Author: Raju

Personal injuries can cause not only physical loss but also medical bills, lost wages, and emotional stress, and compensation for your personal injury settlements case will vary depending on the severity of the situation and the level of negligence by the liable party. One of the common questions we often get asked by our clients is, “What is the average compensation I can expect, and what do lawyers charge for their services in Los Angeles?” So, let us unfold these questions that can help you set realistic expectations

 1. How much are most personal injury settlements

As we said earlier, the compensation for your injury will depend on multiple factors; however, most personal injury settlements in California or the US get somewhere between $3,000 and $75,000. If the case proceeds to court, the court or judiciary may consider the following factors when determining settlements:

1. Injury severity: If there are major physical injuries as a result of the liable party’s negligence or wrongdoing, the compensation may be higher than expected, whereas if there are only minor burns or cuts, the court may decide to offer smaller payouts for medical bills.
2. Medical expenses: If the medical costs of the treatment are higher, the settlement payout will also increase in the same ratio to compensate for the fair cost that can manage your financial stress.
3. Lost income: These injuries might leave you with no work for the upcoming days or weeks. To ensure that you don’t lose your income, the court can help you get an equal amount of your lost income through compensation.
4. Pain and suffering: The level of your pain due to the accident or suffering you go through, both physically and emotionally, can also be a crucial factor in deciding the fair settlement value.

 2. What percentage do most personal injury lawyers take?

The majority of personal injury lawyers in Los Angeles, California work on a contingency fee basis, which means they are only paid if they help you secure compensation and win your case through a fair settlement. The amount or fee is not fixed but depends on the compensation amount. Usually, the standard rate in the United States is 33-40% of the total settlement amount.

This range depends on the complexity of the case and the actions that need to be taken. For example, if an injury case is straightforward and settled outside the court, you can expect to pay one-third of the compensation, which is 33%. But if your case is complicated and goes to court, the charges might be up accordingly.

 3. What is the average payout for personal injury?

The amount for personal injury claims in Los Angeles varies, but typically the average personal injury settlement is around $52,000. However, we also need to know that:

About half of the claims get compensation less than $25,000, and large payout often involve severe injuries and major losses as medical bills and lost incomes

Conclusion

In conclusion, personal injury claims can be the perfect way to get financial help if you are suffering the loss from someone else’s negligence. Depending on the severity of the injury and losses you bear, you can get compensation from a few thousand dollars to $75,000. The lawyer fees for their case work will be 33 to 40% of the compensation based on the complexity of the case and efforts it takes.

“Lawyer vs Attorney” are two basic legal terms that sound confusing, especially when these words are often used interchangeably. Plus, different types of attorneys also exist. Another thing is, there is a time limit to file a lawsuit in court. Understanding all these basic terms and types of attorneys can help you navigate the situation effectively if it arises. So let us answer your three main questions about the same that we often get asked by all our clients.

 1. What is the difference between a lawyer and an attorney

The main difference between Lawyer vs Attorney lies in what kind of work they can manage to do and handle.

Lawyer: A lawyer is someone who has a law degree and has completed law school. They are well-prepared to give you legal advice for your case, conduct research, and work in law-related fields. They might not be licensed to represent you in court, though. Thus, lawyers are limited to working outside the court.

Attorney: The attorney on the other side is a professional who has passed bar exams and has acquired a license to practice law. It enables them to represent complex cases in courts and provide legal support by fighting for their clients’ needs.

So, The Shahbaz Firm concluding the differences, all attorneys are lawyers in Los Angeles, but not all lawyers can be attorneys, as it requires a special license to practice apart from a law degree.

 2. What are the two types of attorneys?

Though attorneys can be categorized into different types based on their specialization, they all fall into two broad categories.

• Civil attorneys: Those who can handle disputes between individuals, businesses, and organizations that require court intervention. This includes cases like personal injury lawyers, family law attorneys, employment attorneys, etc.
• Criminal attorneys: Criminal attorneys are more specialized in handling criminal cases where someone is accused of breaking laws and peace in society. Criminal attorneys can be divided into two parts furthermore: defense attorneys and prosecutors. Defense attorneys represent the accused to prove that they are not guilty, while prosecutors represent the state.

 3. Can you sue someone after 2 years in California?

Whether or not you can file a suit against someone two years after the actual case depends on the type of case you want to file a suit for and some other factors. For example:

• For personal injury cases, you get a 2-year time period from the actual date of the accident or injury to file a lawsuit against a liable party.
• Property damage cases: Here in the US, in California, if there’s any case regarding property damage, you might get up to 3 years to file a case for your loss.
• Medical malpractice: If found injured due to medical malpractice, you typically have 1 year to sue a liable person, but not more than 3 years.

