Personal Injury Lawyer Orange County

Orange County Personal Injury Attorney

If you are looking for a personal injury lawyer in Orange County who will talk to you plainly about what happened, we are here for you. At Ravan Law, we represent people seriously hurt in freeway crashes, truck and rideshare collisions, dog attacks, falls, and incidents involving public agencies.

We represent clients in Orange County from our Los Angeles office, and consultations are available by phone or video.

If you are deciding whether to call a personal injury lawyer in Orange County, start with the deadlines below. They are what most people learn about too late.

Call (424) 465-2500 for a free consultation. Information is available in Spanish.

Orange County Personal Injury Attorney: How We Work With You

You got hurt, the bills are arriving, and an insurance adjuster is already asking for your side of the story. When you look for a personal injury attorney in Orange County, what you need is a lawyer who knows your case and keeps you informed. You work with us directly, and we keep you updated at every stage.

That matters most in the hardest cases: a crash with a county vehicle, a fall on a broken city sidewalk, a brain injury missed on the first scan.

Contingency fee. No fee unless we win, and no cost for the consultation.
Track record. In his first year of practice, attorney Ted H. Ravan obtained more than $1 million for his clients.
Client rating. Clients rate our firm 4.9 on Google across 65 reviews.

Ted H. Ravan, a Los Angeles personal injury attorney, studied political science at UC San Diego and earned his law degree at the University of San Diego School of Law, where he gave more than 100 volunteer hours to the campus free legal clinic. He went into injury law after his grandfather was in a near-fatal incident involving a city-operated bus. That is why our firm treats claims against public agencies as central work, and why clients anywhere in Orange County can reach us by phone or video. When you call about a serious injury claim, the first thing you should hear is which deadline applies, and we tell you on the first call. Read more about attorney Ted H. Ravan.

Settlements and Verdicts Obtained for Ravan Law Clients

These are results from across our personal injury practice, not Orange County results.

Recovery	Case type
$6,000,000	Premises liability
$3,500,000	Motor vehicle accident with a county vehicle
$1,700,000	Premises liability
$275,000	Bus accident

Every result depended on the facts of that case, and results will differ based on different facts. Past results do not guarantee, warrant, or predict the outcome of your matter.

Accident Attorney Orange County Guide: The Freeways and Toll Roads Where Serious Crashes Happen

Caltrans District 12 covers all of Orange County, including its 34 cities and every state highway route in the county. Who owns and operates the road where you were hurt decides whether a government claim is part of your case, so it is one of the first things we check.

I-5 runs the length of the county, from the Los Angeles County line through Anaheim, Santa Ana, Irvine, Mission Viejo, and San Juan Capistrano toward San Diego County. In Irvine it merges with I-405.
SR-55, the Costa Mesa Freeway. The Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) describes it as one of the most heavily congested freeways in Southern California and the only freeway giving central Orange County a direct north-south link to the coast.
SR-57 and SR-22. The Orange Freeway runs north through Anaheim. The Garden Grove Freeway crosses central Orange County.
SR-91 and the 91 Express Lanes. In Orange County, the 91 Express Lanes run about 10 miles in each direction between SR-55 in Anaheim and the Riverside County line, owned and operated by OCTA. Commuter and commercial traffic between the two counties funnels onto this corridor.
The toll roads: SR-73, SR-133, SR-241, and SR-261. According to The Toll Roads, these routes are owned by the State of California and operated by the Transportation Corridor Agencies, two public joint powers authorities. The 73 runs from Newport Beach south to the I-5.

The local surface streets carry their own risk. The California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) ranks cities against others of similar size. In its 2023 rankings, Anaheim placed 5th worst of the 15 California cities with more than 250,000 residents for total people killed or injured in traffic crashes (2,135 victims), and 4th worst for both speed-related crashes and alcohol-involved victims.

In South County, the I-5 carries commuter traffic through Mission Viejo and San Juan Capistrano, where SR-74, the Ortega Highway, begins and climbs into the mountains as a two-lane road.

Orange County Personal Injury Law Firm: The Cases We Handle

Every personal injury claim rests on Civil Code 1714, which makes each person responsible for injuries caused by a failure to use ordinary care. As your Orange County personal injury lawyer, we sort your case into the right track first, because each claim type has its own rules and sources of compensation. Ravan Law’s homepage lists every practice area.

