Southeastern Sacramento Auto Accident Attorneys Serving Lemon Hill, Fruitridge Pocket, Florin, Elk Grove, and Surrounding Neighborhoods
Malekan Law Group represents injured drivers, passengers, and families throughout Southeastern Sacramento. We handle every case on contingency — you pay nothing unless we win. Schedule your free consultation today.
01How long do I have to file a car accident claim in California?
In California, you generally have two years from the date of the accident to file a personal-injury lawsuit (California Code of Civil Procedure section 335.1). If a government entity is involved, such as a city bus or a county road hazard, you must first file a claim with that agency within six months (California Government Code section 911.2), a much shorter deadline. Missing these deadlines usually means losing the right to recover, so it is best to speak with an attorney early.
02What if I was partly at fault for the accident?
California follows a rule called pure comparative negligence, so you can still recover compensation even if you were partly, or mostly, at fault. Your award is reduced by your percentage of fault: if you are found 30% responsible, you can still recover 70% of your damages. Insurers often overstate a victim's share of blame, which is one reason to have an attorney evaluate liability.
03What does it cost to hire Malekan Law Group?
Nothing upfront. We handle car accident and personal-injury cases on a contingency fee basis, which means you pay no fee unless we recover compensation for you, and your initial consultation is free.
04What should I do in the first 48 hours after a car accident?
Get medical attention right away, even if you feel fine, because injuries like whiplash and concussions often surface a day or two later and a prompt medical record protects your claim. Document the scene with photos, gather the other driver's information and any witness contacts, and report the accident to police. Avoid giving a recorded statement to the other driver's insurer, and speak with an attorney before accepting any settlement.
05What if the other driver had no insurance or only minimum coverage?
You may still be able to recover through your own Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist (UM/UIM) coverage, which California insurers are required to offer. It applies when the at-fault driver has no insurance or not enough to cover your losses, and we also look for any other available sources of recovery.
06Where do most Sacramento car accidents you handle happen?
Many of the collisions we handle occur on Southeastern Sacramento's busiest routes, including Interstate 5, Highway 99, Highway 50, and Business 80, and on high-traffic surface streets like Florin Road, Fruitridge Road, Stockton Boulevard, and Watt Avenue. We represent injured drivers throughout Sacramento and its surrounding neighborhoods.
Who is liable and what to do after a neighbor's dog bites you, from a Malekan Law personal injury attorney.
Your Neighbor's Dog Bit You?
I was bitten by my neighbor's dog while walking past their yard, but they're claiming I provoked it by making eye contact. Can they really avoid responsibility that way? The answer here is going to be no. And the reason is because in California, dog owners are strictly liable if their dog bites someone. So regardless of fault and regardless of whether the dog had bit anyone before, that dog owner is going to be liable for this just as long as the person was lawfully in a public space or on private property. Strict liability here pretty much means that the owner can't blame you unless you seriously provoke the dog. And eye contact is going to be nowhere near enough to show
Personal Injury Lawyer Reacts to Reddit Post!
Let's respond to this Reddit post that's titled, "Got into a car crash. That's my fault. Damages to other cars looking like it's going to be significantly over my insurance collision coverage of 10K in Florida." So, I'm not going to read all of this, but it's a 17-year-old who got involved in an accident. 17-year-old is at fault. His insurance coverage is 10K, but the damages are estimated for 30K. So, I mean, he's right to ask what's going to happen here. So, let's talk about it in the context of whether this would happen in California. So, first things first, your insurance is going to cover that $10,000. They are legally required to pay up to the property damage limits, which again are $10,000 in this case to cover the damages to the other vehicle. And what's going to happen is that the insurance company is going to divide that 10,000 between the claims. And then yes, technically what isn't covered by your insurance becomes your responsibility. But I really wouldn't worry too much. And the reason is because this is a 17-year-old kid. He realistically doesn't have any major assets to go after. I highly doubt that these other guys are going to aggressively chase you. So, I wouldn't worry too much
Teen Films Himself Driving With His Knees
So, now let's respond to a Tik Tok of a teen filming himself driving with his knees before crashing the car. A teenager who filmed himself driving with his knees has been sentenced for causing a crash that left a woman paralyzed. 19-year-old George Taylor was driving to college and using his phone to send videos like these. He was 17 at the time and had only passed his test less than 12 weeks ago. The court heard he sent one text, made two phone calls, and recorded five videos while driving. driving and overtaking other vehicles with his knees on the steering wheel of his Volkswagen Golf. At about 11:00 a.m., he didn't see another car waiting to turn right in front of driving like an absolute maniac on top of it. Catherine, a mom in her 40s, was hit and suffered a cardiac arrest at the scene. Since the crash, she can't speak or breathe independently and is paralyzed from the neck down. George Taylor admitted causing serious injury by dangerous driving. He was sentenced to 26 months in a young offender institution and given a 40-month driving ban and must also take an extended driving test. I mean, that's pretty much as severe at as it can possibly get. Cases where there's paralysis are worth millions, if not tens of millions of dollars. That photo of the woman just sitting there unable to move is really tough to see. I mean, really, this kid's an idiot. And honestly, my opinion is he probably shouldn't be able to drive even more than the 40-month ban that they gave him. But one way or another, feel terrible for that woman. And I hope she at least can get the care that she deserves after this one. Don't drive like idiots, people. Please, please, please.
