Kern County is a massive county with 11 incorporated cities and other areas, including Bakersfield, Delano, Arvin, Maricopa, and others. This county has a population of over 922,000 and is known for its agriculture and oil resources.

Despite its wide-open spaces, Kern County locals are no strangers to accidents on the road, in the workplace, or elsewhere. When you’re hurt and out of work due to an accident caused by the recklessness or negligence of another person, what can you do to make ends meet?

A personal injury case is the best approach to hold responsible parties accountable and try to obtain compensation for your accident-related expenses. Keep reading to learn more about what a Kern County personal injury attorney from BD&J can do for your case!

Key Takeaways

Kern County is the third largest county in California, known for its agriculture and oil excavation opportunities.
This large county has 11 incorporated cities, which means a high risk of personal injury accidents happening in public places and along busy roads like the I-5, SR-119, and more.
A personal injury accident can cause serious injuries and lead to overwhelming expenses, including lost wages, medical bills, property damage, and more.
Talking with a Kern County personal injury attorney can help you learn more about your legal options when filing a claim.

What Counts as a Personal Injury Accident in Kern County?

Being injured can happen anytime and anywhere. At BD&J, our attorneys have represented clients in various personal injury accidents, such as:

Car accidents, including rear-end collisions, multiple vehicle pileups, T-bone accidents, and head-on collisions
Commercial vehicle accidents, including accidents with cargo vans, semi-trailers, and delivery vehicles
Truck accidents, such as wide-turn accidents, spilled cargo accidents, and rear-end collisions
Dog bite accidents on public and private property
Product defect accidents, including burning, brain injuries, or other severe harm
Police brutality incidents, including excessive force and use of lethal force
Aviation accidents, like takeoff and landing collisions
Livestock accidents, including cattle or horse collisions
Construction site accidents, such as falls, trips, and electrocution
Workplace sexual assault and harassment, like quid pro quo, hostile work environment, groping and more
Premises liability accidents, such as slips and falls, burns, and being struck by fallen objects
Wrongful death accidents in which family seeks compensation for the loss of their loved one
And much more

How Do I Know if I Have a Personal Injury Case?

If you were injured as a direct result of an accident caused by another person, company, or entity’s recklessness or negligence, then you may qualify for a personal injury case. The most common injuries presented in personal injury claims include:

Catastrophic Injuries

Paralysis, traumatic brain injuries, and deformities are some of the most common types of catastrophic injuries. These injuries are completely life-altering and can often result in disability, the need for lifelong care, or loss of movement.

Traumatic Brain Injuries

Traumatic brain injuries occur when the brain is left swollen, bruised, or bleeding due to trauma to the head. These injuries are fairly common in car accidents, pedestrian accidents, and other vehicle accidents, and can lead to mental impairment, concussions, coma, or even death.

Broken Bones

The impact of car accidents, slips and falls, being struck by objects, and other accidents can result in broken bones, which can lead to arthritis, nerve damage, and even paralysis if left untreated.

Organ Damage

Car accidents, motorcycle accidents, and even being pinned down or crushed by heavy machinery in a construction site accident can often result in serious organ damage to some of the most pivotal organs in the body, including the liver, spleen, kidneys, lungs, heart, and brain.

Do I Have to go to the Hospital After an Accident to File a Claim?

You should! Many people often say they don’t feel pain or any symptoms of injury after an accident, so they don’t want to waste time going to a hospital.

It is important to remember two things: one, adrenaline after an accident can often lower the intensity of any symptoms of injuries, and two, some injuries can take days or even weeks to fully appear. This is why the legal team at BD&J stresses it is better to be safe than sorry and go to the hospital immediately after any accident. This exam will serve as an important piece of evidence to support your case.

Did your loved one suffer a catastrophic injury in Kern County? Contact BD&J personal injury attorneys today.

Why Should I Work with a Kern County Personal Injury Lawyer for My Case?

If you were injured on the road, in a shopping mall, or even your own apartment building due to another party’s inaction or recklessness, you should not be left dealing with the financial expenses on your own.

