Being the victim of personal injury can be one of the most frightening, painful, and frustrating times in your life. At Aitken * Aitken * Cohn, we understand this and have dedicated our careers to helping people who have suffered in similar situations, so they can move forward with their lives and be fairly compensated for their losses. If you choose us to become your advocates, we will fight by your side and use our experience to tackle the problems you face.

Whether you have lost a loved one, been hurt in a car accident, or been affected by another’s negligence, finding a legal team who you can trust can be a difficult task. We have been trusted for decades by people just like you to handle their personal injury claims. Our record of verdicts and settlements, media coverage, and awards speak to our merit.

When clients ask us to be their guide, we help them each step of the way. We know that the language and processes of law can be daunting. We want to minimize the time you spend in a law office so your time can be spent at home, healing with your family.

What does Personal Injury Mean?

When someone is harmed by a person, government body, business, or insurance company there are laws in place to help victims recover. These laws also serve to prevent such wrongdoing in the future. Even though California’s personal injury laws exist to protect you, they can be complicated, and earning the justice and compensation you deserve can be an uphill battle. Working with a law firm that has experience and resources can help you win even if you are up against a large corporation or government agency.

At Aitken * Aitken * Cohn we have a track record to prove that we have the experience and resources necessary to help you. As top rated personal injury litigators, we are experts in gathering and presenting the evidence needed to prove that the other party was at fault, or liable. However, our work does not end with an investigation, we will tirelessly advocate for you whether at trial, or through sophisticated settlement negotiations.

What are the Types of Personal Injury?

Our personal injury lawyers have experience handling all types of personal injury cases in Orange County, Riverside, and throughout California.

Types of personal injury can include:

• Suffering due to an accident involving any vehicle such as a car, truck, bicycle or aircraft.
• Harm caused by a dangerous product, piece of equipment, or facility.
• Physical injuries as the result of another’s negligence, recklessness, or wrongdoing.
• Medical mistakes or negligence leading to injury or complications such as pharmaceutical error.

Our firm is uniquely suited to handle these various types of personal injury (see practice areas) and have the track record of verdicts and settlements to maximize your personal injury matter.

Cases We Handle

Many personal injury attorneys focus on car accidents only and handle a large number of cases involving relatively minor injuries. Our firm is well-equipped to handle cases involving a wide variety of accidents and injuries, including catastrophic injuries. The following are some examples of our practice areas:

Serious Personal Injury

For some people, life will never be the same after an accident due to the severity and lasting effects of their injuries. While some accident victims may suffer a fracture that heals after a few weeks or cuts and bruises, others can sustain catastrophic spinal cord injuries, brain injuries, and other serious injuries can result in long-term disabilities, disfigurement, and other effects that can change your life.

Our firm regularly helps clients with serious personal injuries. We understand the care and attention these cases require and we commit ourselves to obtaining full financial recovery for our clients. We know how to tackle the unique and complex issues in serious injury claims to best protect your rights. Some serious injuries that we can handle include:

• Brain injury
• Brachial plexus palsy
• Burn injuries
• Birth defects
• Cerebral palsy
• Electrical injuries
• Eye injuries
• Spinal cord injury
• Drowning injuries

For less severe injuries, patients generally complete a course of treatment and then move forward with their lives after their injury heals. This is not to say they do not incur losses, as almost any type of injury can be costly and accident victims deserve to recover financially, even for less serious injuries.

On the other hand, accident victims with serious or catastrophic injuries may deal with these injuries for years or for the rest of their lives. Take, for example, a serious birth injury that results in cerebral palsy. This condition is irreversible and the child will then live with the effects of CP for their entire life span. In addition, spinal cord injuries can cause paralysis in victims that may last months or may be permanent. One moment, a person could walk, run, jump, play sports, and take care of themselves. The next, they may have to use a wheelchair and other medical equipment and their ability to participate in activities they once loved may be seriously hindered.

In addition, treatment for serious injuries may be ongoing and may last well past the resolution of a claim. You need a law firm that knows how to consider both past and future medical expenses, lost earnings, and pain and suffering. These are only some of the unique issues that may be involved in a serious injury case, and we are ready and able to take on these cases.

