Buena Park Personal Injury Attorney

In the Orange County Superior Court, which hears civil cases from across the county at the Central Justice Center in Santa Ana; cases designated complex go to the Civil Complex Center. Buena Park’s criminal and traffic cases are filed at the North Justice Center in Fullerton — including a charge against a driver who caused a crash — but the injury claim is a separate civil case, and many resolve with the insurer before any lawsuit is filed.

It depends on where it happened and who controlled that spot. Everyone is responsible for injuries caused by a lack of ordinary care in managing property (Civil Code section 1714), and the responsible party may be the operator, a contractor, or a tenant. If the cause was the street or sidewalk outside, Beach Boulevard south of the 5 is a City of Buena Park street, and a claim against the city generally must be presented within six months.

It depends on where the crash happened. The Buena Park Police Department handles collisions on city streets and releases reports to involved parties through LexisNexis eCrash. Crashes on the 5 and the 91 are handled by the California Highway Patrol’s Westminster Area office. Either way, keep the report number you were given at the scene.

Get medical care first. The CDC lists danger signs that need emergency care right away, such as a headache that gets worse and does not go away or repeated vomiting, and it notes that a mild brain injury or concussion can be present even when tests do not show it. Nearby hospitals include La Palma Intercommunity Hospital and Providence St. Jude Medical Center in Fullerton, and UCI Health — Orange is the county’s Level I adult trauma center. Keep every record, and ask family or coworkers to note changes in memory, mood, or concentration, because a brain injury claim depends on documenting them over time.

Buena Park contracts with the Southeast Area Animal Control Authority (SEAACA), not OC Animal Care, so the bite is reported to SEAACA, which says all bites are legally reportable. Under California Civil Code section 3342, a dog’s owner is liable for bite injuries suffered in a public place or while lawfully on private property, even if the dog never bit anyone before. Get medical care, photograph the wounds, and get the owner’s name, address, and any homeowner’s or renter’s insurance information.

Generally two years from the injury to file a lawsuit (Code of Civil Procedure section 335.1). If the City of Buena Park, the county transit agency, the State, or a school district may be responsible — a city street, a bus, a freeway, a campus — a written government claim is generally due within six months (Government Code section 911.2). Claims against a doctor or hospital follow a separate rule with its own time limits (Code of Civil Procedure section 340.5).