Orange County Sidewalk Accident Lawyer
Sidewalk Accident Attorney Orange County
You caught your foot on a lifted slab in Santa Ana, stepped off an OC Bus onto a broken curb, or were hit by a county truck, and you assumed you had two years to decide what to do. When a public agency is responsible, you have six months to present a written claim, and it has to reach the right office.
As your Orange County sidewalk accident lawyer, we answer two questions first: which agency owns or controls the place where you were hurt, and on what date your claim is due. Claims against public entities are a core part of our practice. These claims have strict rules and a six-month deadline, and we take them on.
We represent Orange County clients from our Los Angeles office, and consultations are available by phone or video. Call (424) 465-2500 for a free consultation. No fee unless we win.
Sidewalk Injury Lawyer Orange County: Who Owns the Sidewalk Where You Fell
Orange County has 34 cities, county territory outside them, and state highways running through both. A sidewalk can change hands at a city limit you never noticed, and a claim sent to the wrong agency protects nothing against the right one.
- Inside a city. Anaheim, Santa Ana, Irvine, Huntington Beach, and the other cities each answer for their own public sidewalks, and each has its own claim form.
- Unincorporated areas. OC Public Works repairs sidewalks, curbs, gutters, and ramps within the County of Orange right-of-way, and it does so on a request basis. Its own description of the work refers to lifted sidewalks typically caused by tree roots.
- Along a state highway. Pacific Coast Highway through Huntington Beach is State Route 1, a Caltrans highway. A fall beside it raises the question of whether the State, the city, or both controlled that spot.
- Bus stops and buses. OC Bus is run by the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA).
- Schools, parks, and the airport. A campus belongs to its school district. Regional parks (OC Parks) and John Wayne Airport belong to the County of Orange.
- Private walkways. Paths inside a shopping center or apartment complex are premises cases under the two-year deadline. See our slip and fall page.
Dangerous Condition Law Applied to an Orange County Sidewalk
A public entity is not liable because a sidewalk is imperfect. Under Government Code 835, we have to show the sidewalk was in a dangerous condition, that the condition caused your fall, and that the agency either created it or had notice in time to fix it or warn.
Notice is the fight. Government Code 835.2 allows constructive notice when a defect was obvious and had been there long enough that reasonable care would have found it. Because the County repairs sidewalks on request, the service request history for your block matters. We ask for it, along with city work orders, tree maintenance records, and reports of earlier falls.
Small defects are defended hard. Under Government Code 830.2, a risk that is minor, trivial, or insignificant is not a dangerous condition. We take the cases where the defect is substantial and the injury is serious: a hip fracture, a head strike, a wrist that needs hardware.
The adjacent owner is usually not the defendant. Streets and Highways Code 5610 requires fronting owners to maintain the sidewalk, but that duty generally runs to the city, not to you. An owner is liable to a pedestrian mainly when the owner created the defect or controlled the sidewalk.
Our Los Angeles government claims page covers the case law, the trivial defect decisions, and what a claim must contain under Government Code 910.
Where a Claim Is Presented: County of Orange, OCTA, Cities, School Districts, and the State
Government Code 911.2 gives you six months from the injury to present a written claim. Each agency below publishes its own form and filing instructions.