Vehicular Accidents

We often rely on motor vehicles to get us around. Whether you have your own car, a scooter, take the bus, or board an airplane to travel long distances, you are at risk of being involved in a vehicular accident. These accidents involve heavy pieces of machinery and occupants can be seriously injured should a vehicle crash.

There are many types of vehicle accident cases that our attorneys handle, which include:

• Car accidents
• Truck accidents
• Boating accidents
• Airplane crashes
• Railroad accidents
• Motorcycle accidents
• SUV rollovers
• Vehicle roof crushes or collapses
• Tire defects
• Defective airbags
• Fuel-fed fires
• Seat back failures

Some vehicular accident cases focus on the negligence of the vehicle operator. Whether it is another driver, a bus driver, a pilot, or a motorcyclist, operators can act negligently in many ways that cause accidents and harm to others. These acts can include driving while distracted, fatigued, or impaired. Drivers can also violate traffic rules, engage in road rage behaviors, or make other mistakes that lead to injuries.

In addition to negligent drivers, other parties can cause vehicular accidents to happen. For example, a car manufacturer may sell a vehicle with a defective airbag. The airbag may then suddenly deploy while someone is driving without any accident occurring. The person is shocked by the airbag deployment, cannot see, and crashes their car. In this situation, it would be the manufacturer that should be held liable for the losses of accident victims.

Vehicular accident cases can be highly technical when it comes to proving the cause of an accident or demonstrating that something was defective. Some cases also involve complicated trucking or aviation regulations. Our law firm has the resources needed to evaluate your rights and pursue a legal claim on your behalf when appropriate. Whether you were a driver, passenger, pedestrian, cyclist, or anyone else injured in a motor vehicle accident, please contact us to schedule a free case evaluation.

Medical Malpractice

When you are injured or feeling ill, you may go to your doctor or to the emergency room, expecting the medical professional to use their education and training to diagnose your condition and prescribe the proper treatment plan. This does not always happen, however, and some patients end up in much worse condition than when they went to the doctor in the first place.

Everyone makes mistakes and doctors are only human. However, when a doctor fails to provide care that is up to the required standard for medical professionals, a mistake can rise to the level of medical malpractice. Medical malpractice has the potential to seriously injure patients and some injuries can even be fatal. Some examples of types of medical malpractice include:

• Anesthesia errors – Anesthesia is necessary for many different types of procedures. However, it can also be dangerous for patients if it is administered in the exact right manner. Anesthesiologists often have especially substantial insurance coverage since they know the possibility for errors and severe, life-threatening injuries is high. Errors can include administering too much anesthesia, not reviewing a patient’s medical history to identify possible allergies or adverse reactions, or administering too little so a patient wakes up during a procedure.

• Surgical errors – Surgeons are highly-trained individuals since there are so many risks inherent to surgical procedures. Sometimes, complications will arise during surgery through no fault of the doctor and complications may be unavoidable. In other situations, however, a patient may suffer injuries because of a surgeon’s mistake. Such errors can include failing to warn the patient so they can make an informed decision, operating while fatigued or impaired, not using properly sanitizing tools, performing the wrong procedure, or even leaving foreign objects inside a person. Victims of surgical errors commonly require extended hospitalization, additional surgeries, and a much longer recovery time – if they survive.

• Hospital errors – Hospitals are busy – and often chaotic – places. Patients come in and out, staff switches over every shift, and there are emergencies happening on a regular basis. Staff and doctors should always take proper care to ensure that, despite this chaos, patients receive proper care. This includes using sanitary equipment, administering medication properly, monitoring patient conditions, among many other things. When staff fails to provide proper care, patients can suffer serious injuries.

• Medication errors – Medication is an important part of many medical treatment plans. Patients can suffer adverse reactions and injuries as a result of any errors involving their medication. Such mistakes can include writing or filling the wrong prescription, failing to consider drug allergies, not examining current medications for possible adverse drug interactions, or administering medication incorrectly in a doctor’s office or hospital. These errors can deprive patients of medication they truly need or can even result in an overdose.

