Losing a finger, toe, hand, foot, or limb, or suffering permanent nerve damage that impairs your use of these limbs, is a catastrophic event. These injuries dramatically change your quality of life and typically involve lifelong medical care, prosthetics, and vocational adjustments.
- Serious Soft Tissue Injuries – While often underestimated, soft tissue injuries like torn ligaments or tendons can be debilitating. Common examples include ACL tears, rotator cuff injuries, and whiplash with chronic symptoms. These injuries can interfere with your ability to work, care for your family, or perform everyday tasks.
- Facial Injuries – Trauma to the face, including broken jaws, dental damage, or vision loss, often requires extensive medical treatment and can leave lasting cosmetic or functional effects. Reconstructive surgery, dental implants, and ongoing care make these injuries legally and financially significant enough to call for a lawsuit.
- Emotional and Psychological Trauma – Injuries aren’t always visible. If you’re suffering from PTSD, anxiety, depression, or emotional distress after a traumatic event, this psychological toll can be as disabling as a physical injury. California allows recovery for these harms, especially when backed by professional diagnosis and treatment.
- Wrongful Death (On Behalf of a Loved One) – If your loved one passed away because of someone else’s careless or wrongful act, the surviving family members could have a wrongful death lawsuit. These claims can cover funeral expenses, lost income, emotional loss, and more, providing a path towards justice and financial support.
Even if you’re able to walk away from a car accident or you feel “mostly okay,” you should get checked out by a medical professional. You should also talk to a personal injury lawyer about your case – especially if your attorney works on a contingency fee basis. That means you won’t have to pay any legal fees upfront so you can focus on your recovery.
What’s a Successful Outcome to a Personal Injury Claim?
Imagine this: You’re shopping at a grocery store in California when you slip on a spilled liquid. There were no warning signs and store employees had walked past the spill without cleaning it. You fall hard, fracturing your wrist and injuring your lower back. After visiting the emergency room, you require wrist surgery and several months of physical therapy for ongoing back pain.
You miss eight weeks of work, accumulate thousands of dollars in medical bills, and can no longer enjoy your weekend hikes due to lingering discomfort. After consulting a personal injury attorney, you decide to pursue a claim against the store for failing to maintain safe conditions.
After reviewing medical records, witness statements, and store surveillance footage, your attorney successfully negotiates a settlement that covers:
- Your medical expenses for the surgery, emergency care, and physical therapy,
- Your lost wages from the time you missed at work, and
- Thousands of dollars in anticipated future medical costs.
Additionally, your settlement includes a significant sum for pain and suffering related to your physical injuries and limited mobility, emotional distress caused by the trauma of the fall, and loss of earning capacity because of lingering issues that may affect your ability to work.
Insurance companies bank on downplaying or minimizing your injuries so they don’t have to pay out what you’re actually owed. The full impact of your physical injuries can add up when you consider the financial losses and the emotional toll. Especially when you consider that a settlement should cover you for your entire life – including losses years or decades from now.
At Sepulveda Sanchez Accident Attorneys, we know that your situation is stressful enough as is. You don’t have to worry about whether you can afford an attorney to get the compensation you need to recover and thrive. That’s why when you contact us, your consultation is free.
Injuries That May Not Justify a Lawsuit
Not every injury leads to a viable personal injury lawsuit. If you’ve been hurt, you might be wondering whether it’s worth pursuing legal action. In California, the law typically requires that an injury cause significant disruption to your life – through medical expenses, lost wages, or lasting effects – to justify a lawsuit. Below are examples of injuries that, while painful or inconvenient, often fall short of the legal threshold to sue for personal injury.
- Minor Bruises and Contusions – Small bruises from a fall, bump, or minor accident that heal on their own typically don’t meet the standard to sue for personal injury.
- Mild Muscle Strains or Sprains – Soft tissue injuries like light ankle sprains, pulled muscles, or mild back strains that resolve with rest, ice, and over-the-counter medication generally don’t involve enough harm to warrant legal action.