Texting Makes You Crash Into a Tesla!
So, let's respond to a Tik Tok now. Caption says, "When texting makes you crash into a Tesla and cops are right there." Bang. Oh. So, that's a pretty bad rear end. The fact that you have dash cam footage here is definitely going to be very, very helpful for the case. It's going to show that this is not some sort of minor impact. It is a significant impact. This person's definitely going to get in some trouble with the police being there. It's going to be very easy for the police to write up a report and the insurance companies are not really going to fight on this one. They're going to accept liability for the person that crashed into the Tesla. The obvious lesson to take away here, and you've heard it so many times, but it still holds true. Don't text while you're
Being Sued Over a Car Crash, 2 Years Later!
So, now let's respond to this Reddit post that is titled being sued over car crash two years later. So, this is a long one, so I'm not going to read the full thing, but someone's being sued for $300,000 over a car accident that happened over two years ago. So, if this situation had happened in California, the owner of that truck actually wouldn't be able to file a lawsuit against you more than two years after the accident happened. That's because the statute of limitations to file lawsuits in California for car crash cases like this is two years. But I'll tell you this. So if his insurance is involved and he had valid insurance at the time that this accident happened, he's not the one that's being directly sued for that $300,000. If he has insurance, his insurance is going to cover him. His insurance is going to handle it. His insurance is going to hire the attorney. And the insurance is going to be the one that pays out whatever the settlement is at the end of all of
What If You Ignored a Personal Injury Lawsuit Against You?
So, let's react to a Reddit post that says, "What would happen if you just ignored a personal injury lawsuit against you?" Let's say you accidentally ran into an old lady on the sidewalk and she fell and broke her hip. Couple weeks later, you get hit with a lawsuit. What would happen if you just ignored every single letter, every single court date, etc. in regards to the lawsuit? First, you're going to be what's called defaulted. This means you automatically lose the case and you don't get to defend yourself at all. After that, what's going to happen is that the old lady is going to seek what's called default judgment against you, which is going to order you to pay whatever amount without you ever getting to argue back. Then after that, the judgment is going to become enforcable. So once the old lady has that judgment, she can start collections against you. So, even if you had a good defense, you're going to lose the right to bring that up once you default. You're going to have to file a motion to set aside the default, which is going to be hard. It's going to be expensive. And then also, if you had any insurance that might have covered the accident, failing to notify your insurance company could actually void your coverage for that specific circumstance, and then you'd be personally on the hook for all of those damages.
PI Lawyer Reacts to Reddit Post!
So, we have a Reddit post here that says, "Mom got hit by a car and fractured a rib. Insurance wants to settle for 5K and 10K towards medical cost. Should we take them to court?" So, first, the mother here is a pedestrian and pedestrians have very, very strong protections in California under California law. She also suffered serious injuries. The fractured rib, which affected her balance and her mobility, is a pretty big deal. Then the second injury brings up a legal doctrine that's called the eggshell plaintiff rule which pretty much means that the at fa person is responsible for all damages that could naturally flow from an initial injury. Another thing is that the son did incur real deal out-ofpocket costs and she needs months of recovery. And so because of all of that, yes, the settlement offer that they're giving you is a major lowball. I would honestly say the realistic full value for a case like this could be like $250,000 or even more than that. So, I'm going to say yes. It's definitely going to be worth filing a lawsuit if they're going to keep on lowballing you back and forth. So, I would definitely highly consider filing that lawsuit.
A PI Lawyer's Take on the Accident Scene in Baby Driver
So, let's react to a clip from the movie Baby Driver. He's ready to drive. Okay. A crazy reverse donuts driving like an absolute maniac. Cops following him, of course. Yep. Wow. Red passes the red light. Causes the cops to crash, too. all these cars that are crashing around him. He's going to be liable for every single one of their car damages. He's going to be liable for any injuries they sustained. I mean, for what it's worth, he's a he is a great driver. Not safe by any means and he'll probably go to jail for the rest of ever for something like this, but got to give him credit. He definitely knows how to drive. I mean, the whole world is probably going to be injured from from this sort of driving, but there were some skills involved in that. Definitely going to be injuries. Definitely going to be cars that are going to need to be repaired, people that are going to be severely injured, cops that are going to be severely injured, the whole nine. But a good clip. I enjoyed that.
