In California, an injured party may bring a personal injury lawsuit against any party that was responsible or partially responsible for causing their injury either through negligence or through a wrongful act. In order for their to be a valid personal injury case, the following elements must be present.

Elements of a California Personal Injury Lawsuit

-    Duty of defendant
The plaintiff must be able to prove that the defendant had an explicit or implied duty to prevent the injury in some way. “Duty” is a broad legal term which can extend to cover anything from the responsibility of a property owner to maintain safe conditions to the “duty of care” held by a physician who is charged with medical treatment for the plaintiff.

-    Actual loss or damage resulting from the action or negligence
There must be an actual injury or loss resulting from the negligence or wrongful act in order for a plaintiff to bring suit and recover damages in a personal injury case.

-    Causation
The plaintiff must prove that there is a link between the action or inaction of the defendant and the injury that he suffered. There are different degrees and types of causation under California personal injury law, including direct causation and proximate or legal causation. These can be extremely important in recovering damages in a personal injury case.

In addition, there are specific elements of personal injury lawsuits that exist for specific types of personal injury claims. The plaintiff in a product liability lawsuit, for instance, must prove that the product was actually defective, and that it was defective when it left the hands of the defendant in the case.

Statute of Limitations for Personal Injury Cases in California
California law also sets specific statutes of limitation – the period of time during which a lawsuit can be brought. The Statute of Limitations is different for different types of personal injury suits. In a wrongful death suit, for instance, the Statute of Limitations is two years in most cases, but there are exceptions based on the age of the plaintiff or in the case that the wrongful cause of death is delayed too late to file within the statute of limitations. Other personal injury lawsuits may have statutes of limitations ranging from one year after the injury to three years after discovery of injury.

If you have suffered an injury that was caused by the negligence or the wrongful acts of another, it’s important that you contact a Los Angeles personal injury lawyer as soon as possible. If the statute of limitations for filing a California personal injury suit has passed, you may have no recourse at all for recovering damages.