Birth Injury Lawyer in California
The birth of a child should be one of life's most hopeful moments, so an injury to your baby or to you can bring heartbreak and hard questions. If negligent care during labor or delivery caused harm in California, your family does not have to face it alone.
Injury versus preventable harm
Not every difficult birth involves negligence, and many complications are nobody's fault. The key question is whether the care team failed to respond properly to warning signs — such as fetal distress, oxygen deprivation, or delayed intervention — and whether that failure caused lasting injury. We approach these cases with care and without judgment.
Why records and timing matter
Birth-injury claims rely heavily on fetal monitoring strips, delivery notes, and expert review, and some involve special deadlines that may differ for a child's claim. Gathering these records early helps protect your family's options. We handle that process gently and thoroughly.
Personal Injury law in California
California injury law shapes your case in a few specific ways worth knowing early.
- Filing deadline: You generally have two years from the date of the injury to file — and only about six months to put a government entity on notice before you can sue.
- Fault: California follows pure comparative negligence, so you can still recover even if you were partly — or mostly — at fault, with your recovery reduced by your share of the blame.
- Damage caps: An ordinary California injury case has no cap on damages; medical-malpractice claims are the main exception.
- Uninsured drivers: California sets minimum auto-insurance limits and uninsured/underinsured-motorist rules that affect what coverage is available.
Frequently asked questions
How long do we have to file a birth injury claim in California?
Deadlines vary and are sometimes different for a child's claim than a parent's. Because these rules are complex, an early, free, confidential review is the safest first step.
California law — what people ask
How long do I have to file an injury claim in California?
Generally two years from the date you were hurt. If a government entity is involved — a city vehicle, a public road, a public hospital — you usually have to present a formal claim to that agency within roughly six months before you can sue at all, which catches people out far more often than the two-year date.
Can I still recover if I was partly at fault in California?
Yes. California uses pure comparative negligence, so your recovery is reduced by your percentage of fault rather than barred — even if your share turns out to be the larger one. There is no cutoff percentage that ends a claim here.
Does California cap what I can recover?
Not in an ordinary injury case. Medical-malpractice claims are the main exception, where non-economic damages are limited by a cap that steps up over time. For most claims — car crashes, falls, defective products — there is no statutory ceiling.
What if more than one person was responsible?
California splits the analysis: defendants can be jointly responsible for your economic losses such as medical bills and lost income, while non-economic damages like pain and suffering are apportioned to each defendant by its own share of fault.
The driver who hit me had no insurance. What now?
Your own uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage is usually the answer, and it commonly applies to hit-and-run collisions as well. Check every policy in the household, not only the one covering the car you were in.
Will the jury hear that my health insurance paid my bills?
Generally not. California follows the collateral source rule, so a wrongdoer does not get credit for insurance you paid for. How your medical damages are measured is a separate and often contested question.
Think you may have a case?
The case review takes about two minutes. It's free and confidential, with no obligation.