If you are a sexual abuse survivor and are considering legal action, you deserve a team that will treat you with respect while fighting hard to protect your rights.
Our sexual abuse lawyers in San Francisco at Omega Law Group Accident & Injury Attorneys have decades of combined experience helping injured victims and abuse survivors. Unlike other law firms, we pride ourselves on our personalized, compassionate approach that ensures you feel empowered and supported throughout the legal process.
When you’re ready to talk, we’re ready to listen and help you understand your legal options without pressuring you one way or another. Get in touch with our San Francisco personal injury lawyers today to get started.
How a Civil Sexual Abuse Claim Can Help
Unlike criminal cases, civil claims are about accountability and support. When you file a civil claim, it allows you to pursue financial compensation from the person who harmed you. In some cases, you can also hold an organization responsible if they allowed the abuse to happen or failed to respond appropriately, such as the company you work for.
These cases are structured around documentation or evidence that proves what happened and the harm it caused you. And for many survivors, simply having that validation matters. A civil claim settlement can also cover costs and losses related to the abuse, such as medical treatment, therapy, and loss of income from disruptions in your ability to work.
California Laws Concerning Sexual Abuse
Sexual abuse is generally defined as any sexual contact or conduct that happens without your clear and voluntary consent. This can include touching that is unwanted, coercion to do sexual acts, or situations where a person cannot legally consent due to age, being unconscious, or other vulnerable conditions.
California Civil Procedure for Sexual Abuse Cases
California Code of Civil Procedure 340.16 is the law that sets the rules for civil lawsuits based on sexual assault involving adults. Generally, it allows you to file a claim or lawsuit in two ways, depending on which option is more applicable to your situation:
- Within 10 years of the last act (or attempted act) of sexual assault against you.
- Within three years of the date you discovered (or reasonably should have discovered) that the assault caused an injury or illness.
The statute also allows you to pursue a civil case even if there is no criminal case, or even if a criminal case did not result in a conviction.
If you are unsure how these rules apply to what happened to you, our San Francisco sexual abuse lawyers can help you understand your options and confirm which deadline may apply.
(310) 526-8383Who Can Be Held Liable in a San Francisco Sexual Abuse Case?
Liability in sexual abuse cases is not necessarily limited to the person who caused you harm. In some situations, another party could share responsibility if they created unsafe conditions, ignored warning signs of the abuse, or failed to act when they had a duty to protect you.
When you file a sexual abuse claim in California, the potential liable parties can include:
- The individual who committed the abuse: A civil claim may be possible regardless of how you knew the person or what role they played in your life.
- An employer: If abuse happened at work or involved a supervisor, coworker, or someone connected to the job, your employer could be liable, depending on supervisory practices and how complaints or knowledge of the abuse were handled.
- A school: When abuse involves a teacher, coach, staff member, or volunteer, the institution can be responsible if it failed to take certain actions, such as improper screenings, ignoring red flags, or not responding appropriately to reports.
- A property owner or business operator: If lack of security or negligent supervision contributed to the abuse, the property owner or operator could share responsibility.
- A facility or care setting: Hospitals, clinics, nursing homes, group homes, and similar programs may be liable if they failed to protect you or allowed misconduct to continue.
- An organization in a position of trust: Religious groups, nonprofits, and other community organizations can sometimes be held accountable if they knew about the misconduct and failed to investigate, or enabled continued abuse.
Liability in these cases is not always the easiest to determine and requires careful investigation. Our San Francisco sexual abuse attorneys can help you gather evidence to build a strong claim that ensures the appropriate parties are held responsible for their actions or inaction.
We can also help you understand how much your personal injury case could be worth in California, depending on which individuals or organizations are at fault.
How Omega Law Group Can Help
When you’re dealing with something as personal as sexual abuse, we understand that taking legal action can feel scary and overwhelming. Our goal at Omega Law Group is to make the process as stress-free and easier to manage as possible by offering you respectful and compassionate guidance.
We aim to create a supportive environment where there is no pressure, and you can take things one step at a time. There is no expectation for you to have everything figured out all at once.
We will walk you through your options and help you get a clearer picture of what to expect as you move forward in the process. When you’re ready, our sexual abuse attorneys in San Francisco can:
- Investigate the facts of your case: We’ll review what happened and gather the records and evidence needed to support your claim, including messages, reports, and institutional documents, while keeping the process as easy on you as possible.
- Determine fault: When abuse involves an employer, school, property owner, or organization, we can examine whether failures in supervision and safety practices played a role.
- Handle communication on your behalf: You will not have to speak with the person who harmed you or manage conversations with lawyers or insurance companies. We take care of all outside communication.
- Build a strong claim: We document not only the incident itself, but how it has affected your health, work, relationships, and daily life, so your case reflects the full extent of your pain, suffering, and losses.
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Our personal injury lawyers in San Francisco are here to help.
(310) 526-8383 A Sexual Abuse Attorney in San Francisco Who Puts Clients First
At Omega Law Group, our firm has helped clients across California pursue accountability and financial recovery, achieving millions of dollars in results in personal injury cases.
If you are ready to talk, we offer free consultations and a straightforward, respectful process focused on privacy and clear communication. Our goal is to help you understand your options and decide what feels right for you without pressure.
