Comparative fault, damages, insurance, liability doctrines, products liability, and the legal principles that shape every personal injury case.
California's pure comparative fault system, CACI 405, Proposition 51, joint and several liability, settlement credits, and defense counters.
Read the guide → FoundationPast and future medicals (Howell v. Hamilton Meats), lost earnings, household services, life-care plans, and expert economists.
Read the guide → FoundationPain and suffering, emotional distress, loss of consortium, disfigurement. No cap in personal injury outside MICRA.
Read the guide → Coverage disputesDuty to settle, Cumis counsel, extracontractual damages, and the Brandt fees for bad-faith coverage denials.
Read the guide → Defective productsStrict liability under Greenman, manufacturing vs. design defects, consumer-expectation and risk-utility tests, failure to warn.
Read the guide → Enhanced recoveryCivil Code 3294 standard: malice, oppression, fraud. DUI and repeat-offender contexts. Clear-and-convincing evidence burden.
Read the guide → FoundationThe Rowland factors, general duty under CC 1714, special relationships, and when a defendant owes no duty at all.
Read the guide → Respondeat superiorEmployer liability for employee acts, scope of employment, the going-and-coming rule, and exceptions that expand liability.
Read the guide → Vehicle owner liabilityLending a vehicle to an incompetent driver, knowledge of unfitness, and the relationship to permissive use statutes.
Read the guide → Hirer liabilityPeculiar risk doctrine, retained control, Privette and its progeny, and when a hirer is liable for contractor injuries.
Read the guide → Good Samaritan liabilityWhen voluntarily assuming a duty creates liability. Restatement 323-324A, increased risk, and detrimental reliance.
Read the guide → Defense doctrinePrimary vs. secondary assumption of risk, Knight v. Jewett, sports and recreation contexts, and waivers of liability.
Read the guide → Policy basicsAuto liability, UM/UIM, MedPay, homeowner policies, commercial general liability, excess and umbrella layers.
Read the guide → UM/UIM claimsUM/UIM coverage triggers, stacking, arbitration procedures, and coordinating with liability claims.
Read the guide → Coverage investigationHow to identify all available policies, tender the claim, and navigate reservation-of-rights letters.
Read the guide → Lien recoveryHealth insurer subrogation rights, ERISA preemption, made-whole doctrine, and common fund reduction.
Read the guide → Vehicle & belongingsDiminished value, loss of use, total loss vs. repair, personal property inside the vehicle, and rental car reimbursement.
Read the guide → Evidence & expertsMedical bills, expert testimony, day-in-the-life videos, demonstratives, and the standard for proving future damages.
Read the guide → Future medical needsLife care planning methodology, selecting a qualified planner, present-value calculations, and defense challenges.
Read the guide → Spousal claimsStanding requirements, what constitutes loss of consortium, independent cause of action, and damages.
Read the guide → Insurance benefit protectionHowell v. Hamilton Meats, Hanif, and the evolving California law on what medical damages a plaintiff can claim.
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