Hurt By a Product From a Bankrupt Company?
I was injured by a defective product, but the company has since gone bankrupt. Is there any way to still get compensation? So, the answer is yes. There still may be some options even if that company goes bankrupt. So, when a company goes bankrupt, they often set up what's called a bankruptcy trust or some sort of process where injured people can file claims. And then if the bankruptcy court approves your claim, you could receive partial compensation from the company's remaining assets or trust funds. So in California and in honestly many other states, anyone that's in the chain of distribution can be held liable for a defective product. Another thing that would be smart to do is to check for successor companies. You might be able to argue that the successor company is liable under certain circumstances. The last thing I'd want to do also and maybe the most important is to pursue the insurance policies. So if that company had a commercial general liability policy, you can make a direct claim against that insurer in some cases.
Is a Verbal Agreement at the Accident Scene Ever Sufficient?
I was rear ended at a stoplight, but I didn't get the other driver's information because they seemed nice and they said they'd pay for everything. Now, they're not answering my calls. What can I do? So, definitely the first thing I'm going to want you to do is report the accident to the police. Even though some time has passed, you can definitely still file a police report. Explain to the police that it was a hit-and- run situation in California. Hit and runs actually include giving false promises and then disappearing. Next, what we have to do is we have to see if there were any witnesses or nearby businesses that might have caught what the person's license plate number was. But let's say even after all of this, you don't have any witnesses. You don't have any surveillance footage of that person's license plate. I'm going to hope that you have uninsured or underinsured motorist policy coverage on your car. That way you can recover your medical damages through your own insurance company rather than having to depend on anybody else's insurance
Your Uber Got in an Accident and You Were Injured?
My Uber got into an accident and I was injured in the back seats. The driver says his personal insurance won't cover me. So, who actually pays in ride share accidents? So, if you're in an Uber and that Uber gets into an accident, you can go after Uber's insurance. Uber carries $1 million of coverage for their drivers and their passengers. So, if you get in a situation where the driver of your Uber causes the accident, then you could go after Uber. If somebody else causes the accident and their policy limits aren't enough to cover your damages, you can still go after the uninsured motorist policy of Uber. So, the driver's personal insurance here is going to be completely irrelevant because at the time of the accident, you were riding with Uber and you were actively being driven. That means that Uber's insurance is going to be the one that covers this, not the driver's
You Slipped Outside Your Apartment Building; Who Is Liable?
I slipped on ice outside of my apartment building. My lease says snow and ice removal is the tenants's responsibility, but it's a common walkway everyone uses. So, who's liable? So, I'm going to say in most cases, your landlord is still going to be liable for something like this, not you. Even if your lease says that it's the tenants's responsibility to clean up the ice and the snow, that usually means your private area only, but it's not going to apply to common areas. So, what are the common areas that I'm talking about? It's going to be places like shared walkways, parking lots, building entrances. So the bottom line here, the landlord can't dodge responsibility for dangerous conditions that are happening in the common spaces of that property.
A Signed Waiver Does Not Erase the School's Responsibility for Your Child
My child was injured on a school field trip. The permission slip I signed had a waiver, but can I still hold the school responsible? The answer here is going to be yes. Permission slips and waivers are not ironclad. Just because you sign them doesn't mean that they're completely free of any liability. California law and most other states don't allow public schools to fully wave liability for negligence, especially when it comes to children's safety. The main point I want to make here is that waivers mainly protect against inherent risks. So things like if a kid falls during normal play, but it's not going to protect carelessness by the staff.
Hit By an Amazon Delivery Driver?
I was hit by an Amazon delivery driver who ran a stop sign. Do I sue the driver, Amazon, or the delivery company that contracted with them? So, you can actually sue all three. You can always sue the driver personally for running the stop sign and causing the crash. As far as the delivery company, a lot of Amazon drivers work for delivery service partners. you can sue this delivery service partner for their employees actions while on the job. This is what's called vicarious liability. And then as far as suing Amazon directly, Amazon is going to try really, really hard to avoid direct liability completely. They're going to argue that the drivers are independent contractors. But these days, California courts are increasingly willing to treat Amazon as responsible under these sorts of circumstances. So, a good lawyer again is going to sue all three. He's going to sue the driver. He's going to sue the delivery service partner.
Does Feeling Fine After an Accident Mean You Have No Claim?
