Personal Injury Lawyer Burbank
Personal Injury Attorney Burbank
One moment you were merging onto the 5, crossing Olive at lunch, or waiting for a ride at the airport. The next, you were in an ambulance. If you are searching for a personal injury lawyer in Burbank, Ravan Law represents people seriously hurt on Burbank’s freeways, studio-district streets, transit, and public property.
Burbank is a charter city with its own police department, bus system, city utility, and claims procedure. It is also home to an airport run by a separate public authority and is crossed by two state freeways. Working out which one is responsible is often the first task.
We represent clients in Burbank from our Los Angeles office on San Vicente Boulevard, with consultations by phone or video. Call (424) 465-2500 for a free consultation. Information is available in Spanish.
How We Work With Injured Clients in Burbank
From the first call, we tell you which deadlines apply, what evidence we are going after, and what happens next. We keep you updated at every stage until the case is resolved.
- We start with the dates. If a city bus, the airport authority, a school, or a freeway defect is involved, a six-month government claim comes before any lawsuit.
- We go to the evidence before it is gone. Video, truck data, and bus recordings do not last, so we send preservation demands early.
- You pay nothing up front. No fee unless we win.
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. Read more about attorney Ted H. Ravan.
Where Serious Crashes Happen in Burbank: What a Burbank Accident Attorney Needs to Know
Two freeways, an airport, and the studios shape Burbank’s traffic, and its collisions.
- The I-5. The state’s main north-south freight route runs through the city, so cars share lanes with long-haul trucks.
- State Route 134. The city’s second freeway, carrying commuter and studio traffic.
- Olive Avenue and Alameda Avenue. These are the main surface routes through the Media District and into Downtown Burbank. LA Metro is building its North Hollywood to Pasadena Bus Rapid Transit line through both.
- Hollywood Way, Empire Avenue, and San Fernando Boulevard. The roads around Hollywood Burbank Airport carry rideshare drivers, rental cars, shuttles, and shoppers headed to the Empire Center.
- The studio gates. Warner Bros. Studios, Disney Studios, and the Burbank Studios bring shift-change traffic, production trucks, and people on foot onto the same blocks.
- The rail stations. Metrolink serves three stations here: Downtown Burbank, Burbank Airport-North on the Antelope Valley Line near Hollywood Way and San Fernando Boulevard, and Burbank Airport-South on the Ventura County Line on Empire Avenue.
The I-5 and SR-134 are state highways under Caltrans District 7, which covers Los Angeles and Ventura counties. The surface streets and about 200 traffic signals belong to the City of Burbank. The Burbank Police Department, at 200 N. Third Street, takes collision reports on city streets, and the California Highway Patrol (CHP) handles the freeways.
Burbank Personal Injury Cases We Handle
A freeway truck crash, an airport rideshare collision, and a fall on a studio lot have little in common. As your Burbank personal injury lawyer, we match yours to the right law, the right insurance, and the right deadline before anything is filed. See every claim type the firm handles.
Car Accidents: What Your Burbank Car Accident Lawyer Does in the First Week
Freeway crashes on the I-5 and SR-134 happen at speed. On Olive, Alameda, and Hollywood Way, the pattern is left turns, rear-end collisions in construction zones, and drivers who never saw a pedestrian. In the first week we request the Burbank police or CHP report, look for video, and put every insurer on notice.
Under California’s pure comparative fault rule, your compensation is reduced by your own share of fault but not wiped out by it. Since January 1, 2025, SB 1107 requires drivers to carry at least $30,000 per person and $60,000 per accident in liability coverage. When the other driver’s policy runs out, your own uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage may make the difference.
Read more about car accident claims, rear-end collision injury claims, and what to do when an uninsured driver hits you.
Uber and Lyft Accidents at Hollywood Burbank Airport
Hollywood Burbank Airport sends rideshare pickups to the airport’s designated rideshare pickup area.
Under Public Utilities Code 5433, coverage depends on the driver’s app status at the moment of impact. SB 371, effective January 1, 2026, cut passenger UM/UIM coverage to $60,000 per person and $300,000 per incident:
| What the driver was doing | Insurance that applies |
|---|---|
| Not logged in | Only the driver’s own personal auto policy |
| Logged in, waiting for a request | Bodily injury limits of $50,000 per person and $100,000 per incident, $30,000 for property damage, and a $200,000 excess policy |
| Heading to a pickup or carrying a rider | $1,000,000 in third-party liability coverage if the rideshare driver caused the crash |
| Rider on board, hit by an uninsured or underinsured driver | UM/UIM coverage of $60,000 per person and $300,000 per incident |
The airport itself is not a City of Burbank department. It is run by the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority, a separate public authority, so a crash with an airport shuttle or an injury caused by a dangerous condition of airport property calls for a claim to the Authority, with the six-month deadline. Read more about Uber and Lyft claims and the differences between Lyft and Uber claims.
Truck Accidents on the I-5
A loaded tractor-trailer can weigh 80,000 pounds. Truck cases bring in federal rules that car cases do not: hours-of-service limits, electronic logging device data, driver qualification files, and maintenance records. The motor carrier is often responsible for its driver, and a broker or maintenance contractor may share fault. Most for-hire interstate carriers hauling general freight must carry at least $750,000 in liability coverage. We send a preservation letter before the logs and onboard data are overwritten. Read more about truck accident claims and how driver fatigue shapes a truck case.
BurbankBus, Metro, and Metrolink Injuries
BurbankBus is operated by the City of Burbank. Its Pink Route links the Downtown Burbank Metrolink Station with the studios and Universal City, and its Orange Route links the airport, the Empire Center, and North Hollywood Station. A collision with one of those buses, or an injury on board, is a claim against the City.
Metro buses and Metrolink trains belong to other agencies with their own claim processes. Whoever runs the service, a carrier of passengers owes you the utmost care and diligence under Civil Code 2100. Read more about claims against LA Metro.
Studio, Workplace, and Delivery Vehicle Injuries
Many people who work in and around the Burbank studios are hurt on the job by someone who is not their employer: a vendor’s driver, a delivery van, an outside contractor, or the owner of a property they were sent to. Workers’ compensation covers the job injury itself. A separate personal injury claim may also be possible against that outside party. We look at both. Read more about delivery driver and gig economy accidents.
Slip and Fall, Premises, and Dog Bite Claims
A fall at a store, restaurant, hotel, or apartment building comes down to notice: whether the owner knew about the hazard or a reasonable inspection would have found it. Surveillance video often answers that question, and it is often erased within days. A fall on a city sidewalk or in a city building is a different case, governed by Government Code 835 and the six-month claim.
Dog bites fall under Civil Code 3342, which holds the owner strictly liable when a dog bites someone in a public place or lawfully on private property. The owner’s homeowners or renters insurance usually pays. Read more about slip and fall claims and dog bite claims.
Claims Against the City of Burbank, the Airport Authority, and Other Public Agencies: The Six-Month Rule
Many serious Burbank cases lead back to a public agency. A public entity is liable when its employee negligently drives a vehicle on the job (Vehicle Code 17001) and when a dangerous condition of its property causes injury (Government Code 835). But you cannot go straight to court.
First, the claim. Government Code 911.2 requires a written claim to the entity within six months of the injury. The two-year lawsuit deadline does not extend it, and a missed claim can end the case against that agency.
Where a City of Burbank claim is presented. The City directs general liability claims to the Burbank City Clerk’s Office. Its “Claim for Damages Form” and supporting documents can be mailed to P.O. Box 6459, Burbank, CA 91510, or submitted by email to the City Clerk. The Clerk’s Office logs the claim and forwards it to the City’s Liability Office for a decision. We prepare and present it for you.
Then the response. The entity generally has 45 days to act on the claim (Government Code 912.4). After a written rejection, you generally have six months from that notice to file suit (Government Code 945.6). If the six-month claim period has already run, an application for leave to present a late claim can be made within one year of the injury under Government Code 911.4, but relief is not automatic.
Which agency answers. When we act as your Burbank injury lawyer in a public-entity case, the first job is naming the right defendant:
- City of Burbank: BurbankBus, city vehicles, the Burbank Police Department, Burbank Water and Power, and city streets, signals, sidewalks, and parks.
- Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority: airport shuttles, roadways, and terminal property.
- LA Metro: Metro buses and the bus rapid transit construction zones.
- Metrolink: trains and station operations.
- Burbank Unified School District: campuses and school transportation.
- State of California: the I-5 and SR-134. Caltrans takes claims of $12,500 or less at its district claims office. Claims over $12,500 go to the state’s Government Claims Program at the Department of General Services.
Government Code 818 bars punitive damages against a public entity. Although a child’s two-year deadline is generally tolled until 18 under Code of Civil Procedure 352, the six-month claim keeps running for a minor. Late-claim relief may be available under Government Code 911.4 and 911.6, but it should never be the plan. These claims have strict rules and a six-month deadline, and we take them on.
Read more about government claims and claims against Caltrans and the State after a highway crash.
Burbank Personal Injury Attorney for Catastrophic Injuries
Freeway-speed impacts and truck collisions on the I-5 cause injuries that do not heal: brain injuries, spinal cord damage, amputations, and organ damage. A concussion is a mild traumatic brain injury, and its effects can show up after a normal first scan.
We build the claim on a life-care plan that prices the surgeries, therapy, equipment, and home care ahead of you, on what the injury takes from your earning capacity over a full career, and on your treating doctors’ explanation of the prognosis. An early offer can look large to a family under pressure, so we make sure you see the full picture first.
What a Burbank Injury Claim Can Recover
A California injury claim seeks compensatory damages in two groups. Economic damages are the losses with receipts: hospital and therapy bills, future treatment, wages you have lost, earning capacity you will not get back, and damage to your property. Non-economic damages are the human losses: pain, anxiety, scarring, and the activities you can no longer do. Under Proposition 51 (Civil Code 1431.2), each defendant pays non-economic damages only in proportion to its own fault, so we pursue every responsible party.
Punitive damages punish rather than compensate. They require clear and convincing evidence of malice, oppression, or fraud under Civil Code 3294, and they are never available against a public entity. We will not guess at a figure on day one. Read more about economic and non-economic damages.
Deadlines for a Burbank Personal Injury Claim
| Situation | Time limit | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Lawsuit against a private person or company | Generally 2 years from the date of injury | Code of Civil Procedure 335.1 |
| Written claim to the City of Burbank, the Airport Authority, a transit agency, a school district, or the State | 6 months from the date of injury | Government Code 911.2 |
| Lawsuit after the agency rejects the claim in writing | 6 months from the rejection notice | Government Code 945.6 |
| Request to present a late government claim | No later than 1 year after the injury | Government Code 911.4 |
| Child under 18 | Lawsuit deadline generally tolled until 18; government claim still due in 6 months | Code of Civil Procedure 352 |
See the full guide to California personal injury time limits.
The Burbank Courthouse and Where Your Lawsuit Is Filed
Injury lawsuits arising in Burbank are filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court, whose North Central District sits in two buildings: the Burbank Courthouse at 300 East Olive Avenue and the Glendale Courthouse at 600 East Broadway. Serious injury cases are usually unlimited civil cases (claims above $35,000). The court states that since October 10, 2022, newly filed unlimited civil personal injury cases are assigned within their own districts instead of the former personal injury hub courtrooms, and its Local Rule 2.3 looks to the district where the injury occurred. We confirm the filing courthouse with the court’s Filing Court Locator before filing.
Firm Results
When you choose a Burbank personal injury lawyer, ask what the firm has recovered. The figures below are settlements and verdicts for Ravan Law clients. They are firm results from across the practice, not from this city.
| Recovery | Case type |
|---|---|
| $3,500,000 | Motor vehicle accident with a county vehicle |
| $500,000 | Motor vehicle accident |
| $200,000 | Motor vehicle accident |
| $200,000 | Premises liability |
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.
Speak With a Personal Injury Lawyer in Burbank Today
If you or someone you love was badly hurt in Burbank, time matters. A claim involving BurbankBus, a city vehicle, the airport, a school, or a freeway defect has a six-month deadline under Government Code 911.2 that began on the day of the injury. Truck data and camera footage may be gone much sooner.
Call Ravan Law at (424) 465-2500 for a free consultation. We will go through what happened and tell you who may be responsible and which deadlines apply. No fee unless we win.
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.