| Agency | Where the claim goes | What to know |
|---|---|---|
| County of Orange (county sidewalks and roads, Sheriff’s vehicles, OC Parks, John Wayne Airport) | Clerk of the Board of Supervisors, 400 W. Civic Center Drive, 6th Floor, Santa Ana, CA 92701 | By mail or over the counter. The form must be signed |
| OCTA (OC Bus, 91 Express Lanes) | OCTA Risk Management, P.O. Box 14184, Orange, CA 92863-9831 | The form states the six-month limit. Injury claims also require OCTA’s Medicare reporting form |
| City of Anaheim | Office of the City Clerk, 200 S. Anaheim Blvd., Suite 217 | Original form delivered in person or mailed |
| City of Santa Ana | City Clerk’s Office, 20 Civic Center Plaza, 8th Floor | Original with a wet signature, in person or by mail. Electronic submissions are not accepted |
| City of Irvine | City Clerk, 1 Civic Center Plaza | The City Clerk publishes the claim form (Form 10-04) |
| City of Huntington Beach | City Clerk, 2000 Main Street | By mail or over the counter |
| Santa Ana Unified and other school districts | The district itself. Santa Ana Unified handles liability claims through Risk Management, 1601 E. Chestnut Ave. | Each district is its own public entity |
| State of California, including Caltrans | Caltrans district claims office for claims of $12,500 or less. Government Claims Program, Department of General Services, for claims over $12,500 | Not CHP. In the Government Claims Program, a $25 filing fee or a fee waiver applies |
A claim handed to a police officer, a bus driver, a public works crew, or a council office is not a presented claim. When more than one agency may share responsibility, we present a claim to each. Our guide to claims against Caltrans and the State of California after a highway crash explains the State process.
OC Bus, Sheriff’s Vehicles, and City Trucks: Claims Beyond the Sidewalk
The same six-month rule covers injuries caused by public vehicles. Under Vehicle Code 17001, a public entity is liable when its employee drives negligently on the job. In Orange County that means an OC Bus, a Sheriff’s Department patrol car, a county or city maintenance truck, or a school district bus.
OCTA carries passengers, so it owes riders the utmost care and diligence under Civil Code 2100. If you were hurt on a bus, write down the route, the direction, the stop, and the time so the right video can be found.
These are results from across our practice, not Orange County results.
| Recovery | Case type |
|---|---|
| $3,500,000 | Motor vehicle accident with a county vehicle |
| $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.
What a Claim Against an Orange County Agency Can Recover
Compensation from a public entity covers medical care past and future, rehabilitation, in-home help, lost wages and earning capacity, and the pain and loss of independence that follow a serious fall. Government Code 818 bars punitive damages against a public entity, so the value of your case rests on documenting what the injury will cost you over time.
Deadlines for an Orange County Government Claim
| Step | Deadline | Authority |
|---|---|---|
| Present the written claim | 6 months from the injury | Government Code 911.2 |
| Agency acts on the claim | 45 days. Silence is treated as a rejection | Government Code 912.4 |
| File the lawsuit after a written rejection | 6 months from the date the notice is mailed or delivered | Government Code 945.6 |
| Apply to present a late claim | Within a reasonable time, and no later than 1 year from the injury | Government Code 911.4 |
| Injured child | The six-month claim is not paused. Late-claim relief may be available | Government Code 911.4, 911.6 |
How We Handle a Sidewalk or Public Agency Case for Clients in Orange County
- Identify every entity. City, County, OCTA, school district, State, and any private owner or contractor.
- Document the defect. Photographs with a scale, measurements, lighting, and the exact address, before a repair crew arrives.
- Request the records. Service requests, work orders, inspection and tree records, bus video, and dispatch logs.
- Write and present the claim to the correct office, in the form that agency accepts, inside six months.
- Track the response and the lawsuit deadline that follows a rejection.
- File where needed. Lawsuits arising here 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.
You work with us directly, and we keep you updated at every stage. See our Orange County personal injury page for the other cases we handle here.
Talk to an Orange County Sidewalk Accident Lawyer Before Six Months Pass
If you or someone in your family was seriously hurt on a public sidewalk, on an OC Bus, or by a county or city vehicle, the six-month deadline under Government Code 911.2 began on the day of the injury. It does not pause for surgery or rehabilitation.
Call Ravan Law at (424) 465-2500 for a free consultation with an Orange County sidewalk accident lawyer. We identify every agency involved, confirm the date your claim is due, and prepare it with you. No fee unless we win. For other injuries, see our Orange County pages on car accidents, truck accidents, Uber and Lyft accidents, slip and falls, and dog bites. You can also see all of our locations.
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.
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.