True or false? If you don't feel injured immediately after your accident, you don't have a valid personal injury claim. This is absolutely false. A lot of the time, directly after an accident, you're not going to feel the full extent and the scope of your injuries because you have adrenaline flowing through you. And a lot of injuries take a little bit of time to develop so you can actually feel the full effect of the pain. I want to say that some of the most serious injuries actually like traumatic brain injuries and things like herniated discs in your spine often don't really cause symptoms until days after or sometimes even weeks after your accident. And this is why I always tell my clients that even if you don't feel the injuries right away, it's so important to still go and get medical evaluation. Go to the doctor, go to the ER, go to the urgent care, make sure that you're okay. That's not only going to be good for you and your health, but it's obviously going to build a very strong foundation for me to be able to build up your case and get you the maximum settlement that we possibly And
Hurt at a Friend's Home? Their Insurance Can Cover You
I was injured at my friend's house when their deck collapsed. I don't want to sue them personally, but my medical bills are piling up. What are my options? So, this is a very, very common misconception that potential clients have. Whether they're getting into an accident, like a car accident, or they get injured in a situation like this, where they're at their friend's house and their deck collapses on them, you're not going after that personally. You're going after their insurance company. Right? If you're injured at your friend's house because their deck is collapsing, you're going to go after their homeowner's insurance. The insurance company who's not your friend is going to be the one that's going to pay for the settlements. And another thing, when you're filing a claim against your friend's homeowner's insurance, typically that's not going to raise your friend's premiums in a case like this because this is a structural failure of the House.
Does Fault in an Accident Mean Zero Compensation?
True or false? If you are partially at fault in your accident in California, you can't recover anything in a personal injury claim. This is going to be absolutely 100% false. California follows what's called comparative negligence, which pretty much means that the amount of compensation that you can receive is reduced by the percentage for which you are at fault for the accident. So even if you're 99% at fault, you can still recover 1% of your damages.
Insurance Formula for Calculating Pain and Suffering: Facts or Fiction?
True or false? Insurance companies use a simple formula like medical bills times three to calculate damages for pain and suffering. This is definitely going to be false. The insurance companies aren't using a multiply by3 sort of formula. This is a very old and outdated idea and it really doesn't apply at all in personal injury cases. Insurance companies honestly use very very sophisticated algorithms. They consider a lot of things within this algorithm. Things like injury type, treatment duration, recovery time, and any permanent limitations. Insurance companies are also going to consider your medical treatment type. They're also going to want to see if you actually have objective injuries through imaging, through things like MRIs, CT scans, and X-rays.
Dashcams Could Save You Thousands!
Dash cams have actually really changed how rear end cases are evaluated. Usually, if you're rearended, it's going to be presumed that the other person is at fault because they have to maintain a safe following distance. But if the other person has a dash cam that shows that you reversed or you didn't have your brake lights on or your brake lights weren't working or you slammed on the brakes for no reason, then that other person is not going to be 100% at fault anymore.
Rear-end Collision: Is the Driver Behind Always at Fault?
True or false? If you're rearended, the other driver is 100% automatically at fault no matter what. I'm going to go with false here, but I'm going to say this. In most cases, the driver who rear ends you is going to be presumed to be the one at fault because the law in California states that you have to maintain what's called a safe following distance. But that doesn't mean that it's necessarily automatic. There are situations where the rear-ended driver can share or even get most of the blame. So let's say you know if you suddenly if you suddenly reverse without warning if you slam on the brakes for no reason or even if you drive with broken lights there may be some partial blame on You.
Crashed My Friend's Car? Am I Covered?
Let's say I go take my friend Jimmy's car out. I give him a call and I say, "Hey, Jimmy, I need to use your car for the day." He allows me to take his car for the day to work or wherever I need to go. Technically, I'm not going to be on Jimmy's car insurance policy, but this is going to be what's called permissive use. So, I am allowed to use his car and his insurance is going to cover me in case I get into an accident. But there's also a situation where you may be an excluded driver. Now, what do I mean by excluded driver? If you're on the policy and you're under the section of excluded driver, if you get into an accident while driving that car that is covered by that insurance company, the insurance company is going to deny coverage for that car and for you for that accident. So, be very careful about that. You have to know the difference between permissive use and being an excluded driver in order to protect yourself as
Would the At-Fault Driver's Insurance Pay for Your Rental Car?
True or false? Driver's insurance has to pay for a rental car while your vehicle is being repaired. So, I would say this is true, but there are a lot of considerations that go into this. It's important to consider how high that person's policy limits are. If those person's policy limits are very very low and the damages of your car are very very high, there's probably not going to be that much space in the policy to cover the damages of your car and your rental expenses while your car is being repaired. So that's one thing that you definitely have to consider. Another thing is you obviously have to wait for liability to be accepted for the other insurance company to say, "Hey, look, yeah, we're going to pay your rental expenses while your car is being repaired." And also another thing that you need to consider, another thing that you need to watch out for is that the car that you can rent has to be comparable to the car that you had. Let's say you have a Toyota Corolla that gets involved in an accident and then you want to go get a rental car and you want to get like a Rolls-Royce. The insurance company's not going to pay for that. They're going to pay for a reasonably comparable car to your Toyota Corolla. So, I always recommend all of my clients get rental coverage. So, just in case somebody hits you and they don't have the necessary limits, you can go with your own insurance company and they can cover your rental while your car is being repaired.