Car Accident Attorney Orange County: Freeway and Surface Street Crashes

Common Orange County crashes include rear-end collisions on the 405, lane-change crashes where the 5 and 405 merge, and left-turn crashes on wide arterials in Santa Ana and Anaheim. California’s pure comparative fault rule lets you recover even when you were partly at fault: a driver found 20% at fault on a $300,000 claim recovers $240,000. SB 1107 minimum limits ($30,000 per person, $60,000 per accident since January 1, 2025) still fall short in a serious personal injury case, so your own UM/UIM coverage often shapes the settlement. We look at every policy that may apply. Read more about car accident claims. See also our Orange County car accident lawyer page.

Truck Accidents on I-5 and SR-91

A loaded tractor-trailer can weigh 80,000 pounds. Truck cases involve Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration hours-of-service rules, electronic logging device data, and driver qualification files. The motor carrier, a broker, or a maintenance contractor may share fault, which can mean more than one insurer contributing compensation. Logs can be overwritten, so we send a preservation letter first. Read more about truck accident claims. See also our Orange County truck accident lawyer page.

Uber and Lyft Accidents After SB 371

Under Public Utilities Code 5433, coverage depends on the driver’s app status. SB 371, effective January 1, 2026, cut passenger UM/UIM coverage to $60,000 per person and $300,000 per incident:

Driver status	Coverage
App off	The driver’s personal auto insurance only
App on, no ride accepted	$50,000 per person and $100,000 per incident for bodily injury, $30,000 property damage, plus a $200,000 excess policy
Ride accepted	$1,000,000 third-party liability when the rideshare driver is at fault
Passenger in the vehicle	Uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage of $60,000 per person and $300,000 per incident, from entering the vehicle to exiting it

The lower UM/UIM limit can cap the compensation available to you as a passenger hit by an uninsured driver on a trip to or from John Wayne Airport or the Anaheim resort district. Read more about rideshare claims. See also our Orange County Uber accident attorney page.

Dog Bites

Civil Code 3342 makes a dog owner strictly liable for a bite in a public place or while the victim is lawfully on private property. It does not cover trespassers, Civil Code 3342(b) and (c) exempt police and military dogs in defined situations, and courts generally treat veterinary professionals as having assumed the risk. A police K-9 bite can raise a government claim instead. Read more about dog bite claims. See also our Orange County dog bite attorney page.

Slip and Fall and Premises Injuries

Premises cases turn on notice: whether the owner knew or should have known about the hazard and failed to fix it or warn. Shopping centers such as South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa and hotels in the Anaheim resort district keep incident reports and video that may be overwritten within days, so we ask for them early. A fall on a city sidewalk or in a county park run by OC Parks follows the government claim rules below. Read more about slip and fall claims. See also our Orange County slip and fall lawyer page.

Claims Against the County of Orange, OCTA, Orange County Cities, and Caltrans: The Six-Month Rule

Some of the most serious personal injury cases in Orange County involve a public entity: an OCTA bus, a Sheriff’s Department vehicle, a city truck, a broken signal, a dangerous condition on a state highway or toll road, or a school district such as Santa Ana Unified. These personal injury cases run on a separate track under the Government Claims Act, the California law that governs claims against public entities. As your personal injury attorney in Orange County, we start by identifying every agency that may share responsibility. Read more on our Orange County sidewalk accident lawyer page.

The six-month claim. Before any lawsuit against a public entity, a written claim must be presented to that entity within six months of the injury, under Government Code 911.2. OCTA’s own claim form states the same six-month limit. This deadline is separate from the two-year statute of limitations, and missing it can permanently bar an otherwise strong claim for compensation.

Who receives the claim:

County of Orange: the Clerk of the Board receives claims against the county, including Sheriff’s Department vehicles, county roads, OC Parks, and John Wayne Airport.
OCTA: OC Bus and the 91 Express Lanes, through OCTA Risk Management.
Cities: Anaheim, Santa Ana, Irvine, Huntington Beach, Mission Viejo, San Juan Capistrano, and the others each publish their own claim form.
The State and Caltrans: state highways, and on the toll roads, the State as owner and the Transportation Corridor Agencies as operator.
School districts and Metrolink are public entities too.

After the claim. The agency generally has 45 days to act (Government Code 912.4). After a written rejection, the lawsuit generally must be filed within six months of that notice (Government Code 945.6). If no written notice is sent, the deadline is generally two years from the injury. Government Code 911.4 allows an application to present a late claim within a reasonable time, not to exceed one year from the injury, and relief is not automatic.

Children. A minor’s two-year statute of limitations is generally tolled until age 18 under Code of Civil Procedure 352, but that tolling does not pause the six-month government claim deadline. A late-claim application may be available for a child under Government Code 911.4 and 911.6, but it has its own one-year limit.