- Scrapes or Abrasions – Surface-level wounds that require minimal treatment, such as basic first aid or a single doctor’s visit, are usually considered too minor for a lawsuit unless they become infected or leave significant scarring.
- Short-Term Headaches or Dizziness – Occasional or short-lived headaches or dizziness following an incident (without a diagnosis of concussion or brain injury) are difficult to prove as part of a claim unless the symptoms persist or worsen.
- Temporary Emotional Distress Without Diagnosis – Feeling shaken or anxious after an incident is normal, but without a documented psychological diagnosis or evidence of long-term impact, emotional distress alone is unlikely to form a successful lawsuit.
- Minor Whiplash With Full Recovery – Mild whiplash that clears up in a few days or weeks without physical therapy or extended treatment typically won’t justify a claim, especially if it doesn’t disrupt your work or daily activities.
- Small Cuts Requiring Stitches (Without Complications) – While painful and inconvenient, a minor laceration that requires a few stitches and heals cleanly without infection or long-term damage usually isn’t serious enough for legal action.
- Low-Impact Falls With No Lasting Injury – A slip or trip that causes no significant injury will not typically support a viable personal injury case in court.
It’s important to note that even minor injuries can become more serious over time. What may seem like a mild issue today may evolve into a bigger problem. Always consult a medical professional – and if you’re unsure, an attorney can help evaluate your case.
How Do You Know if Your Injury Lawsuit Is Worth It?
The only way to know for sure if you have a strong personal injury claim is to talk to an experienced lawyer about your specific circumstances.
The more severe and disruptive your injuries, the stronger your case is for a personal injury claim. During your initial consultation, your attorney will consider the following factors and help you determine whether a lawsuit is the right option for you.
- The extent of your physical impairment from the injury – from daily headaches and difficulties concentrating (common symptoms of TBI) to significant disability or disfigurement that affects your daily activities, mobility, or quality of life.
- The duration of your injury and its long-term consequences – prolonged recovery periods (a few months or more), long-term ongoing medical treatment (years or longer), or permanent impairments are usually grounds for significant settlements.
- The financial and economic impact of your injury on your life – the more the injury has cost you in medical bills, rehabilitation costs, out-of-pocket expenses, lost wages, or future financial losses, the greater your settlement should be to cover these damages.
- The level of physical pain and mental suffering you’ve experienced – the law includes both physical and emotional pain, mental anguish, psychological trauma, or loss of enjoyment of life as damages that deserve compensation.
- Whether someone else’s actions caused your injury – personal injury claims are most appropriate when your injuries are a result of someone else’s actions, whether that’s another driver on the road or a manufacturer that created a defective product.
- Whether those actions were negligent and carry liability – in order for an accident to qualify for a personal injury lawsuit, you have to show that the person responsible failed to live up to the proper standard of care when they caused your injury. This is called negligence and it’s the basis for most personal injury lawsuits.
When you file a successful lawsuit, your financial settlement covers these economic damages and non-economic damages in order to make up for the effect of your injuries on your life.
In some cases, you could even recover punitive damages, which are meant to punish the person responsible for especially bad behavior – for example, a repeat DUI offender who causes a wreck or a construction company that ignores safety standards.
The actions you take shortly after an injury can make all the difference in your recovery. Getting checked out by a doctor may take time out of your day, but it can get you a more definitive understanding of the extent of your injuries. It will also help establish evidence for your case.
Similarly, one phone call to a lawyer could make all the difference in your personal injury claim, giving you the financial resources you need to recover and thrive. Your attorney looks out for your best interests at every turn. With a free initial consultation and a contingency fee structure, you can find out your legal options at no additional risk or cost to you.
Every case is unique and deserves personalized attention. When you work with the team at Sepulveda Sanchez Law, we help you get the full compensation you’re owed and we make the legal claims process as smooth as we can for you. Click here to get started now.