Would There Be a Rate Hike If You Crash a Borrowed Car?
True or false? If you get into an accident while driving someone else's car, their insurance covers everything and your rates don't go up. So, this is going to be false. So, there's a few things I want to talk about here. First, if you're driving somebody else's car and you get into an accident, the insurance follows the car. So, technically, their insurance is going to kick in first. But if the damages exceed that person's policy limits, your insurance is going to have to cover whatever is the excess. And as far as the question of your rates going up, the answer is yes. Your rates can go up. If you were the one who was at fault for the accident, it's going to go on your driving record and then your own insurance company might raise your premiums.
How Late Is Too Late to File a Claim After an Accident?
My accident happened 11 months ago, but I just discovered my injury is much worse than the doctors initially thought. Is it too late to file a claim? So, this is a little bit of a of a complicated situation. So, the statute of limitations generally to file a lawsuit for a personal injury claim in California is 2 years. So, yes, you can still file a claim. You can still file a lawsuit because it's only been 11 months since the accident. The biggest problem here is going to be the medical treatment aspect of it. If you didn't go to the doctor for say 6, seven, eight months, then the insurance company is really going to raise their eyebrows and say that you're not really injured at all. And if you come back with some sort of injury report 11 months after that shows a very different sort of injury or a very different sort of aggravation of the initial injury. That's also going to make things pretty difficult. Also, they're going to try and argue that this new injury or this exaggerated injury came from something else.
Does a 'Not Responsible for Accident' Sign Erase Responsibility?
True or false? If a business has the not responsible for accident sign in their parking lot, they can't be held liable for slip and falls or other injuries. This is going to be absolutely false. These signs are absolutely meaningless. They don't have any legal effect at all. Business owners can't just escape liability by posting a sign like this. If someone gets injured because of the negligence of that business, the business can definitely still be held liable with or without that sign. This would almost be like me putting a sign on my car saying not responsible for accidents. It's completely ridiculous. It's It's just not how things work here in California or anywhere for that matter.
Health Insurance and Your Accident Settlement
Can my health insurance company really take a huge chunk of my accident settlement? They're demanding to be paid back. So, the answer here is yes, but it is negotiable. So, technically, your health insurance company does have a right to reimbursement if they paid for medical treatment that you got as a result of your personal injury accident. But again, it's negotiable, and that's what I'm here for. My job is to get that bill and negotiate it down to as little as possible to try and make sure that you get the biggest cut of the settlement as possible. And this is going to apply for private insurance companies, but it's also going to apply to medical and Medicare.
Suing Your Employer After a Work Injury
True or false? If you're injured at work, you can't sue your employer. Workers comp is your only option. I'm going to go with true most of the time here. In California and in most states, when you're injured at work, workers comp is the exclusive remedy that you can have against your employer, which pretty much means that you can't sue your employer for negligence. So, instead, you go after the workers's compensation benefits. And these are going to include things like getting payment for your medical treatments. You're going to get wage replacement. You're going to get disability payments. And that's all actually going to be regardless of fault. So that's actually kind of the biggest difference between personal injury and workers compensation is that personal injury you can only really recover if you're not the one at fault. Whereas workers compensation is a no fault system. So even if it is your fault, you can still recover.
Can You Sue a Gym for Bad Equipment If You Signed a Waiver?
True or false? If you sign a gym membership waiver, you can't sue even if their equipment malfunction and injures you. This is going to be false. Signing a gym waiver isn't going to automatically block you from suing the gym, especially in a situation where the gym is failing to maintain safe equipment. A waiver is usually going to protect the gym from ordinary risks like slipping while running or pulling a muscle. So in California pretty much you can still sue if your injury was caused by negligence that wasn't part of the normal risk that you assume when you signed that waiver. So just because you sign that waiver doesn't mean they can get away with bad maintenance or any other unsafe practices that can cause injury. The gym is definitely going to try to argue and that's going to be why having witnesses, video, surveillance footage, and maintenance records is going to be so important
Can You Sue a City for Poorly Maintained Roads?
True or false? You can't sue a city or government entity if their poorly maintained road conditions caused your accident. So, this is going to be false. You definitely can sue a city or a government entity if their poorly maintained road caused your accident, but the process is definitely going to be a lot more complicated than suing a private person. So for instance, the statute of limitations for a government claim is 6 months, which means you have to file a lawsuit within 6 months of the accident. The other thing with the government claims is that you have to prove that the city knew or should have known about the dangerous condition and that they failed to fix it within a reasonable time. But overall, they can be liable for dangerous conditions on public property for things like potholes, faded lane markings, broken traffic signals, poor lighting, etc., etc. The question you might ask yourself also here is, how do I prove that the government knew or should have known about the dangerous road conditions? Well, we're going to ask for things like prior complaints or reports. We're going to ask for maintenance logs. We're going to ask for incident history, photos, and videos.