Claim	Deadline	Authority
Personal injury lawsuit	Generally 2 years from the injury	Code of Civil Procedure 335.1
Claim against a public entity	6 months from the injury	Government Code 911.2
Lawsuit after written rejection	6 months from the notice	Government Code 945.6
Late-claim application	Within a reasonable time, not to exceed 1 year from the injury	Government Code 911.4

What to do if you have been injured due to a government entity, claims against Caltrans and the State of California after a highway crash, and our government claims practice.

Injury Attorney Orange County: Catastrophic Injuries and the Lifetime Cost of Care

A traumatic brain injury, a spinal cord injury with paralysis, multiple fractures, an amputation, or internal organ damage creates costs that continue for decades, and these cases are valued differently from an ordinary personal injury claim. A traumatic brain injury (TBI), damage to the brain from an impact or a violent jolt, can cause memory problems and personality changes that appear days later, even when a first CT scan is normal.

We build a serious case on more than the bills already paid:

A life-care plan projecting future medical care, therapy, equipment, and in-home help over the injured person’s life expectancy.
Lost earning capacity analysis, measuring what the person would have earned over a career, not only the wages missed so far.
Treating specialists who can explain the prognosis to a jury.

An early settlement offer, made before the long-term prognosis is known, rarely accounts for any of this. Compensation in a catastrophic case has to cover decades of care, not months, and that is how we value the claim.

Compensation in a California Personal Injury Claim

Compensation in a personal injury claim falls into two categories of compensatory damages.

Economic damages are measurable losses: medical care past and future, in-home care, lost wages, lost earning capacity, and property damage.

Non-economic damages cover harm with no invoice: pain, emotional distress, disfigurement, and the loss of a normal life.

Punitive damages are a separate category, not compensation for a loss. Under Civil Code 3294 they require clear and convincing evidence of malice, oppression, or fraud, and they are not available against a public entity under Government Code 818.

Orange County Injury Lawyer Notes on Court, Venue, and Timing

Injury lawsuits arising in Orange County are filed in the Superior Court of California, County of Orange. Its Central Justice Center, at 700 Civic Center Drive West in Santa Ana, hears unlimited civil cases, the category that covers most serious injury claims.

Venue is not always Orange County. Under Code of Civil Procedure 395, a personal injury case can generally be filed where the injury happened or where a defendant lives, so if you live here and were hurt on the 405 in Long Beach, your case may belong in Los Angeles County. As your Orange County personal injury lawyer, we explain that choice before anything is filed.

Most personal injury cases follow the same path: treatment, investigation, any government claim, a settlement demand once the prognosis is clear, and negotiation. If the insurer will not offer a fair settlement, we file a lawsuit, followed by discovery, often mediation, and if needed, trial.

What to Do in the First Days: An Orange County Accident Lawyer’s Checklist

We wrote this for someone who does not have a lawyer yet:

Get medical care, even if you feel fine.
Report the crash to the local police, the Sheriff’s Department, or CHP on freeways and toll roads. After an injury crash, an SR-1 report must be filed with the DMV within 10 days.
Photograph the scene, the vehicles, the hazard, and your injuries, and get witness names and numbers.
Do not give a recorded statement to the other side’s insurer. You are not required to, and it is reasonable to decline until you have spoken with a lawyer.
Write down the date. If a bus, a county or city vehicle, a toll road, or public property is involved, the six-month claim deadline started that day.

Choosing a Personal Injury Lawyer in Orange County

Ask any attorney you consider three things. Who will handle my personal injury case? What is my six-month deadline? How will you value future care? A good personal injury attorney answers plainly at the first meeting. Ask us the same questions. You work with us directly, we tell you which deadline applies, and we explain how we would value your future care.

Talk to an Orange County Personal Injury Lawyer

If you or someone in your family was seriously hurt in Orange County, the first weeks decide what evidence survives. If an OCTA bus, a county or city vehicle, a toll road, or public property is involved, the six-month claim under Government Code 911.2 started on the day of the injury, and it does not wait for you to recover.

Call Ravan Law at (424) 465-2500 for a free consultation. We listen to what happened, answer your questions, and tell you which deadlines apply. No fee unless we win.

Ravan Law, 6310 San Vicente Blvd., Suite 401, Los Angeles, CA 90048

Attorney Advertising. Ted H. Ravan, Esq., Ravan Law, Los Angeles, CA. This content is general information, not legal advice. Every case depends on its specific facts.

