Redwood City Personal Injury Lawyer

Experienced Redwood City Personal Injury Attorney Ready To Fight For You

At Shapiro Legal Group, the sole focus is on helping individuals receive fair compensation for personal injuries and wrongful death. With nearly 20 years of experience in helping clients in and around Redwood City, CA attorney Jacob Shapiro has handled well over 1,000 cases. If you or a loved one has been injured in an accident, you can count on our dedicated Redwood City personal injury lawyer to do what it takes to help you receive the compensation you deserve.

Why Choose Shapiro Legal Group?

1. History of Success

Since 1996,  Jacob Shapiro has been working in the civil justice system to obtain the compensation his clients deserve. He has been successful in recovering numerous multi-million dollar and six-figure settlements and verdicts for his clients throughout California. See some examples in his Prior Results.

2. Personal, Individualized Representation

When Mr. Shapiro takes your case, he will fight hard to ensure that you are fairly compensated for your losses. He is passionate about what he does, and his reputation is built upon providing vigorous, dedicated representation for his clients. If a fair settlement offer isn’t on the table, he will not hesitate to take your case to court to fight for the compensation you deserve.

3. Efficient Out-of-Court Settlements

Going to court to fight for compensation is not always necessary. Sometimes, you can receive a better result without going into litigation. This can save both time and money in some situations. Mr. Shapiro has the experience to help you make the right choice.

4. Trial Ready

In each case, Mr. Shapiro’s first goal is always to obtain the best economic result for you. Using tried and proven negotiation tactics and arguments backed by years of legal experience, he uses the unique facts about his clients’ personal injury cases to negotiate for fair and equitable resolutions. It is vital that you hire an experienced and proven Redwood City personal injury attorney.

5. Available for Home or Hospital Visits

Mr. Shapiro offers in-home and hospital consultations for individuals who are injured and have difficulty traveling. If you cannot come to him, he will be more than happy to come to you.

Schedule your initial consultation today.

6. Exclusive Representation for Victims of Personal Injury and Wrongful Death

Mr. Shapiro’s entire practice is devoted to helping victims of personal injuries and wrongful death. Unlike some other firms, he does not practice in other areas, and he never crosses over to defend the insurance companies or big corporations. Shapiro Legal Group’s sole focus is on helping individuals get just compensation for injuries caused by defective products, dangerous premises, vehicle collisions, and other types of accidents.

7. Extensive Local Knowledge

Our Redwood City personal injury attorney has helped thousands of clients recover millions of dollars in compensation for personal injuries and wrongful death in Redwood City and throughout the . Thanks to this experience, he has developed comprehensive and detailed knowledge of the laws and procedures involved in helping local residents pursue claims for financial compensation.

8. The Experience to Maximize Your Financial Recovery

With his extensive experience, Mr. Shapiro is able to pursue effective case strategies designed to maximize his clients’ financial recoveries. Once your case has been resolved, you should feel confident that you made the right choice with Shapiro Legal Group.

How Can You Strengthen Your Redwood City Injury Case?

Filing a personal injury claim is not enough to ensure you get the compensation you deserve. You must realize that you are going up against an insurance company, and most likely a company that has an entire law firm on retainer. These Redwood City personal injury lawyers fight claims like yours everyday and they do their best to lessen how much compensation you receive. 

If you want to ensure you receive fair compensation, you must:

• Seek Medical Treatment Immediately - One of the most important steps is to seek medical treatment right away. Every day that passes without treatment is an opportunity for the insurer to dispute the severity of your injuries. The presumption is that injured people receive medical care and uninjured people do not.  If you do not receive medical treatment then the insurance company, and perhaps the jury, will assume that you were either not injured or not significantly injured.  When you do see a physician, make sure you tell them that you are there for treatment following an accident so they notate it in your medical records. Also, make sure you obey all instructions and schedule any requested follow-up appointments.
• Preserve Other Evidence - The more evidence your lawyer has to fight back against insurers, the better your chances of receiving fair compensation. Evidence can disappear within hours, which means you must act quickly. Just some of the crucial pieces of evidence to collect include: images of the accident scene, images of your injuries, such as bruises or scrapes, copies of your medical records, copies of any medical bills, statements, and receipts for items you paid out-of-pocket, W-2 statements, doctor’s notes for time off work, and photos of property damage. 
• Do Not Speak to the Insurer - While you must file a claim quickly, you are not required to give an official or recorded statement to the insurance company. If they contact you, politely decline and let them know you will be hiring a lawyer.
• Stay Off Social Media - Now is not the time to become social about your injuries or the claim you’ve filed. Instead, make sure your social media profiles are inaccessible by those who are off your friend’s list, and do not discuss the details of your case online where someone could find those details and use them against you.  Do not post pictures implying you are having fun even though you are really hurt.
• Hire an Injury Attorney - Do not try to fight insurance companies alone. The laws surrounding personal injury claims are complicated.  If you do not know the legal nuances of your case, you will find yourself making errors without even knowing it. Instead, hire a Redwood City personal injury lawyer who will fight for your right to compensation so that you can focus on what matters most: recovering from your injuries.