• Misdiagnosis – Accurately diagnosing a medical condition is key to providing the necessary treatment to a patient. Doctors have many diagnostic tools at their disposal and should usually be able to diagnose a condition by asking questions, performing imaging tests, performing blood tests, and more. When a doctor misdiagnoses someone, that person will not receive the treatment they need and their condition can worsen and even become life-threatening. Cancer is one of the most misdiagnosed conditions and often, due to the delay, cancer can spread and become untreatable when it originally would have been treatable.

All medical malpractice claims are highly complex and involve technical medical analysis. You need the right firm helping you if you believe you suffered injury due to medical malpractice.

Nursing Home Abuse

Many people reside in nursing homes throughout the United States and there are more than 1200 licensed nursing homes in the State of California. Nursing homes are costly and residents should expect to receive a high level of care when they choose a certain facility. Family members may be shocked to learn that their loved one has suffered injuries at their nursing home, and they may be even more devastated if they learn the injuries were a result of nursing home abuse.

Nursing home abuse is surprisingly common and is also highly underreported, which means many nursing home residents suffer in silence without any relief. However, if you discover abuse has occurred, the law provides legal recourse for your loved one. Abuse victims have the right to hold nursing homes fully liable for their medical expenses, pain and suffering, and other losses.

There are several types of nursing home abuse, each of which can result in different types of injuries:

• Physical abuse – When nursing home staff or other residents physically assault your loved one, they can suffer broken bones, serious bruises, lacerations, and other severe traumatic injuries, as well as mental trauma from being attacked.

• Emotional abuse – Some staff members may take out frustration or try to assert authority over residents by emotionally abusing them. Belittling comments, threats, insults, name-calling, and other harmful and abusive words can serious emotional harm to residents.

• Sexual abuse – Nursing home residents may be sexually assaulted by staff members or other residents. Sexual abuse can include groping and rape, often causing genital injuries, sexually-transmitted diseases, and mental trauma.

• Neglect – While neglect does not always rise to the level of intentional abuse, it can certainly cause serious injuries and lead to legal claims. Neglect can include not providing proper food, water, shelter, medical care, and any other special care a resident needs to prevent injuries.

If you notice anything suspicious about your loved one’s conditions in a nursing home, never hesitate to discuss the matter with them and with an experienced personal injury attorney.

Wrongful Death

In tragic cases, an accident will cause fatal injuries. Unexpectedly, a victim’s life will be cut short and their family will face a sudden loss. Many traumatic injuries can result in death and it is to be expected that family members want to seek justice. When a death occurred because of the negligence or intentional wrongful act of another party, California law gives family members the right to seek compensation for wrongful death.

California wrongful death laws are complex and these claims can differ significantly from other types of personal injury claims. First, only certain individuals can file a wrongful death claim, including:

• Spouse or domestic partner
• Children
• Stepchildren who were financially dependent on the deceased
• Parents who were financially dependent on the deceased
• Other relatives – such as siblings or parents – if none of the above parties exist

Surviving family members can seek damages for the loss of household services, future financial support, love, affection, moral support, and more. The deceased person’s estate can also recover damages for financial losses, including hospital bills prior to the death, burial and funeral expenses, and lost income the deceased would have earned had they survived.

While a wrongful death claim can never change what happened, it can provide a family with compensation to relieve financial stress and provide a sense of justice. Wrongful death claims can also follow homicides as well as accidents. In these cases, a criminal case will prosecute the offender, but the family will need to file a separate claim in civil court to recover for wrongful death.

Our attorneys know that any case involving severe injuries or death is a personal and sensitive matter for you and your family. Our team of lawyers is compassionate to your struggles and committed to standing up for the rights of every client. The above are only some cases we handle, so please do not hesitate to call to discuss a possible case if you have been injured.

Compensation for Personal Injury

A successful personal injury case will help you to be reimbursed for losses related to your injury. These damages are not only economic damages, but non-economic as well. Economic Damages are awarded for reimbursement of medical expenses, wage loss, and out of pocket losses. Non-Economic damages are the award granted in a personal injury lawsuit for losses, pain, and suffering.

Common types of damages include:

• Compensation to cover medical expenses
• Compensation for missed work, or loss of earning capacity
• Compensation to aid in recovery or therapy
• Compensation for life care needs

Aitken, Aitken & Cohn has the skill, experts and resources to maximize your personal injury economic and non-economic claims whether through settlement, or trial.