Can You Sue If You Slip and Fall When There's a Warning Sign?
You slip and fall at a grocery store, but security footage shows an employee had just mopped and placed a wet floor sign nearby that you didn't notice. Is it a lawsuit? So, this is going to depend on the adequacy of the warning. And there's two things that determine the adequacy of that warning. One is visibility and the second one is timeliness. Now, for visibility, if the sign was poorly placed, there was something obstructing it, there was dim light, then the warning might be deemed as insufficient, and you may have a claim. Two is timeliness. The sign had to have been placed immediately after the mopping. If the placement was delayed, then you may have a claim against the grocery store. So, the bottom line here that I want you to take away from this video is that the presence of a sign doesn't automatically take away the liability of the store. We have to look at all of these other factors that we spoke about in order to really determine liability.
How to Prove Your Food Poisoning Case
You developed severe food poisoning after eating at a restaurant and medical tests confirmed it was from their undercooked chicken. So, what would I want to do in this situation to try and prove it and win your case for you? Well, I would obviously want tests that confirm the food born pathogen. Let's just say it's salmonella in this case. Matching the restaurant's chicken. I would want to get health inspection reports showing prior undercooking issues or sanitation problems. I would also want receipts to show that you actually ate there and then we could go ahead and sue.
Never Say This to Insurance!
There is no legitimate reason for an insurance company to get a statement from you within 24 hours of your accident. The most damaging things again that people say in these early statements are, "I'm not injured at all. I feel fine." Or we've even seen times where the adjuster will confuse the client into saying something that makes them seem like they're the ones that are really at fault. Again, I don't want that either.
Doctor Prescribes Medicine That Causes You to Crash; Can You Sue?
Let's say your doctor prescribed you medication without warning you about a common side effect which caused you to faint while driving and crash your car. Is it a lawsuit? So, I would say yes. This is potentially two lawsuits. First, you'd have a medical malpractice claim against the doctor for failing to warn you about known side effects. And then second, you may have a product liability case against the pharmaceutical company if the warning labels on it were inadequate.
Your Delivery Driver Hits Your Dog; Can You Sue?
You ordered food delivery and the driver hit your dog while backing out of your driveway. Is this a lawsuit? The answer is yes. You may have grounds for a lawsuit here. The delivery driver here is the person who owes you what's called a duty to operate their vehicle safely. So, if they did act negligently here, they could be the ones held liable for hitting your dog. As far as the insurance coverage goes on this one, most of these delivery apps classify their drivers as independent contractors, which means that the delivery app wants that person's personal auto insurance to apply rather than the insurance of the rid share app. But most of the time, there's something called contingent liability coverage. That means that if the accident happened during an active delivery, then the rid share app's insurance would cover it. But if the accident occurred after the delivery was complete, the driver's personal insurance would likely apply.
Wobbly Shopping Cart Crashes Into You; Can You Sue?
You were injured when a shopping cart with a wobbly wheel suddenly veered into your leg at the grocery store, causing you to fall. Do we have a lawsuit here? Stores have a legal obligation to maintain their premises and their equipment in safe condition, and they have an obligation to prevent foreseeable injuries to their customers. If employees knew or should have known about the defective cart and didn't take it out of the circulation, that's going to be negligence. We're going to be able to go after them for that. Here are some of the main things that are going to strengthen your claim. One is going to be surveillance footage to get a better idea of how things happened. Witnesses or employees who saw the fall are going to be helpful here as well. Obviously, we're going to need medical records of your injury, just like always. If you have photos of the cart, that would be great. And prior complaints or evidence of poor cart maintenance is also going to help us out a lot
Your Neighbor's Rotted Tree Falls on Your Car
Your neighbor's tree falls on your car during a storm, completely crushing it. They knew the tree was rotting, but they never removed it. Is it a lawsuit? Yes, there is a lawsuit here. And the reason there is a lawsuit here is because the owner of the property where the tree was knew that the tree was rotting and they did nothing to fix it. If they didn't know that the tree was rotting, we would have a different situation here. Let's say there was a healthy tree and the fall of the tree was purely due to a freak storm. In that case, the neighbor likely would not be liable because this would be seen as what's called an act of God. But in this case that we have, the tree was rotting, the neighbor knew it and ignored it. That's going to become negligence. The question becomes, what kind of insurance is going to cover this? So, the homeowner's insurance for the person responsible for that tree is who is going to pay for that crushed
When Insurance Says They Don't Cover Pain and Suffering
If the insurance company says to you, "We don't cover pain and suffering in this type of claim," they're really saying, "We hope you don't know your legal rights." When you get into an accident, you are entitled to pain and suffering money damages. So, this is just a lie that the insurance company is going to tell you and so that you can accept that lowball offer. Don't listen to them. It's all a lie. The only time you're not entitled to pain and suffering damages is when you are what's called a Proposition 213. Proposition 213 says that you can't get money for pain and suffering if at the time of the accident you yourself did not have any car insurance. So again, as long as you had car insurance at the time of your accident, you are in fact entitled to pain and suffering damages.