What Types of Compensation Can I Receive?

If you are injured because of someone else’s negligence then you have suffered damages. Unfortunately, the remedy of going back in time and returning you to your prior health is not possible. Therefore, the best the law can do is provide the remedy of a monetary award to help “compensate” the victim for the damages they have suffered. 

This is why the main type of damages is called compensatory damages. There are two types of compensatory damages, economic and non-economic.

Compensatory Damages

Economic Damages

It is easiest to think of economic damages as monetary losses the victim has incurred or probably will incur in the future, as a result of the injury. This includes categories like:

• Medical expenses – both past and future
• Loss of earnings – both past and future
• Lost earning capacity – if you can no longer work at the same job
• Property damage – such as the loss of your car

Non-Economic Damages

These types of damages, also known as general damages, are harder to quantify. While quite real, they are not as tangible as economic damages and the amounts are subjective. These damages include things like:

• Pain and suffering
• Emotional distress
• Loss of enjoyment of life
• Loss of consortium or marital relations
• Disfigurement

Punitive Damages

In California, compensatory damages are meant to attempt to compensate a victim for what an injury has cost them, both financially and emotionally. Punitive damages are quite different. They are meant to punish behavior that is particularly egregious or malicious and to serve as an example and a deterrent so others do not engage in similar behavior.  

Most claims for punitive damages involve intentional conduct. Additionally, before punitive damages can be awarded, the following factors must be considered:

• How much harm was suffered by the victim
• How much was the victim awarded for compensatory damages
• What level of egregiousness or malice did the defendant exhibit in their behavior which caused the harm
• The financial status of the defendant

Negotiating Tactics That Insurance Companies Like to Use

Insurance company adjusters are very happy when they learn a claimant has not retained a lawyer for representation.  In fact they will do everything they can to convince you that you don’t need one. Insurance company personnel, however, are professionals who are not working for you.  They are working for their company and their company’s economic interests. Here is a small sampling of some of the things they do:

• “I need a recorded statement so I can accurately get your side of the story.”  Unlike the police, the insurance company will not tell you that, “Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law.”  In this way an injured person has less protection than a criminal suspect. Do not give recorded statements. The only reason to record it is to use it against you.  Insurance companies are recording you for their interest not yours. So don’t give them permission. You don’t have to say yes.   

• Pressuring you into settlement before you know the full extent of your injuries and damages.  Some companies make nominal injury settlement offers in every case soon after an accident. They know they will save a substantial amount of money when claimants settle too soon before they know their full medical expenses, loss of earnings, and pain and suffering.  Once you settle you are done. So check with an experienced personal injury attorney before you sign anything.

• Setting an artificial deadline to accept an anemic settlement on a “take it or leave it” basis. Your only real deadline is the statute of limitations, and that is set by law not the insurance company.

• Asking you to grant them unlimited access to your medical records so they can use it to look for an excuse to claim that your injury was pre-existing.  They have no right to blanket authorizations. Don’t give them one.

Those are a few of the tactics. Jacob Shapiro, Esq. knows many more and he’s not going to let you fall for any of them.

Contact Shapiro Legal Group about Your Redwood City Injury Claim

Jacob Shapiro is dedicated to providing thorough, courteous, and effective legal representation to help his clients recover maximum compensation for their injuries and other losses. If you have been injured in Redwood City or the Bay Area, you can trust him to help you obtain the best settlement or verdict for your losses. Contact him to schedule your no-obligation consultation today with a committed and respected Redwood City personal injury attorney.