In Los Angeles, If you try to sue after a certain period of time, like 1 or 2 years, your case might get rejected by the court even if your claims are valid.

Conclusion

In conclusion, due to the nature of their work, lawyers differ from one another. The Shahbaz Firm Lawyers can handle all the law-related work except fighting for their clients in court, while attorneys have all the power of lawyers plus the license to represent a court case as well. There are mainly two types of attorneys: one is civil attorneys handling normal cases, and the other is criminal attorneys, who are more specialized in law-breaking cases and high-profile criminal issues.

Immigration services can be a complex system loaded with paperwork and strict deadlines in the US. Getting a visa and navigating through all these immigration processes can be exhausting; even a small mistake can delay your plans enormously.

This is why hiring an immigration lawyer in Los Angeles is so common; The Shahbaz Firm can make the process easier and help you get through it without any problems. However, people have a lot of questions before hiring an immigration lawyer, such as how much these attorneys charge and what kind of support we can offer. So, let us just unpack a few of these questions here for you to get a broader idea.

 1. Can an immigration lawyer help you get a US visa

Yes, The Shahbaz Firm, an immigration lawyer in Los Angeles, can help you secure a visa for your trip by making things easier and simpler for you. Although they cannot simply approve and guarantee your visa approval, their primary responsibilities include determining your eligibility, compiling and preparing documentation, and speaking on your behalf to relevant agencies such as USCIS (US Citizenship and Immigration Services).

In essence, when you choose an immigration lawyer, they don’t actually give you a guaranteed visa or promise work done but make the immigration process easier by minimizing errors and strengthening the application through paperwork and legal processes.

 2. Is it worth using an immigration lawyer

The value of hiring an immigration lawyer depends on your individual needs as well as your knowledge of US immigration procedures and laws. For applicants who are not very familiar with the system, immigration lawyers are quite beneficial and helpful. An experienced immigration lawyer is worth using for their process. The immigration law is complicated, and following the process yourself can result in committing mistakes, delays, and even complete denials of the visit. Using a lawyer for this process is worth it if:

• Your immigration case is complex and requires experience to deal with
• You’re applying for uncommon or specialized visas, like work permits or investor visas
• You want peace of mind knowing your form is filled correctly by experts

 3. How much do immigration lawyers charge in Los Angeles

The fee for your immigration lawyers in Los Angeles will depend on multiple factors, like

• The experience of the lawyer
• The complexity of the cases
• The type of Visa or service you require

However, on average, here is the estimated cost of different immigration services

• For consultations regarding your visa and application: $100-$300
• Visa application fee for family and work-based: $1,500-$5,000
• Green card application: $2,000-$6,000
• Deportation defense: $5,000-$15,000 or more

Summary

Summarizing the answer, an immigration lawyer can help you secure a visa and get your immigration service done by minimizing errors and correcting the form. Additionally, The Shahbaz Firm can also help you with document preparation and represent you in different immigration departments for a hassle-free process.

The worst thing about an accident is that it can happen anywhere and can cause significant damage without you even noticing for even a minute. Be it a gym where you exercise, a grocery store where you buy things, or even someone’s home, accidents can happen anywhere, and when they do, that’s where premises liability coverage comes in.

The key role of premises liability is to determine who is liable to pay for the damage. Therefore, if you own property or any crucial premises in Los Angeles or California, it is best to understand what this premises liability coverage includes and why it matters.

 1. Are premises an asset or a liability?

There are different aspects to understand whether a building or a piece of land will be considered as an asset or a liability. Legally speaking, your premises will always be considered as your asset because they hold value and you own them. However, managing these premises and ensuring their safety and security comes as a liability as well. If you are unable to maintain your home, building, or other type of property and someone is hurt as a result, you are liable for a lot of things, including the injured person’s medical expenses, missed income, and much more.

In short, yes, your premises are an asset, but they come with the liability to manage and maintain them.

2. What are common premise liability claims?

Premise liability claims in Los Angeles can include different claims, though some of the most common claims we often come across are the following:

• Slip and fall accidents: If someone in a private premise slips and gets injured due to wet floors or uneven surfaces.
• Poor maintenance: If the premise owner has failed to maintain the proper maintenance of the building, like broken stairs and handrails, and if it causes harm to visitors, it is considered a part of premise liability claims.
• Inadequate security: If negligent security makes the visitors vulnerable to theft and causes any physical issues
• Pet bites: If your dog or any other pet bites your visitors and causes some major pain or physical damage, it can be included in premises liability claims in Los Angeles.
• Object falling: Falling objects from nowhere and harming someone can be considered as premises liability claims since it should be the responsibility of the owner to ensure that nothing like this happens.

