San Diego-based attorney Mark C. Blane keeps a blog on his website with regularly posted messages on a wide range of issues related to his practice and focus areas: major traumas like brain and spinal cord damage, insurance companies' practices, case settlements, court decisions and legal news, pedestrian and cyclists accidents, premises owners' and occupiers' responsibilities, dog bites, and unsafe products, etc. Request a regular feed on subjects of interest to you or visit us frequently to stay up to date.
Simply choose a practice area from the drop-down menu below to read news and information about accidents, injuries, and cases similar to yours. You will be kept informed on important legal developments in a wide-variety of injury cases and the law.
Exercise proper caution when driving in areas populated by children to avoid a San Diego traffic accident. Call a San Diego accident lawyer: 1-888-845-6269.
However, with government medical bills, there are special California statutory protections in place. For example, a California county may have a medical lien
It should be expected that a defense lawyer will search out evidence that an injured child is exaggerating his or her injuries. Facebook and other online...
As mentioned, your Cal child’s injury lawyer can obtain protective orders to protect your child during discovery, depositions, and trial. Briefly, here are....
San Diego Kid Injury Lawyer: All California parents need to explore parental liability for teenage driving prior to signing for a license for their teenager...
The California Supreme Court ruled that an adult homeowner accused of negligently failing to supervise her son (also an adult)—thus enabling him to repeatedly
San Diego Kid Injury Law Firm: All injured child clients receive a free & private consultation with me directly by and through their parent(s) or legal guardian
Many people have inquired about wrongful death actions for unborn fetuses in California. Each state in the United States varies on whether a person may bring...
Chula Vista Child Accident Law Firm: Some Dangers with the Newer Baby Car Seats
As an experienced San Diego California Product Liability Lawyer, I cannot emphasize enough the importance of restraining your child in a car safety seat appropriately, and encouraging parents in general to make sure that their children are restrained properly in well-made car safety seats. However, a new study shows that the newer car seat systems, which allow parents dual usage; i.e., to use baby car seats not just for travel but also as a "baby carrier," have led to thousands of child injuries.
Chula Vista Child Injury Law Firm Advises on Halloween Night and the Dangers with Child Pedestrian Accidents: Tips on Being Careful and Safe During Trick or Treating!
According to published reports by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, every year more than 4,000 children aged between 5 and 14 are injured in pedestrian accidents on Halloween night. During other nights of the year, the average number of children injured in accidents is much less, approximately 1,000 kids are injured. As the festivities of Halloween comes each year, California Child Pedestrian Attorneys would advise motorists around California to take extra safety precautions while driving around neighborhoods at night to avoid little trick-or-treaters knocking on doors looking for candies.
Chula Vista Child Car Accident Law Firm: Some Interesting Teenage Driving Research Done by the University of Texas Department of Transportation
Now, when it comes to teenagers and automobile accidents, there are few facts that would surprise any California Car Accident Attorney. Two common examples everyone knows with teenagers is that alcohol with teenagers can be a particularly deadly combination, and that distracted driving is a serious accident risk.
San Diego Child Accident Law Firm: The following glossary words will help explain some state and federal programs in relation to injured children. It will also cover some key legal lingo that will help you make sense of the different words that you will hear from your California child injury lawyer, or the claims adjuster regarding your child’s injury:
Chula Vista Child Accident Law Firm: More Information on the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and Safety Gift Ideas for Children
Please visit the CPSC website at www.cpsc.gov to find helpful news related to children from information on recent toy or product recalls, to helpful suggestions and free comic book downloads on child bicycle safety. For example, if you are a parent that uses a babysitter frequently, the website has a free safety download called the “Super Sitter” that goes over the safety issue that arise with babysitting. You can review it with your babysitter to help insure the safety of your children when you are away from them.
Southern California Injured Child Law Firm: When children do have to testify at a trial or hearing, rest assured that the trial judge will go to great lengths to make sure that neither lawyer asks the child any leading questions (questions that suggest the answer), and that the child is not in any minor way harmed or intimidated by the questions, or treated with anything but respect. Every case is unique and every child injury is different, and your injury lawyer can best counsel you as to whether or not your child must attend should the case proceed to trial.
Chula Vista Child Injury Lawyer Mark C. Blane quickly explains: California law has special priorities for minor children. Any minor under the age of 14 is entitled to preference in the setting of a trial date.
