Los Angeles Drunk Driving Accident Lawyer

Drunk driving is one of the most common causes of car crashes throughout California and Los Angeles. People who drive drunk can cause devastating injuries and fatalities to other road users. If you were a victim of a collision caused by a drunk driver, contact a drunk driving accident lawyer in Los Angeles for help today.

A Los Angeles car accident lawyer may be able to get you compensation for pain and suffering, medical bills, lost wages, and more. At Omega Law Group Accident & Injury Attorneys, we offer free consultations where you can learn more about your legal options. Let our legal team family take care of you and your family.

Were You or Your Loved One Injured by a Drunk Driver in Los Angeles?

Not only is drunk driving illegal, but it is dangerous, and anyone who gets behind the wheel while intoxicated knows this. Drunk drivers should be responsible for your medical bills, lost wages, and the pain and suffering their bad decision caused you.

If you were seriously injured or lost a loved one in a drunk driving crash, a Los Angeles personal injury lawyer from Omega Law Group can get involved. We can help you file a lawsuit against the responsible party so you can get the compensation you deserve.

Clients highly respect our firm for our 24/7 availability, our willingness to go the extra mile, and our attention to detail. We work on a contingency fee basis, so you only pay us if we get you money.

Can You File a Wrongful Death Lawsuit Against an Impaired Driver?

According to the California Office of Traffic Safety (COTS), alcohol-impaired driving killed 1,479 people in California in 2022. If a drunk driver killed your spouse, child, or parent, we may be able to get you compensation for their funeral expenses, lost income, and more.

Schedule a free consultation with our experienced Los Angeles wrongful death lawyers to find out how much compensation you may be owed for your heartbreak.

While we know that money can’t make up for the pain resulting from the death of your loved one, the liable party should pay for the damage they caused. Our drunk driving accident attorneys in Los Angeles can help you obtain compensation.

How Much Financial Compensation Could You Get For Your Injuries?

If you were hit by a driver with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.08% or higher, which is the legal limit, you may be owed various damages. Identifying all the damages that apply to your case is critical for recovering the full value of your claim. An experienced Los Angeles drunk driving accident attorney can help you determine the specific damages for your case.

Medical Expenses

You may be owed medical costs, including expenses related to your initial hospital visit, any resulting surgeries you required, physical therapy, and any ongoing medical expenses you have related to the injuries you suffered in the drunk driving crash.

Lost Wages

If you had to miss work while you recovered from your injuries, you may be entitled to lost wages. If your catastrophic injury led to a permanent disability that will affect your ability to earn an income, the intoxicated driver’s insurance company should pay you for your reduced future earnings.

Property Damage

If you file a personal injury claim, our lawyers can also help you get the money you need to repair or replace the vehicle you were in at the time of the crash, in addition to any other personal property that was damaged in the wreck.

Pain and Suffering

Pain and suffering typically account for the most significant amount of money recovered in a drunk driving accident claim. These damages include money for emotional distress, loss of enjoyment of life, and other things that are difficult to put into numbers.

Punitive Damages

In very rare instances where the at-fault party was criminally negligent or caused intentional harm, a judge might award punitive damages to punish the person. These damages are not focused on the losses you incurred. 

You might receive punitive damages if the driver’s blood alcohol content was especially high or if their arrest records indicate they’ve received multiple previous DUI offenses.

What’s the Average Southern California Drunk Driving Accident Settlement?

Every case is unique, so determining the average settlement amount doesn’t actually help you assess how much you are likely to recover. In short, the more serious your injuries are, the more money you will be entitled to receive.

If you were back to work within a few days, your case wouldn’t be worth as much money as it would if you suffered a traumatic brain injury (TBI), a spinal cord injury, or another permanent disability that will affect the rest of your life.

A free, comprehensive consultation with our experienced attorneys can give you a better idea of how much your case might be worth.

Why You Should Hire a Personal Injury Law Firm if a Drunk Driver Hit You

When you get in your car to drive, you might believe that it’s safe to assume that everyone around you is obeying the law and watching out for the safety of everybody on the road. Sadly, some drivers make the terrible decision to drive while intoxicated, which can lead to catastrophic accidents.

We are highly experienced in handling all types of car crash claims, including those involving drunk driving. This is a completely avoidable type of accident, and we firmly believe that any person who drives while intoxicated should be held responsible legally and financially.

How Do Drunk Driving Accident Victim Attorneys Get Justice for People Injured or Killed by Impaired Drivers?

With our extensive experience and excellent track record, our Los Angeles drunk driving accident lawyers do more than you might expect to hold alcohol-impaired drivers and other liable parties responsible for the accident and your resulting injuries.

While the criminal justice system may impose jail time on the impaired driver, our legal services extract economic and non-economic damages from the driver (or their insurance company) to ensure you get the money you deserve for your catastrophic injuries.