 3. What does personal liability insurance cover?

Personal liability insurance is a broader category than premises liability, as it covers anything about an individual that might cause pain, injury, or property damage to someone else.

So, if someone gets hurt and injured due to your personal negligence or other reasons, it comes under personal liability, which may or may not include premises liability claims in Los Angeles.

 4. What does premise liability cover?

On the other hand, premise liability covers claims for accidents that especially happened within certain premises or boundaries. If you own a place and someone visits your place and slips due to wet floors, it comes under premises liability.

Summary

In conclusion, premise liability in Los Angeles covers everything that happens under your premises, from broken staircases and wet floors to security concerns and ceiling issues. Personal liability claims can be even broader, as they include all the personal negligence concerns as an effective reason for the accident, other than just being an owner of a premise.

The legal concept of ‘premises liability’ often comes when someone gets hurt or injured on another person’s property. In simple words, this law holds a property owner or occupier liable for any unfortunate accident due to not maintaining a reasonably safe condition in Los Angeles. It is the duty of the property owners to keep their place safe. But how does this premises liability work, and what does it cover? Let’s break the process down and answer some common questions regarding premises liability and premises liability claims.

 1. What is a premise case?

A premise case frequently occurs when someone is hurt on someone else’s property as a result of the area’s safety conditions not being maintained. The California law says that if something like this happens in a home, business, or even a public place, the liability goes to the owner of the respective premises. Examples of these premise cases can range from sleeping on a wet floor and falling due to broken stairs to being injured if the lighting is inadequate or the security is poor.

 2. Does general liability cover premises liability

In short, yes, in Los Angeles most situations, if you have general liability insurance, the chances are likely that it will cover the premises liability claims as well. Businesses and property owners typically get this insurance policy to safeguard their expenses against lawsuits from injuries occurring on their property under premises cases.

These general liability insurance policies typically cover the following expenses under premise cases:

• Cost of medical for the injured party
• Cost of legal defense in court
• Settlements or judgment if the property owner is found liable.

 3. Is premises liability a type of negligence

Premises liability is, of course, a type of negligence law, and the reason behind it is that it is a duty of a property owner to take care of people entering their property. If they breach that duty by failing to provide safer conditions, and if someone gets injured due to their maintenance failure in Los Angeles, it is considered negligence.

For example, if a store owner repeatedly ignores the complaints of a broken floor and a customer falls or any injury stems from it, it is pure negligence, and the court holds them liable under both premises liability and negligence laws.

 4. What is a premises liability claim in Los Angeles

A premises liability claim can be defined as a legal action taken by someone who is injured on any unsafe property and wants justice with fair compensation. These premises liability claims typically include:

• Slip and fall accidents
• Dog bites on private property
• Injuries from falling objects on a property
• Accidents caused by poor security issues

However, to win these claims, it is necessary to prove necessary to prove that a defendant owned or leased the property and that the accident was caused due to their negligence. You also need to show if the accident has actually caused injuries and damages like medical bills, lost wages, and pain or suffering.

Conclusion

Premise liability guarantees that property owners maintain their areas with appropriate upkeep and security measures to keep guests safe. These premises liability cases come under negligence law and are often a part of general liability laws; your general liability insurance can even cover the cost of premises cases. Whether you are a property owner or someone who is injured in such cases, understanding these laws helps you get justice and defend yourself in court.

An accident can happen anywhere and in any situation, whether you are in a gym, in a store, walking on the road, or even just sitting peacefully at someone’s house. It’s not always our fault or error that we must bear the weight and loss of. When something unfortunate like this happens, California law determines who is responsible for the loss and damage. There are separate and different laws that act in parallel to make sense of the accident, premises liability in CA. The Shahbaz Firm provide the right justice for the loss of the victims.

To understand this in detail, let us tell you three common area liability laws: liability releases, premises liability, and slip-and-fall cases.

 1. What are the three requirements for a liability release to be enforceable in California?

Sometimes, as a victim, you may not want to sue the liable party for certain risks and agree not to hold another party responsible for injuries or damages; this is known as a liability release. It is a quite common type of waiver in gyms, recreational activities, and rental agreements.

If you want to reinforce a liability release, you must meet three key requirements.

• Unambiguous wording: The “liability release” or waiver must be written in unambiguous terms and include a description of the risks being released.
• Public policy compliance: The liability release is typically only considered for ordinary and common negligence, like a gym member tripping or common mistakes, like minor falls or injury, but they are not considered for extreme mistakes and misconduct.
• Voluntary and fair consent: This is a common requirement for liability release that the person signing the waiver must be doing it voluntarily, and they must know what they are signing for. Any kind of fraud, coercion, or force will be strictly punishable in such cases. In short, the waiver signer must be doing it deliberately; you can’t force them to sign the release.