According to Chula Vista Child Accident Attorney Mark C. Blane: In terms of assessing a minor child’s own contributions to an accident or injury, children five years of age and younger cannot, as a matter of law, be found negligent. Older children will be held to a standard of care of children of a similar age. Thus, children are not normally held to adult standards of conduct but must use that degree of care ordinarily exercised by children of like age, intelligence and experience.
Southern California Child Accident Law Firm: As a parent of an injured child, what you need to know is, under California law, if a child (under the age of 18 years of age) is injured and receives a monetary settlement, from the at-fault party, it must be supervised by the court under what is called a Minors’ Compromise and Release hearing.
Southern California Child Accident Lawyer Mark C. Blane briefly explains "Guardian Ad Litem:" An enforceable settlement of a child’s injury case can only be consummated with California court approval per California Probate Code Sections 2504, 3500, 3600, and per California Code of Civil Procedure Section 372.
El Cajon Child Accident Law Firm: If the monetary settlement is below $5,000.00, the California Probate Code Sections 3611(d), and 3401 has routinely allowed custodial parents to manage the settlement funds directly on behalf of their minor children thereby not mandating the filing for court approval when minor settlements are below $5,000.00.
California Statutory Attorney's Fees for Representing an injured child in California: In addition to approval of the settlement itself, attorneys fees to be paid for representing the injured minor child must be approved by the court pursuant to California Family Code Section 6602, and California Probate Code Section 3601. As a parent, you should also be aware that there is California statutory cap on what a lawyer can charge your injured child as a contingency fee for legal services. A lawyer may not charge more than a 25% contingency fee on any recovery for an injured minor child.
Attorney’s Costs/Fees in representing an Injured Minor Child
The court must also approve all litigation costs associated with a minor child’s injury case.There is also usually a cost for filing the paperwork with the court to approve a minor child’s injury settlement.Most injury attorneys itemized this filing fee as part of there overall costs.As of the date of this writing, the cost to file is considered an “upper level” court cost of $355.00.Court costs generally go up every year or so, so please be mindful that if the insurance company of the at-fault party does not pay for this cost, it is usually an itemized cost on the case itself; unless the costs for filing are waived due to financial reasons.Please also note an injury attorney may have other costs associated with the representation of your minor child.Just know all of these costs need to be itemized in the court paper work and it is closely scrutinized by the judge approving your minor child’s injury settlement. A lawyer is capped per California statue to 25% of the settlement of a minor child.
Mark C. Blane is a San Diego Child Injury/Accident Attorney and the managing lawyer of the Law Offices of Mark C. Blane, a San Diego, California Personal Injury Law Office dedicated to representing families of minor children injured due to the negligence of others. If you or a loved one, who is a minor child, has been injured or killed in a child accident in San Diego, please order your free copy of Mr. Blane's book, The 10 Secrets You Need To Know About Your Injury Case, BEFORE You Call A Lawyer. It is full of helpful information that will help you protect your legal rights and it normally sells for $16.95. However, it is free to all California residents, or those injured in a California accident.
Oceanside Child Accident Attorney Explains: As long as a guardian or conservator has not previously been appointed for the minor child, the most common way to have a California court approve a minor’s monetary settlement from an injury is to appoint the child’s mother or father as the Guardian Ad Litem (GAL). Even if a guardian or conservator has previously been appointed to the minor child, a court can still appoint a Guardian Ad Litem if it deems it expedient to do so; to get the settlement for the child’s injuries moving along.
San Diego Child Injury Law Firm: When a child is injured, all parents want to make sure their child first receives the best medical care available. If the child is injured, due at least in some part, by a negligent party, most parents go through the difficult thought process of attempting to determine whether binging legal action against the negligent party will or will not be in the best interest of their injured child. There is a public perception that legal action or litigation can be difficult for children and bring a legal action may not be worth it in the end. This can be especially true for molestation or abuse cases. To this end, the courts and the law in every state, provide special protection to children when they are involved in the litigation process.
More Legal Questions About San Diego California Injury Accident Cases?
Do you have more legal questions about San Diego California Injuries & Accident Cases? Return to our Frequently Asked Legal Questions page.
The Law Offices of Mark C. Blane, APC
GOLDEN EAGLE PLAZA
525 B Street, 15th Floor
San Diego, CA 92101
Toll Free: (888) 845-6269
Direct: (619) 813-7955 The San Diego California Injury Accident Law Firm that offers FREE Legal Help Books to anyone BEFORE they speak to a Lawyer, Claims Adjuster, or have to sign any Legal Forms; also we represent clients across Southern California including the following areas: