Personal Injury Lawyer San Jose
Personal Injury Attorney San Jose
You did not ask to be hurt, and you should not have to fight an insurance company while you heal. If you are looking for a personal injury lawyer in San Jose after a serious injury, Ravan Law is on your side. We represent people seriously hurt in crashes, transit incidents, and falls, including those in San Jose. We represent clients in San Jose from our Los Angeles office, and consultations are available by phone or video.
After a serious injury, the first question we ask is who is responsible. It may be a driver with a $30,000 policy, a trucking company, a property owner, or a public agency such as the City of San Jose, the County of Santa Clara, or the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA). Each answer changes your deadline and the compensation within reach. A claim against a public agency must be presented within six months under California Government Code 911.2, well before the two-year personal injury deadline.
Call (424) 465-2500 for a free consultation about your personal injury claim. Information is available in Spanish.
Your San Jose Personal Injury Attorney: How We Work With You
Choosing a personal injury lawyer in San Jose is hard when you are in pain and the bills are arriving. Here is what you can expect from us. You work with us directly. We keep you updated at every stage, we answer your questions, and we stay with your personal injury claim through settlement or verdict.
- 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 became a personal injury attorney 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 a core part of what we do. Read more about attorney Ted H. Ravan.
Personal injury settlements and verdicts
These are settlements and verdicts obtained for Ravan Law clients. They are firm results, not results from San Jose cases.
| 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 |
Each settlement depended on the injury, the evidence, and the insurance available.
San Jose Roads Where Serious Personal Injury Cases Begin
Who maintains a road decides which agency, if any, receives a government claim. As your San Jose personal injury lawyer, we start there.
Freeways. US-101, I-280, I-880, I-680, SR-87, and SR-85 all run through San Jose. They are state highways in Caltrans District 4, which covers the Bay Area counties.
County expressways. Capitol, Almaden, Lawrence, and San Tomas expressways belong to the county expressway system, operated by the County of Santa Clara Roads and Airports Department. A defect on an expressway points to a County claim, not a City claim.
Vision Zero corridors. San Jose’s Vision Zero traffic safety program designates Priority Safety Corridors, streets the city’s transportation department has marked for safety improvements. The city’s published list includes Story Road, Senter Road, Monterey Road, and Alum Rock Avenue.
Downtown. SAP Center sits next to San Jose Diridon Station, and the San Jose State University campus is downtown. Event crowds, VTA light rail, and foot traffic make downtown a common setting for pedestrian, bicycle, and rideshare crashes.
Personal Injury Cases a San Jose Injury Lawyer Handles
California Civil Code 1714 makes each person responsible for injuries caused by a failure to use ordinary care. Each personal injury claim type below adds its own rules. Our first job, as your San Jose personal injury lawyer, is sorting your case into the right one.
Car Accidents: What a San Jose Car Accident Lawyer Looks At
Most car accident cases turn on fault, and we have to prove it. California’s pure comparative fault rule lets you recover compensation even when you are partly responsible, reduced by that share. As your San Jose car accident attorney, we secure fault evidence early: video, the collision report, vehicle data, and damage photos. SB 1107 raised minimum auto liability limits to $30,000 per person and $60,000 per accident, effective January 1, 2025. When the other driver’s policy runs out, your own uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage often fills the gap in compensation. Read more about car accident claims. For local detail, see our San Jose car accident lawyer page.
Truck Accidents on US-101 and I-880
Truck cases add Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration hours-of-service limits, electronic logging device data, and maintenance records. The motor carrier is often responsible for its driver, so compensation may come from more than one insurer. As your truck accident lawyer, we send a preservation letter first, because onboard data can be overwritten. Read more about truck accident claims. For local detail, see our San Jose truck accident lawyer page.
Uber and Lyft Accidents Around SJC and Downtown
San José Mineta International Airport is owned and operated by the City of San Jose, and airport pickups and SAP Center events bring heavy rideshare traffic. Under Public Utilities Code 5433, coverage depends on the driver’s app status, so we start, as your rideshare accident attorney, with what the driver was doing. App off: the driver’s personal policy only. App on, no ride accepted: $50,000 per person and $100,000 per incident for bodily injury, $30,000 for property damage, plus a $200,000 excess policy. Once a ride is accepted, $1,000,000 in third-party liability applies when the rideshare driver is at fault. SB 371, effective January 1, 2026, cut passenger uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage to $60,000 per person and $300,000 per incident, a reduction that can cap a passenger’s personal injury compensation. Read more about Uber and Lyft accident claims. For local detail, see our San Jose Uber accident attorney page.
Dog Bites
California 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. As your dog bite lawyer, we still check the exceptions: the rule does not cover trespassers, Civil Code 3342(b) and (c) exempt police and military dogs in defined situations, and courts generally treat veterinary workers as having assumed the risk. A bite by a police K-9 on duty may instead raise a government claim, with its six-month deadline. Read more about dog bite claims. For local detail, see our San Jose dog bite attorney page.
Slip and Fall and Premises Liability
A property owner is not responsible simply because someone fell. As your slip and fall lawyer, we look first at notice: whether the owner knew about the hazard, or would have found it through reasonable inspection, and failed to fix it or warn. A fall on a VTA platform, a city sidewalk, or in a city park follows the government claim process instead. Read more about slip and fall claims. For local detail, see our San Jose slip and fall lawyer page.
Government Claims
Crashes with city vehicles, VTA buses, and dangerous intersections run on a separate legal track. These claims have strict rules and a six-month deadline, and we take them on as your government claims lawyer. We explain the track next. Read about government claims. For local detail, see our San Jose sidewalk accident lawyer page.
Claims Against the City of San Jose, the County, VTA, and Caltrans: The Six-Month Rule
Some of the most serious San Jose injury cases involve a public entity. These personal injury claims fall under the Government Claims Act, the California law that governs claims against public entities. In San Jose, the entity is usually one of these:
- City of San Jose: city streets and traffic signals, city vehicles including police cars, city parks, and the airport. The City Clerk’s office publishes the claim form.
- County of Santa Clara: the county expressways and county vehicles.
- VTA: buses and light rail. VTA’s own claim form states that a claim must be filed within six months of the incident.
- State of California (Caltrans): US-101, I-280, I-880, I-680, SR-87, SR-85, and other state highways.
- A school district, when a child is hurt on campus or by a school bus.
The six-month claim. Before any lawsuit, a written claim must be presented to the entity within six months of the injury, under Government Code 911.2. This deadline is separate from the two-year statute of limitations, and the two-year deadline does not extend it. Missing it can permanently bar an otherwise strong claim for compensation, which is why we file early as your government claims lawyer.
What happens next. The entity generally has 45 days to act under Government Code 912.4. If it sends a written rejection, we generally must file the lawsuit within six months of that notice under Government Code 945.6. If no written notice is sent, the deadline is generally two years from the injury. If the six months has passed, Government Code 911.4 allows us to apply for a late claim within a reasonable time, not to exceed one year from the injury, and relief is not automatic.
Rules that apply only to public entities. Punitive damages are not available against a public entity (Government Code 818). Public entities are liable for the negligent operation of their vehicles by employees on the job (Vehicle Code 17001) and for dangerous conditions of their property (Government Code 835). A minor’s 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.
What to do if you have been injured by a government entity, claims against Caltrans after a highway crash, and plazos para reclamos contra entidades públicas (en español).
Catastrophic Injury Attorney San Jose: Brain Injury, Spinal Cord Injury, and Lifetime Care
A traumatic brain injury (TBI), a spinal cord injury with paralysis, multiple complex fractures, or an amputation creates costs that last for decades. As your catastrophic injury attorney, we value these cases on more than the bills already paid:
- A life-care plan projecting future medical care, equipment, and in-home help over the injured person’s life expectancy.
- Lost earning capacity measured over a career.
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, so we wait until the medical picture is clear before we put a number on your claim.
Compensation in a San Jose Personal Injury Claim
We build every case around the full picture of what the injury has cost you. 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 pain, emotional distress, disfigurement, and the loss of a normal life. Under Proposition 51 (Civil Code 1431.2), each defendant pays non-economic damages only in proportion to its own share of fault, so we look for every responsible party.
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. Economic and non-economic damages explained.
Personal Injury Deadlines a Personal Injury Lawyer in San Jose Tracks
| Claim | Deadline | Authority |
|---|---|---|
| Personal injury lawsuit | Generally 2 years from the injury | Code of Civil Procedure 335.1 |
| Wrongful death lawsuit | Generally 2 years from the death | Code of Civil Procedure 335.1 |
| Claim against a public entity | 6 months from the injury, before any lawsuit | Government Code 911.2 |
| Late claim application | Within a reasonable time, not to exceed 1 year from the injury (not automatic) | Government Code 911.4 |
| Injured minor | Generally tolled until 18; does not pause the six-month claim | Code of Civil Procedure 352 |
The shortest deadline controls. Your San Jose personal injury lawyer should name yours at the first conversation, and we do.
Where a San Jose Personal Injury Lawsuit Is Filed
If your personal injury case does not settle, we generally file the lawsuit in the Superior Court of California, County of Santa Clara. According to the court, civil cases in the county are heard at the Downtown Superior Court, 191 North First Street, and the Old Courthouse. Many cases reach a settlement at mediation. What litigation involves and when it starts.
What to Do After a Crash: Advice From a San Jose Accident Lawyer
We wrote these steps for someone who does not have a lawyer yet.
- Get medical care, even if you feel fine. Gaps in treatment are the first thing an insurer looks for in a personal injury claim.
- Report the crash. Call the San Jose Police Department on city streets or the CHP on freeways (the CHP San Jose Area office is at 2020 Junction Ave.). After a crash involving an injury, a death, or more than $1,000 in property damage, an SR-1 report must be filed with the DMV within 10 days.
- Photograph the scene and your injuries, and get witness names.
- Decline a recorded statement to the other driver’s insurer until you have spoken with a lawyer. You are not required to give one.
- Write down the date. If a city, county, VTA, or state vehicle or road may be involved, the six-month clock started that day.
Call us early. As your San Jose accident attorney, we can send preservation letters before video and vehicle data are lost.
Choosing a San Jose Personal Injury Attorney
Whichever San Jose personal injury law firm you are considering, ask every personal injury lawyer the same questions. Who will work on my case, and how will I be kept updated? Have you filed claims against a city or a transit agency, and what is my six-month date? Four questions to ask a potential personal injury lawyer.
Ask us those questions too. You work with us directly, we file government claims, and we tell you your deadline at the first conversation. Read more about our personal injury practice or start at the Ravan Law homepage.
Talk to a San Jose Personal Injury Lawyer Today
If you or someone in your family was seriously hurt in San Jose, the first weeks decide what evidence survives and which deadlines are still open. If a city vehicle, a VTA bus or train, a county expressway, or a state highway is involved, the six-month claim under Government Code 911.2 started on the day of the injury, not the day you recover.
Call Ravan Law at (424) 465-2500 for a free consultation. We represent San Jose clients from our office on San Vicente Boulevard in Los Angeles, and we can meet with you by phone or video. 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.