Massive Accident Payout for Pain and Suffering
We had an insurance company tell our client this before we stepped into the case. They told our client that they weren't entitled to any pain and suffering damages. They offered my client $2,000. We found out through medical treatment that our client actually had a traumatic brain injury and we got that client $300,000 on about $40,000 of actual medical bills. So pain and suffering can make an incredible difference in your case. Don't let the insurance companies tell you that you're not entitled to it. Come speak with us. We will determine how much pain and suffering you should be getting from your case and we'll go from
When Insurance Demands a Statement in 24 Hours
If the insurance company says, "We need a statement within 24 hours," they really mean, "We want to lock you into details before you know the full extent of your injuries." There's absolutely no legal obligation for you to give a statement within 24 hours of your accident. If they tell you that there is, they're lying to you. They're rushing you into this because they know you're confused. They know you're in pain. So, they're trying to catch you into saying, "I'm not really injured." So that when we bring evidence later, they're going to say, "Well, what happened in the beginning? This person said that there was no injury." So, when you're pressured into getting an immediate statement, you just tell the insurance company, "Hey, look, I'm going to speak to an attorney about this and I'll get back to
When Insurance Says Your Injuries Are Pre-existing
If the insurance company says to you, "Your injuries were pre-existing." They really mean, "We found any old medical record we can use to deny payment." They love digging through decades of medical records to try and prove that your injuries from this accident were actually from another accident. First of all is that I never want you to give them access to your medical records without at least speaking to an attorney first to see if that's going to help or hurt you. Let's say we have a case where 10 years ago you had a herniated disc in your back and now they're coming to us and saying that the injury from this accident in question is actually from that accident in the past. Well, this is where an attorney would bring in a medical expert to either truly prove that the accident caused your injuries today or even worsened previous conditions. And again, the insurance company is going to have to pay for that because there is objective proof of additional injuries caused.
When Insurance Says Your Treatment Was Excessive
If the insurance company says your medical treatment was excessive, they really mean we don't want to pay for the care that your doctor deemed necessary. These insurance adjusters have zero medical training and they're coming to us telling us what is excessive or what is too much medical treatment for our clients. That's where we come in. Once you get a lawyer, the adjusters can't use that argument of, "Yeah, this treatment seems excessive." Our argument back is always, "Are you a doctor?" No. Then you can't decide what is excessive and what is not.
When Insurance Adjusters Do Not Believe Your Injuries
I'll give you one of the most outrageous examples I've seen of an adjuster questioning medical treatment. So, we had this one case with a 20-year-old guy who got into a big car accident. His car was completely totaled out. He had to do a bunch of chiropractic treatment, a bunch of physical therapy, MRIs, which showed multiple herniated discs in his neck and his lower back. And the adjuster comes back to us and says, "None of this was really necessary." So, what did we do right after that? We filed a lawsuit on that case and we got him a settlement 10 times what the initial adjuster wanted to give
What Insurance Means When They Offer You a 'Final Offer'
If the insurance company says to you,
"This is our final offer." They really mean, "Let's see if you'll panic and
accept before talking to a lawyer." Final offer doesn't exist. There's
really just no such thing. They're just saying it so that you'll take the low
ball offer and you won't go speak to an attorney who could potentially 10x your
potential settlement amount. Come speak to an attorney. Come call me. Call my
office. We'll tell you what your case value actually is, and we'll handle
everything with the insurance companies going forward after that. We'll take
care of your medical treatment. We'll take care of your car damages.
The Biggest Increase We Got From a Final Offer
The biggest increase we've seen from a so-called final offer to an actual final settlement was a $6,000 offer that we were able to get $250,000 on. So again, this just goes to show that the insurance companies just want to lowball you. They just want to protect their bottom line. They do not have your best interest at heart. Don't listen to them. Don't believe anything that they say. Go speak to an attorney. Come speak to me. We'll take care of you.
