Personal Injury Lawyer Westwood, CA
An accident can upend your entire life without warning. You’re walking near UCLA’s campus when a delivery truck backs into you. You’re driving through Westwood Village when someone blows through a stop sign. Suddenly you’re facing emergency room visits, follow-up appointments, physical therapy, and bills that keep arriving while you’re unable to work. Personal injury claims in Westwood, CA aren’t always straightforward. Insurance adjusters will contact you quickly—not to help, but to get recorded statements they can use against you later. They’ll minimize your injuries, question your treatment choices, and push settlement offers that sound reasonable until you realize they won’t cover your actual costs. We represent injured people throughout Westwood and every call to our office is free. At Cohen Injury Law Group, we don’t wait for insurance companies to do the right thing.
Why Choose Cohen Injury Law Group For Your Westwood, CA Personal Injury Case
Efficient systems that respect your time. Most law firms still operate like it’s 1995—paper files, unreturned phone calls, lost documents, unclear case status. We designed Cohen Injury Law Group around modern technology that tracks every detail, facilitates faster communication, and keeps you informed without requiring constant follow-up. You’ll know what’s happening with your case because our systems make that transparency automatic.
Zero upfront costs or financial risk. We handle Westwood personal injury cases on pure contingency. Every expense your case requires—expert witnesses, medical records, investigation costs, filing fees, deposition expenses—we pay upfront. You pay nothing unless we win. If we don’t recover compensation, you owe nothing. No hourly rates. No retainers. No surprise invoices.
Trial-focused preparation from day one. Trial-focused preparation from day one. Insurance companies settle cases when they believe you’re prepared to go to court. Wayne R. Cohen, Esq. brings more than 35 years of trial experience and has been quoted on personal injury and consumer protection issues by the Los Angeles Times, Fortune, CNBC, and U.S. News & World Report. Alongside co-founder Nicholas E. Cohen, Esq., a USC graduate and Loyola Law merit scholarship recipient, our Westwood personal injury lawyers prepare every case as if it’s going to trial.
Types Of Personal Injury Cases We Handle In Westwood
We handle the complete range of injury claims in Westwood, California. Each case receives thorough investigation, strategic preparation, and aggressive representation designed to maximize your compensation.
- Car Accidents. Crashes on Wilshire Boulevard, Westwood Boulevard, or the 405 happen constantly. We represent clients in rear-end collisions, T-bone accidents, sideswipes, multi-car pileups, and hit-and-run crashes. California’s comparative fault system allows recovery even when you share some responsibility. We investigate every angle, gather witness statements, obtain traffic camera footage, and fight insurance companies trying to shift blame onto you.
- Motorcycle Accidents. Motorcyclists face devastating injuries when cars fail to yield, merge unsafely, or turn left across their path. We’ve handled cases involving skull fractures, spinal injuries, severe road rash, and permanent disabilities. Insurance adjusters reflexively blame riders. We counter with hard evidence—traffic data, witness testimony, crash reconstruction analysis—proving driver negligence caused your injuries.
- Pedestrian Accidents. Getting struck by a vehicle while walking often causes life-altering harm. Westwood has heavy foot traffic near UCLA and throughout the village, but drivers don’t always watch for pedestrians in crosswalks or parking lots. Research from the CDC on pedestrian injuries shows these accidents frequently result in serious trauma. We pursue maximum compensation for medical treatment, rehabilitation, lost earnings, and future care needs.
- Bike Accidents. Cyclists have equal road rights under California law, but drivers routinely violate those rights by dooring riders, making unsafe passes, or cutting them off in traffic. When driver negligence injures a cyclist, we hold them fully accountable for medical expenses, bike replacement, lost income, and pain and suffering.
- Slip and Falls. Property owners must maintain safe conditions for visitors. Grocery stores with spilled liquids and no warning signs. Restaurants with broken flooring. Apartment buildings with inadequate lighting in common areas. Office complexes with defective handrails. When owners ignore hazards they know about—or should discover through reasonable inspection—they’re liable. We gather surveillance footage, maintenance records, and witness accounts proving negligence.
- Premises Liability. Dangerous property conditions cause injuries beyond simple falls. Inadequate security leading to assaults. Structural defects causing collapses. Pool accidents from poor maintenance or missing safety barriers. Falling merchandise in stores. Parking garage hazards. We investigate what property owners knew, when they discovered it, and why they failed to fix the problem or warn visitors.
- Dog Bites. California law holds dog owners responsible for bite injuries under state statute. Owners are liable regardless of the dog’s history or temperament. Dog attacks cause serious physical damage—deep lacerations, nerve injuries, infections, permanent scarring—and psychological trauma that persists long after physical wounds heal. We pursue full compensation including reconstructive surgery and counseling.
- Wrongful Death. Losing a family member to someone else’s negligence is devastating beyond measure. California permits certain family members to file wrongful death claims seeking recovery for funeral expenses, lost financial support, loss of companionship, and emotional suffering. These cases require both legal expertise and genuine sensitivity. We handle them with both.
- Truck Accidents. When commercial trucks collide with passenger vehicles, the size and weight disparity often results in catastrophic injuries or death. The FMCSA establishes safety regulations for commercial motor vehicles to reduce crash risk. We investigate hours-of-service violations, inadequate maintenance, improper loading, and company policies that prioritize deadlines over safety. Trucking companies bring aggressive legal defense. We match their intensity.
Westwood Personal Injury Legal Requirements Under California Law
California law requires personal injury lawsuits to be filed within two years according to statute of limitations rules. The clock starts running from your injury date and not from when you actually hire a lawyer. Missing the deadline means you could forfeit your case outside a narrow exception.
Some narrow exceptions exist. Minors have extended filing deadlines. Cases where injuries weren’t immediately discoverable may have delayed start dates under the discovery rule. Claims against government entities follow special procedures requiring administrative claims within six months. But these exceptions are technical and limited. Don’t assume you qualify without consulting a Westwood personal injury lawyer.
California applies comparative fault principles under state law governing liability. If you’re 10% at fault, your recovery reduces by 10%—but you still collect 90%. Insurance companies exploit this aggressively. They’ll claim you were distracted, speeding, or violated some traffic regulation to inflate your fault percentage and reduce their payout. We help mitigate this.
Consider this scenario: You’re hit while crossing Gayley Avenue near campus. The driver claims you weren’t in a crosswalk or stepped out suddenly. We immediately secure intersection camera footage, interview witnesses, analyze pedestrian signal timing, and document crosswalk locations. That evidence establishes the driver failed to yield to a pedestrian with right of way. But evidence is perishable. Traffic cameras overwrite footage. Witnesses relocate or forget details. Physical evidence disappears.
Insurance adjusters know California personal injury law thoroughly and use it against unrepresented claimants constantly. The California judicial branch maintains civil procedure rules, but navigating complex injury claims against professional adjusters and corporate defense attorneys without experienced representation puts you at severe disadvantage.
Contact Cohen Injury Law Group
If you’ve been injured in Westwood due to another person’s negligence, contact Cohen Injury Law Group now. We offer free case evaluations. No fees unless we recover compensation. You owe nothing if we don’t win.
We’ll examine what happened, explain your legal options in plain language, and provide honest assessment of your claim. No pressure tactics. No sales pitch. Just straightforward legal guidance from attorneys who handle Westwood personal injury cases.
Act quickly. Physical evidence vanishes. Witnesses become unreachable. Insurance companies start building their defense immediately after accidents occur. The sooner we begin investigating, the stronger your case becomes. Call today.