Injured?
Follow these Tips:

1. Get prompt, quality medical care for your injuries. Your recovery comes first. Be honest and complete in describing how you are doing. What your doctor or other medical provider records in the medical chart about your current medical condition will be used later to evaluate any legal claim for damages.

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2. Make sure the injury is reported to the proper authorities.

If it's a vehicle accident, the local police or California Highway Patrol should be contacted so that physical evidence at the scene can be documented, witness statements and photographs can be taken, and a written report prepared.

If it's a workplace injury, Cal OSHA should be contacted under certain circumstances.

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3. Get the insurance information from any other driver who may be at fault, and the names of any witnesses who saw or heard all or any part of what happened. Ask for their home addresses and telephone numbers or how and where to contact them later.

If the identity of possible witnesses is not quickly obtained, they will disappear and cannot help you later.

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4. Truthfully and accurately tell the police, ambulance personnel, doctors or other medical providers how you were injured. They will ask you this question and then write down what you say in their reports or medical records. What they write down can be used later in any legal case about the injury. Be honest and complete.

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5 . Make sure that important physical evidence is secured and stored properly – such as a bad tire, a product that caused the injury, a prescription drug that caused an adverse reaction. In the confusion that often follows a serious injury, evidence can disappear quickly and make a legal claim more difficult to prove.

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6 . Take photographs of the scene where an injury occurred and of the objects involved, such as vehicles or products, as soon as possible. Getting photographs of exactly what the conditions were when the injury happened can be very helpful in proving whose at fault for the harm.

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7. Have photographs taken of your injuries before the cuts, bruises and contusions are healed, and while your injury can still be captured in pictures – while you are still in a hospital bed, while the cast is still on, etc.

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8 . Don't sign anything an insurance adjuster presents to you unless you already have consulted competent counsel or you are sure you are being fully and fairly compensated for the harm you have suffered.

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9. California law requires everyone to wear a seatbelt when riding in a passenger vehicle. Buckle up! If you don't have your seatbelt fastened when another driver causes a collision and you are injured, the argument will be made against you that your negligence in failing to wear your seatbelt – as the law requires – caused or contributed to your injuries even though the other driver caused the collision itself.

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10 . California law requires everyone who owns a passenger vehicle to have auto insurance with at least $15,000 of coverage for causing bodily injury to another person in a vehicle accident. If you don't have this minimum coverage, and get involved in a vehicle accident where the other driver is at fault and you are injured, you will be barred from recovering all of your damages against this at-fault party as a penalty.

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11. If you are injured in a vehicle collision where the other driver is at fault but is uninsured or underinsured – meaning the other driver has insurance but it is not enough to cover all the harm caused – the compensation you will receive for your injuries will depend on the amount of uninsured/underinsured coverage you have under your own auto insurance policy. Check the Declarations Page of your auto insurance policy today. Do you have enough protection for yourself and your family?
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Since 1983, our firm has represented hundreds of seriously injured people – of all ages in bringing responsible parties to account for the harm their negligence caused – whether the negligence occurred:

  • in repairing or operating a motor vehicle – car, motorcycle, truck, bus or RV;
  • in performing job duties on a construction site;
  • in using or maintaining private or public property;
  • in providing medical care;
  • in removing or failing to install guards on a power press;
  • in designing or manufacturing a product or drug;
  • in failing to adequately instruct or warn users of a product or drug of the dangers, risks, or side effects; or,
  • in failing to use reasonable care to prevent harm to others in other circumstances where there was a duty to do so.

We have also represented injured people in recovering damages against a responsible party even when there is no negligence because the law holds them "strictly liable" for the harm caused. For example:

  • people who own dogs can be held responsible under California law for the harm caused by a dog bite, no matter how carefully they guard or restrain their dogs; and,
  • manufacturers can be held responsible for the harm caused by their products, even in the absence of any negligence, if the products are defectively designed or manufactured or lacked sufficient instructions or warnings.

We have a two-decade-long record of success in winning full and fair compensation for clients who have suffered a host of different injuries which changed the course of their lives, including:

  • spinal cord injuries – resulting in quadriplegia or paraplegia;
  • head injuries – resulting in spastic quadri paresis or permanent brain damage;
  • crushed extremities;
  • degloving injuries;
  • amputated fingers;
  • burns;
  • scars; and
  • permanently disabling orthopedic injuries involving the neck, back, hips, knees, or ankles, and permanent brain damage.