 2. What’s the difference between premises liability and personal liability

These two terms, “premises” and “personal liability,” look the same and are thus often confused, but there are significant differences that are as follows:

• Premises liability: Tenants or property owners may be responsible for any accidents that happen on their property if they don’t keep it reasonably safe under this law. This liability can be enforced for accidents due to broken staircases, wet floors, etc.
• Personal Liability: On the other hand, personal liability in Los Angeles is a broader category that applies to any person whose negligent actions cause harm or damage to others. Examples of personal liability include a driver in a vehicle accident or a dog owner for pet bite accidents.

Basically, if an accident occurs due to a person’s personal reason, it comes under personal liability, while if the main cause of the accident is not keeping the premises clear and safe, it counts under premises liability .

 3. What’s the difference between premises liability and slip and fall

The difference between premises liability and slip and fall seems confusing because they are not different. It is not a difference of type but category. This indicates that, rather than being distinct from premises liability in CA, slip and fall is a subset of it.

So, while premises liability in Los Angeles includes all unsafe property conditions such as poor lighting, falling objects, or lack of security, “slip and fall” refers specifically to injuries from slipping, tripping on spilled liquid, or tripping over uneven floors.

Final thought

At The Shahbaz Firm, California liability laws are designed to ensure complete fairness and provide justice to accident victims by balancing the rights of businesses, property owners, and individuals. In these liability cases, our attorneys help you get fair deals and justice.

When it comes to bike riding, Los Angeles offers an amazing experience across the city; however, it is one of the busiest cities as well, and thus, unfortunately, bike accidents are common here. If you have been injured in any such bike riding here in California, you might be wondering, how can you recover your loss, and how much compensation can you claim? If it is so, here we are sharing with you some of the answers to your questions.

 1. How much injury compensation will I get?

The amount of your compensation after a bike accident in Los Angeles depends on various factors, such as the severity of your injury and bike accident in CA, medical costs, and any loss of income. The main goal of giving compensation to the accident victim is so that they can recover their financial and health losses. Thus, if the accident causes you minor injuries, it may result in a settlement of a few thousand dollars, but if the accident is serious and has a profound effect on your physical health and puts you in a financial dilemma, then the payout is worth hundreds of thousands.

Other factors, like medical expenses, such as hospital bills, rehabilitation, future care, lost wages, and pain or suffering, might also impact the amount you receive for your accident compensation. However, on average, these personal injury cases get settled in California for $15,000 to $75,000.

 2. How do you get money from a bike accident

Receiving compensation for your bike accident in CA includes several careful steps within a limited time period. It includes filing a personal injury claim against a driver or their insurance company for negligent driving or for other suitable reasons for the accident. The process also includes tasks like

• contacting the police to report the accident and obtaining emergency medical assistance
• Gathering evidence for the accident, such as police reports, medical records, and witness statements
• submitting a claim to the driver’s insurance provider and
• settling through negotiation or, if talks are unsuccessful, bringing legal action.

As you can understand, these processes are overwhelming, and only an experienced lawyer in Los Angeles can help you navigate through all these processes effectively without any stress and pressure.

 3. Personal Injury Settlements: Average Payouts & Lawyer Fees

The lawyers who will help you settle and negotiate on your behalf generally work on a contingency basis in California, which means that they get their fixed percentage fees from your settlement. If they settle your case, they will get 33 to 40% from your settlement amount, and if they aren’t able to offer compensation, they won’t charge you anything.

The average payouts for your bike injury will vary from $25,000 to $52,000, depending on the above-mentioned factors. The average payout our firm was able to provide in injury cases in 2024 was $52,000; however, it is also crucial to note that half of the claimants received less than $25,000

4. Premises Liability Coverage: What It Includes & Why It Matters

Apart from bike accidents, Los Angeles is also unfortunately witnessing several premise accidents as well, which involve accidents within a private building or premise due to unsafe conditions and maintenance issues. For such injuries that happen within a private premise, premises liability laws may apply. This law explains the responsibility of property owners in California to keep their properties safe and maintained. Thus, property owners generally get reliable premise liability coverage that includes injuries caused by uneven pavement, poor lighting, or dangerous obstacles.

Conclusion

The severity of the injury and additional variables, such as medical expenses and lost wages, determine the amount of compensation for injuries sustained in a bike accident. Additionally, the compensation also depends on the insurance coverage and whether negligence can be proved or not. As a victim, if you want a fair settlement, you should expect somewhere between a few thousand dollars and $60,000 based on all the factors mentioned.