Every result depended on the facts of that case, and results will differ based on different facts. Past results do not guarantee, warrant, or predict the outcome of your matter.

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What Our Clients Are Saying

    
 
 
         
   Terri Smith 
 
 
 
 Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. Great communication from start to finish. I’d recommend at least giving him a call, explaining your situation, and asking a few questions or setting up a consultation. Ted Ravan is a great attorney and has already helped me with two cases, both very successfully.
  
 
        
   Arianna Vincent 
 
 
 
 Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. Ted Ravan is a very knowledgeable and experienced attorney. I’m really glad I found him because I needed help obtaining compensation after being hit in a traffic accident, and the case was complicated due to certain issues. In the end, everything was resolved successfully.
  
 
        
   Dennis Langford 
 
 
 
 Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. The best law firm. They helped me with a case that seemed very difficult to get any accident compensation from, but they managed to secure a very favorable outcome. Thank you!
  
 
        
   Florence Addis 
 
 
 
 Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. Ravan Law went above and beyond for me. They were always available, kept me updated, and handled everything with professionalism. The settlement outcome was fantastic. Highly recommend their services to anyone looking for strong legal representation.
  
 
        
   Ruth Gardiner 
 
 
 
 Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. I’m very impressed with the service I received from Ravan Law. They were professional, responsive, and achieved a great settlement for my case. I felt supported the entire time. I highly recommend them.
  
 
        
   Angelica Orozco 
 
 
 
 Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. We had a great experience working with Raven Law. Their office helped settle our case for the maximum possible outcome, and we truly felt supported throughout the entire process. All of our questions were answered promptly and clearly, which made a stressful situation much easier to navigate. The team was professional, knowledgeable, and attentive to our needs from start to finish. We are very grateful for their hard work and would absolutely recommend this law office to family and friends.,
  
 
        
   suraj chachale 
 
 
 
 Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. I had an ongoing medical emergency and was fortunate to have Attorney Cesar from Ravan Law by my side. He was extremely supportive, professional, and attentive throughout the entire process. His guidance and follow-up made a stressful situation much easier to handle. I highly recommend Cesar and Ravan Law for anyone seeking reliable and compassionate legal assistance.
  
 
        
   Diana Castaneda 
 
 
 
 Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. Ravan Law is the Best! If you are usually hesitant or nervous about lawyers, No Worries! Ted and his team have been nothing, but amazing! They removed liability from an accident that was not my fault, and closely assisted me through out the rest of the process! I highly recommend them! Thank you Ravan Law always appreciate all your hard work! <333
  
 
        
   Zack Nosrati 
 
 
 
 Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. Thank you so much to everyone for helping me with my case and my settlement! I could not have won my uber case without you!
  
 
        
   Franklin X 
 
 
 
 Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. Son muy dedicados te acompañan en todo el proseso y están pendiente de tu caso eso me gusta de una firma puedo decir que ellos tienen un nuevo cliente
  
 
  
 
  
 
   Google rating score: 4.9 of 5, based on 65 reviews 
 
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Frequently Asked Questions

How long does it usually take to resolve a serious injury claim in Orange County, CA?

There is no fixed timeline. A personal injury claim with clear fault, finished treatment, and enough insurance may reach settlement in months. A disputed case that has to be filed in Orange County Superior Court, go through discovery, and reach mediation or trial usually takes well over a year. Serious injury claims often take longest, because settling before the long-term prognosis is known risks leaving future care unpaid. How long a personal injury case takes in California.

Can a Los Angeles firm represent me if I live in Orange County?

Yes. A California attorney is licensed statewide. We represent clients in Orange County from our Los Angeles office, and consultations are available by phone or video.

How much does a personal injury lawyer cost?

We work on contingency: no fee unless we win, and the free consultation costs nothing. The attorney fee is a percentage of the recovery, agreed in writing first.

I was hit by an OCTA bus. What is different about my claim?

OCTA is a public agency, so a written claim must be presented within six months of the injury under Government Code 911.2 before any lawsuit. Passengers are also owed a higher standard of care under Civil Code 2100, which holds carriers of passengers to the utmost care and diligence.

What if the driver who hit me had no insurance?

Your own uninsured motorist coverage may provide compensation. Rideshare passengers face a lower limit after SB 371: $60,000 per person and $300,000 per incident while the passenger is in the vehicle.

My child was hurt at a school or by a city vehicle. Do we have until age 18?

Not for the government claim. A child's two-year statute of limitations is generally tolled until 18, but the six-month claim under Government Code 911.2 still has to be presented on time.