Insurance Red Flags You Shouldn't Overlook
What are the red flags that an insurance company is trying to take advantage of someone? Well, if they're very friendly to you, they make it seem like they have your best interest at heart, that they want to get the case done for you with a very good settlement for you, these are all red flags. These are all lies. They don't have your best interest at heart. They want to give you the least amount of money possible so that they can protect the bottom line of their
When Insurance Says They Need Your Passwords
If the insurance company says, "We need your social media passwords to process your claim." They really mean, "We're fishing for anything to discredit your injuries." They want to go through your post and they want to find whatever they possibly can to say, "Hey, look, here's evidence that you are not really that injured or you are not injured at all for that matter." I feel like it's so obvious to say, but you should never give your passwords to an insurance company for anything, let alone social media. When you're in the middle of a case, put all of your accounts on private because if your profiles are on public, that's another way for them to come and check and make the argument that you're not really injured. The only personal information that you're actually required to provide are really simple things like your name, your marital status, and your date of birth. Everything else I don't want you to say anything
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I had such a great experience with Malekan Law and the whole staff. I have had consistent satisfaction & success with them for two car accidents. They respond in a timely manner and handled everything in a way that made it as stress free as possible for me. I appreciate them so much and highly recommend them!
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I had such a great experience with Malekan Law and the whole staff. I have had consistent satisfaction & success with them for two car accidents. They respond in a timely manner and handled everything in a way that made it as stress free as possible for me. I appreciate them so much and highly recommend them!
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Excellent team! They were professional, responsive, and made the entire process easy and stress free. I highly recommend this firm to anyone looking for a personal injury attorney.
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Our largest single-case recovery for a client injured in a serious auto accident.
500+ Cases Successfully Resolved
Malekan Law Group
Malekan Law Group has successfully resolved hundreds of personal injury cases with favorable outcomes for clients throughout California, helping accident victims recover compensation for medical expenses, lost income, pain and suffering, and other damages while providing personalized representation and direct attorney access every step of the way.
Millions Recovered for Accident Victims
Malekan Law Group2026
Exposed lowball insurance offers and recovered millions in total compensation for our clients.
No Win, No Fee Guarantee
Malekan Law Group2026
Every case handled on contingency. Clients pay nothing unless we win. Zero upfront costs.
Every case begins with a 100% free, no-obligation consultation. We will review the details of your situation, answer your questions, and provide honest guidance on your legal options — all at absolutely no cost to you.
We handle personal injury cases on a contingency fee basis. This means you pay absolutely nothing out of pocket — no retainer, no hourly rates, no legal fees of any kind unless we successfully recover compensation for you. Our fee is a percentage of the settlement or verdict we obtain on your behalf. If we don't win, you owe us nothing.
“I'm Samuel Malekan, a Sacramento personal injury attorney and the founder of Malekan Law Group.
I started this firm because too many accident victims feel like they're being treated as claim numbers instead of people. After a serious car accident, truck accident, motorcycle accident, pedestrian accident, or wrongful death tragedy, you deserve answers, communication, and an attorney who genuinely cares about the outcome of your case. That's the standard we set at Malekan Law Group.
When you hire our firm, you'll know who is handling your case, you'll know where your case stands, and you'll be able to reach us when you need us. We believe that communication is one of the most important parts of effective legal representation.
Our firm represents injured individuals and families throughout Sacramento, Elk Grove, Florin, Lemon Hill, Fruitridge Pocket, Meadowview, Greenhaven, South Sacramento, Rancho Cordova, Folsom, Citrus Heights, Roseville, and communities across Northern California.
Many of our clients come to us after collisions on Interstate 5, Highway 99, Highway 50, Interstate 80, and busy Sacramento roadways where a single moment of negligence changes lives forever. We help clients recover compensation for medical expenses, lost income, pain and suffering, future treatment costs, and other damages caused by another party's negligence.
Whether you're searching for a Sacramento car accident lawyer, truck accident attorney, motorcycle accident lawyer, or personal injury attorney near you, our goal remains the same: protect your rights, hold the responsible party accountable, and pursue the maximum compensation available under California law.
We handle every case on a contingency fee basis — you pay nothing unless we win. If your injuries make travel difficult, we can meet with you at your home, hospital, rehabilitation facility, or another convenient location.
Thank you for considering Malekan Law Group. We would be honored to earn your trust and fight for the recovery you deserve.
Samuel Malekan
Founder & Managing Attorney
Malekan Law Group
Sacramento Personal Injury Attorney
(279) 200-6397 · Free Consultation · No Fee Unless We Win”
“En Malekan Law Group sabemos que un accidente puede cambiarlo todo. Como especialista de admisión bilingüe, estoy aquí para escucharle en español, responder todas sus preguntas y acompañarle en cada paso de su caso de lesiones personales. Ofrecemos una consulta gratuita y usted no paga nada a menos que ganemos su caso. Estamos para servirle — ¡bienvenido a la familia de Malekan Law Group! Visite nuestro sitio en español: malekanlawgroup.com/es”
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