Gather Evidence

Our legal team seeks out and preserves as much evidence as possible for your case. Some actions we might take to support your claim include:

• Going to the accident scene to look for nearby surveillance or traffic camera footage that may have caught the accident
• Gathering all your medical records and bills to determine how much compensation you may be owed for your medical expenses, pain and suffering, permanent disability, and more
• Recording eyewitness statements
• Getting the official police report
• Looking into the negligent driver’s history and searching for previous DUI cases
• Hiring accident reconstructionists to prove the other driver is responsible for the crash

Negotiate With the Insurance Company

After an accident, you should be focused on recovering from your injuries rather than playing phone tag with an insurance company. We’ll negotiate with the insurance company on your behalf and work to obtain a fair settlement. It is important to understand that while insurance adjusters may act as if they are on your side, they really only care about the bottom line.

Insurers will go to great lengths to deny or devalue valid claims. Attempting to avoid falling victim to their various tactics on your own can prove challenging. The best way to protect yourself is by declining to speak with an insurance representative until you have hired legal representation. 

Once you have an experienced lawyer on your side, the insurance company will be barred from contacting you directly. Making them work through your Los Angeles drunk driving accident lawyer levels the playing field and significantly improves your chances of recovering the compensation you need and deserve.

Prove Accident Liability

An Omega Law Group personal injury lawyer will find all negligent parties and hold them responsible for your injuries.

Not only do we hold drunk drivers accountable, but in some limited circumstances, California dram shop laws like California Civil Code § 1714 allow us to hold a parent or another adult liable for knowingly giving alcohol to people under the age of 21.

Fight to Get Proper Compensation

All in all, we use our legal experience and attentive service to help you get the justice you deserve. If the insurance company doesn’t offer you fair compensation, we’ll take your case to trial to get you every penny you’re owed.

Steps to Take After Suffering Damages in a Drunk Driving Accident

After an accident caused by a drunk driver, there are many steps you can take to help protect your health and your right to recover fair compensation for your losses.

Protecting Your Health After a Collision

The first thing to do after a crash is to pull your vehicle off the road or to the side of the road, if possible, to remove yourself from harm’s way. Next, you should do a thorough self-inspection to see if you have suffered any serious injuries. 

If you are able, you should also check on any passengers in your vehicle and any others involved in the crash to determine whether anyone needs emergency medical attention.

Even if everyone seems unharmed, you should call 911 to send paramedics to the scene and get checked over. Not all injuries are immediately apparent.

After leaving the scene, you should go to the hospital for further examination. Failure to take every step to ensure your health can not only result in worsening injuries but can also impair your ability to recover compensation, as delays in seeking medical care can be used by the other party to create doubt about the origins of your injury.

Protecting Your Right to Recover Damages After a Crash

In addition to protecting your health, it is critical to take steps to protect your right to recover compensation for your losses. If you are able, you should exchange insurance information with the intoxicated driver and any others involved in the crash. You should also thoroughly document the scene by taking pictures of everything and noting any observations you make.

You must report the accident to law enforcement so they can write up an official accident report and potentially charge the intoxicated driver with a DUI. Without an official accident report, recovering compensation from the liable party can be incredibly challenging. 

Additionally, you will need to report the accident to your insurer, even if you will not be filing a claim under your policy. Finally, it is incredibly important that you reach out to an experienced drunk driving accident lawyer in Los Angeles as soon as possible. People who hire a lawyer to represent them typically recover far more compensation than those who pursue damages alone.

How DUI Laws Can Affect Your Case

When pursuing compensation after suffering damages in a DUI accident, it is important to understand how criminal charges against the intoxicated driver can impact your case.

If the driver is charged and convicted of a DUI or other criminal offense, it can greatly improve your chances of securing compensation through a criminal lawsuit.

However, it is important to note that if they beat the criminal charges against them, your chances of recovering the money you need will not be harmed. That’s because the standard or proof for a criminal case is far higher than in a civil lawsuit. Instead of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, you simply need to prove that the driver was more likely than not at fault.

Common Drunk Driving Accident Injuries

Drunk driving wrecks can cause a wide range of injuries, but some severe injuries bring in higher settlements to cover the extensive medical care required to treat them, such as:

• Internal organ damage
• Loss of limbs
• Broken bones
• Spinal cord injuries
• Back and head injuries
• Neck injuries
• Brain damage

How Much Do Drunk Driving Accident Lawyers Serving Los Angeles Charge Their Clients?

You’re probably already dealing with medical bills and lost income from missing work, so we don’t want you to face the additional challenges presented by expensive attorney fees. We work on a contingency fee basis, meaning we take a fixed percentage of your settlement as payment rather than charging you anything upfront.

If we don’t get you any money, then you don’t owe us a thing.

Contact a Los Angeles Drunk Driving Accident Attorney Today

Our experienced Los Angeles car accident attorneys have the resources to gather evidence, work with specialists to inspect the crash scene, talk with witnesses, and build a case supporting your claim.

At Omega Law Group, we’ve recovered millions of dollars for our clients. Since we work on a contingency fee basis, you don’t pay us unless we get you money.

We put our clients first, so contact us to schedule a free consultation today. We’ll provide you with a free case evaluation to determine your case’s potential worth. Let our family take care of your family.