We have represented families in securing full and fair compensation when they have endured the loss of a loved one due to vehicle collisions, defective products, defectively designed and constructed recreational property, construction accidents, and medical malpractice. We have more than two decades of experience in preparing cases to win at trial:

  • by doing our homework on the evidence;
  • by doing the legwork to identify key witnesses;
  • by knowing the law and doing the brain work to overcome the defense's legal arguments;
  • by selecting and retaining highly qualified expert witnesses;
  • by helping our clients understand the process and contribute effectively to the success of their case;
  • by paying attention to the details that can make a difference in proving each element of the case; and,
  • by making sure that every aspect of the harm our clients have suffered or will suffer in the future as a result of the injury is documented so that a full and fair recovery can be achieved.

We have done battle repeatedly and successfully against big insurance companies, large corporations, and governmental entities. We have established our reputation as effective, tenacious, credible advocates for our client's worthy cause. And in the process, we have maintained our professionalism when dealing with the courts, witnesses, and other parties and their counsel.

Getting experienced attorneys to represent you as soon as possible after a serious injury or death occurs can greatly improve the opportunities to gather and preserve critical evidence and to take timely action to ensure that all responsible parties are held accountable.

Consultations are free. Cases are handled on a contingency fee basis – meaning you do not pay costs or attorney's fees unless and until there is a recovery on your claim.

You Are Not Alone. See how we will help.

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Workers' Compensation
Medical Malpractice

Legal Team
Thomas L. Tosdal
Position: Partner
Admitted to Bar: 1975, California; U.S. District Court, Southern and Central Districts of California; U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit and U.S. Supreme Court.
Education: University of California at Santa Barbara (B.A., high honors, 1971); Harvard University (J.D., cum laude, 1975).
Of Note: Listed in The Best Lawyers in America (Labor Specialty). Law Clerk, Honorable Edward J. Schwartz, Chief Judge, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California, 1975-1976. Staff Counsel, Agricultural Labor Relations Board, State of California, 1976-1978. Private Practice, 1978–.
Member: Association of Trial Lawyers, Consumer Attorneys of California, Consumer Attorneys of San Diego, American Inns of Court, San Diego County Bar Association, and State Bar of California.

Ann M. Smith
Position: Partner
Admitted to Bar: 1985, California and U.S. District Court, Southern District of California; U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit.
Education: Simmons College; Monterey College of Law (J.D., cum laude, 1985).
Of Note: 1993 Recipient, Outstanding Trial Lawyer Award, San Diego Trial Lawyers Association. Labor Negotiator for United Farm Workers of America 1976-1981 and for San Diego Municipal Employees Association 1986–.
Member: Consumer Attorneys of California, Consumer Attorneys of San Diego, San Diego County Bar Association, and State Bar of California.
Languages: Spanish.
Reported Cases: Salgado v. Atlantic Richfield Co. (9th Cir. 1987) 823F 2nd 1322. Branch v. Homefed Bank (1992) 6 CA. 4th 793.

Jon Y. Vanderpool
Position: Partner
Admitted to Bar: 1992, California; 1995, Massachusetts; and U.S. District Court, Southern, Central, and Northern Districts of California.
Education: Rice University (B.A., 1986); Pepperdine University (J.D., 1992).
Member: American Inns of Court, San Diego County Bar Association, and State Bar of California.

Angela M. Jae
 Position: Associate
Admitted to Bar: 2007, California and U.S. District Court, Southern and Central
Education: University of California, San Diego (B.A. 2003); California School of Law (J.D., 2006)
Member: San Diego County Bar Association, Pan-Asian Lawyers of San Diego, and State Bar of California.

Georgiana D'Alessandro
Position: Associate
Admitted to Bar: 2008, California and U.S. District Court, Southern and Central
Education: University of Vermont, Burlington (B.A. 2004); California Western School of Law (J.D., magna cum laude, 2008)
Member: San Diego County Bar Association, Lawyers Club, and State Bar of California.
Languages: Spanish.

Note: Nothing on this page should be construed as a legal opinion regarding any claim you may have. For a legal opinion, please speak with an attorney.
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