San Jose Personal Injury Lawyers

About 20% of California drivers are uninsured despite it being illegal. Your options:

Use your uninsured motorist (UM) coverage: This pays up to your policy limits. If you have $100,000 UM coverage, that’s your maximum recovery.

Sue the driver personally: Problem is most uninsured drivers have no assets. Winning a $150,000 judgment against someone with no job or property means you can’t actually collect the money.

Check if anyone else is liable: Was the uninsured driver working at the time? Their employer might have coverage. Was the car borrowed? The owner’s insurance might apply under permissive use.

Yes. California uses “pure comparative negligence”—you can recover damages even if you’re 99% at fault, but your award decreases by your fault percentage.

Example: You’re 30% at fault, other driver 70% at fault. Total damages are $100,000. You recover $70,000.

Insurance companies will try to inflate your fault percentage to pay less. They might claim you’re 70% at fault when it’s actually 30%. Fighting over that 40% difference means fighting for $40,000 in recovery.

Almost never. Settlements include a legal release waiving all future claims related to the accident. Once signed, it’s permanent—even if you discover worse injuries later.

Very rare exceptions: Insurance committed fraud (intentionally hid information), or your settlement specifically reserved rights for unknown future injuries. This is why we wait until you reach maximum medical improvement before settling.

For most accidents, California gives you two years from the date of injury to file a lawsuit (CCP § 335.1). But if your claim involves any government entity — the City of San Jose, Santa Clara County, VTA, or a public university — you have just six months from the incident date to file an administrative claim. That six-month deadline passes fast when you are dealing with injuries, medical appointments, and lost work. Call us immediately after any accident. Waiting is the most common and most costly mistake injured people make.

That depends entirely on the specifics of your situation — the severity of your injuries, how clear the liability is, how much insurance coverage exists, and what your life looks like long-term after the accident. Compensation can cover all medical costs past and future, lost wages, reduced earning capacity, vehicle damage, pain and suffering, emotional distress, and in serious cases, punitive damages. California does not cap these in most personal injury cases. Call us for a free evaluation. We will give you an honest answer based on actual facts, not a sales pitch.

You can still recover. California’s pure comparative fault rule means your award is reduced by your percentage of responsibility — not eliminated. If you are 30% at fault and your damages are $150,000, you recover $105,000. The problem is insurance companies push hard to inflate your fault percentage, because every point they add reduces what they owe. We know exactly how they do this, and we know how to counter it with evidence.

You can technically handle a personal injury claim without a lawyer. You can also do your own plumbing. The question is whether it is a good idea. Insurance adjusters are professionals whose job is to pay you as little as possible. They do it all day, every day. They know California law. They know the value of your injuries better than you do — and they will use that knowledge against you. Studies consistently show that represented accident victims receive substantially more compensation than unrepresented claimants, even after attorney fees. Call us before making any decisions.

Straightforward cases with clear liability and documented injuries can settle in three to six months. Cases with disputed liability, serious injuries, or uncooperative insurers may take one to two years. Cases that go to trial in Santa Clara County Superior Court typically take two to three years from filing. We never delay your case unnecessarily, and we keep you informed at every stage so there are no surprises.

Almost always, no. Early offers come before the full extent of your injuries is understood — before you know whether surgery will be needed, whether you will recover fully, or how long you will be out of work. Once you accept and sign a release, that door closes permanently. We review settlement offers for free. Before you sign anything, call us.

It means exactly what it sounds like. We work on a contingency fee basis. We advance all costs — investigation, expert consultants, filing fees, everything. We take nothing up front. Our fee is a percentage of the recovery, collected only when we win or settle your case. If we recover nothing for you, you pay nothing. This means access to the same quality of legal representation regardless of your financial situation.

California requires drivers to carry liability insurance, but many do not. If the at-fault driver is uninsured or underinsured, we pursue your own Uninsured Motorist (UM) or Underinsured Motorist (UIM) coverage — California requires this to be offered in every auto policy. We also investigate other potentially liable parties: the vehicle’s owner if different from the driver, an employer if the driver was working, a government entity if road conditions contributed, or a manufacturer if a vehicle defect played a role.

Yes — and it is one of the most meaningful differences between our firm and most other San Jose personal injury attorneys. Kenneth practices both areas of law. If your injury involves any government actor, law enforcement officer, or public institution in Santa Clara County, we can pursue both a personal injury claim and a civil rights claim simultaneously. That dual track often produces a significantly higher total recovery than a personal injury claim alone.