Frequently asked questions

A conversation. You tell us what happened, what injuries you have, what treatment you have had, and what the insurance situation looks like. We tell you whether we think there is a claim worth pursuing, what the obstacles are, and what the next steps would be. There is no charge and no obligation, and if the honest answer is that you do not have a case worth bringing, that is what you will hear.

Nothing up front. We take injury cases on contingency, which means the attorney fee is a percentage of what is recovered and there is no attorney fee if there is no recovery. Case costs such as filing fees, record charges and expert witnesses are advanced by the firm while the case is open. California requires the fee agreement to be in writing, and Business and Professions Code section 6147 requires it to state the rate, explain how costs affect your recovery, and state that the rate is negotiable between you and the firm.

No. If you are in a hospital, a rehabilitation facility or stuck at home, we will come to you. Much of the early work can also be handled by phone and email. We have offices in Newport Beach and Orange if you prefer to meet in person.

Sooner is materially better, and not for sales reasons. Surveillance video is commonly overwritten within 14 to 30 days. Commercial truck logs and engine data sit on short retention schedules with no duty to preserve until someone demands it in writing. Vehicle event data is usually lost when a car is repaired or sold. Road hazards are often fixed within days of a reported crash. Deadlines matter, but evidence disappears much faster than deadlines run.

Whatever you have, and do not worry if that is nothing. Useful items: the police report or report number, photographs, the other driver's insurance information, your own auto policy declarations page, names of providers you have seen, and any letters from insurers. If you have none of it, we can obtain most of it.

You likely have something worth evaluating if someone else's carelessness caused you a physical injury that required medical attention, and you are within the filing deadline. Whether it is worth pursuing depends on how strong the liability evidence is, how serious the injury is, and whether there is insurance or assets to collect from.

You can still recover. California follows pure comparative fault, adopted in Li v. Yellow Cab Co. in 1975, under which your recovery is reduced by your percentage of fault rather than barred by it. Even a claimant found 80 percent at fault recovers the remaining 20 percent. Expect the insurer to argue for a high percentage, and expect that number to be negotiable.

Generally two years from the date of injury under Code of Civil Procedure section 335.1, and three years for property damage under section 338. If a government entity is involved, you generally have only six months to file a written administrative claim under Government Code section 911.2. Uninsured and underinsured motorist claims carry their own strict two-year requirement. For an injured child, the clock is generally tolled until the 18th birthday under CCP 352.

Nobody can tell you that at the first call, and California's rules of professional conduct prohibit a lawyer from promising a result. Value depends on the medical picture once you are stable, what you are permanently left with, the available insurance limits, how clear fault is, and your own fault percentage. Anyone quoting a figure before seeing medical records is guessing.

It depends mostly on how long you treat and whether the insurer makes a reasonable offer. A claim with a few months of therapy and clear fault can resolve in months. A disputed case involving surgery and a lawsuit can take a year or more. We will not give you a date, and you should be wary of anyone who does.

Probably not. Most claims resolve through negotiation, mediation or arbitration. Filing a lawsuit is sometimes necessary to get a case taken seriously, and even then most filed cases settle rather than reaching a jury. The decision to accept or reject any offer is always yours, not ours.

Your own uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage is usually the answer, and it applies even when you were on foot or on a bicycle. Two things to know: California UIM is reduced by what the at-fault insurer pays rather than added on top of it, and a UM or UIM claim requires that within two years of the crash you sue the at-fault driver, agree with your insurer on the amount, or formally demand arbitration. Ongoing negotiation does not satisfy that.

Not the at-fault insurer, which typically pays once at the end as part of a settlement. In the meantime: medical payments coverage on your own auto policy pays regardless of fault, your health insurance applies, many providers will treat on a lien and wait for payment from a settlement, and Medi-Cal, county programs and community clinics are options. Workers' compensation covers it if you were working.

Usually yes. Many California providers treat injured people on a lien, meaning they wait to be paid out of a future recovery. Tell us early if cost is keeping you out of a doctor's office, because untreated injuries hurt your health and gaps in treatment hurt your claim.

A right to be repaid out of your settlement. Health insurers, hospitals under Civil Code section 3045.1, Medi-Cal under Welfare and Institutions Code section 14124.70 and following, Medicare, lien-based providers and workers' compensation carriers may all have one. These amounts are frequently negotiable, and reducing them increases what you actually take home just as much as a higher settlement does. Always ask what your net recovery is, not just the gross.

Generally yes. It gets you proper care at negotiated rates, which usually produces a better net result than accumulating full-rate lien balances. Your insurer will assert a reimbursement right against the settlement, which is handled at the end.

No. You have no contract with them and no duty to cooperate with them. Declining is normal and does not harm your claim. Your own insurer is different: your policy generally requires reasonable cooperation with your own company.

Not a blanket one. An insurer evaluating an injury claim legitimately needs records relevant to the injured body parts for a defined period. A broad authorization hands over your entire medical history to be searched for alternative explanations. Have it reviewed first.

Not before you know your diagnosis. A release is permanent and covers everything arising from the crash, including an injury diagnosed next month or a surgery recommended next year. Early offers typically arrive before the MRI does. Have the offer and the release language reviewed; the review is free and the signature is not reversible.

Usually yes, and often you should, because you need your vehicle back. The critical point is the release language: make sure what you sign resolves property damage only. A global release signed to get a rental extended has ended more injury claims than any argument an adjuster has ever made.

You are using coverage you paid for after someone else caused a crash, and California law restricts using a not-at-fault claim against you. Carriers still make their own underwriting decisions. Weighing a possible premium change against an unpaid surgery is usually not a close call.

All Star Injury Attorneys. This site is a service of the firm, and Simon Aziz Budhwani, Esq. is the attorney responsible for its content. If you become a client, you will know which attorney and which staff are assigned to your file.

No. Calling, emailing or submitting the case review form does not make us your lawyers and does not make the information you send confidential in the way attorney-client communications are. An attorney-client relationship exists only when a written fee agreement has been signed by both sides. Until then, please do not send sensitive documents.

Yes. Tell us at the first call which language you are most comfortable in so the intake is accurate rather than approximate. Interpretation is standard in medical treatment, depositions and court proceedings. One piece of practical advice: use the professional interpreter your medical provider is required to offer rather than relying on a family member, because the medical record is what insurers value a claim from.

Your right to recover for an injury caused by someone else's negligence does not depend on immigration status, and California Evidence Code section 351.2 generally makes evidence of a person's immigration status inadmissible in personal injury and wrongful death actions. There are narrow questions around future lost earnings that should be discussed privately with your own attorney, where the conversation is privileged.

All of California. The firm's offices are in Newport Beach and Orange, and most of our cases come from Orange County and the surrounding Southern California counties.

The practice areas covered on this site are personal injury, car, motorcycle, truck and pedestrian collisions, wrongful death, dog bites, uninsured and underinsured motorist claims, and premises liability. If your situation is something else, call anyway and we will tell you honestly whether it is something the firm handles or point you elsewhere.