Medical bills, loss of income, and property repairs are common financial stressors that accompany an accident. This can quickly cause a toll on injured Californians and their families.

Working with a personal injury attorney in Kern County from BD&J can help. Considering there were over 278,901 civil cases seeking more than $35,000 presented in California in one year alone; personal injury cases are on the rise, and injured plaintiffs are in need of legal representation to navigate complex cases.

While you work on healing and adapting to injuries after an accident, a personal injury attorney can help:

Provide insight on the value of your claim, the legal path ahead, and help present the initial personal injury claim
Collect evidence, using attorney resources to connect with expert witnesses who can reconstruct the accident or attest to your injuries
Negotiate with insurance companies and the representatives of the other parties for a fair settlement for your case
Appeal denied insurance claims
Communicate with insurance companies and other legal representatives on your behalf

The BD&J Difference

At BD&J, we treat every client who walks through our doors like family. We’re attentive to each case, working to obtain the most compensation for our clients.

We have offices located in Fresno, Sacramento, Los Angeles, and throughout California. If you can’t make it to our offices, one of our attorneys will go to your home or hospital room to talk about your case. We’re not afraid to go against big corporations in the name of fair compensation for injured clients and their families!

What’s the Difference Between Liability and Causation in Personal Injury?

You may have heard of the terms “liability” and “causation” on your favorite legal dramas. These are two different things, but they are directly related to further support your claim.

Liability refers to the legal responsibility of another party when it comes to injuries and other damages in an accident. In order to prove liability for your personal injury claim, an attorney helps to prove that:
- The other person had a duty of care to you
- This duty of care was breached by the other person’s negligence or recklessness
- As a direct result of this breach, you suffered injuries and other damages
Causation refers to the direct link between one party’s actions and the other person’s injuries. Causation must be shown to prove liability.

Call BD&J to connect with a personal injury attorney in Kern County who can provide insight on liability in your claim!

Frequently Asked Questions

Is There a Deadline to File a Personal Injury Claim?

Yes, the statute of limitations for most personal injury cases is 2 years from the date of the accident and injury. Once this statute of limitations runs out, you forfeit the opportunity to recover compensation.

What Should I Do After an Accident?

Right after an accident happens, you should exchange contact info with the other driver or witnesses to the accident, get photos and videos of the scene and environment, and seek medical treatment immediately.

From there, your best option is to sit down with a personal injury attorney to discuss who could be held accountable for your damages.

How Can I Prove Negligence in a Personal Injury Claim?

Proving negligence is often done through the use of specific evidence, like a police report, medical documentation of injuries, photos and videos of the accident or its aftermath, and eyewitness testimony.

Do I Have to Work with a Personal Injury Attorney in Kern County?

Not necessarily. If your accident involved significant injuries, lost wages, the death of a loved one, or disputes over liability, an attorney can help you. There are proven benefits to working with a personal injury lawyer, including a higher compensation amount. A personal injury attorney can use special resources to provide expert witness testimony for your case, advance case costs so you don’t have to pay for a legal claim upfront, and also help when it comes to specific laws or regulations pertaining to your case.

How Do I Start Looking for a Personal Injury Law Firm Near Me?

To start looking for the best personal injury law firm in Kern County, you can ask friends and family for recommendations, browse law firm websites to find a firm with experience representing similar cases to yours, and book a consultation with potential law firms.

Any reputable law firm will offer a free consultation for you to get to know their attorneys and receive advice about your claim. Schedule your free initial consultation with BD&J today!

How Long Does a Personal Injury Case Take to Resolve?

Every case is different. Some personal injury cases can take months to resolve, while others can take a year or two.

Personal injury claims tend to settle faster to avoid the time restraints of a trial, the costs of a trial, and if both parties reach an agreement on compensation.

What Can I Expect in My First Consultation with a BD&J Personal Injury Attorney?

When you sit down with a BD&J personal injury attorney, you can expect to talk with a dedicated and experienced lawyer who has represented similar cases to yours in the past. The attorney will listen to your story and thoroughly analyze your case.

You can and should go to your first consultation with questions as well. Remember, this is a conversation between you and a legal expert. Common questions could include: Do I have a case? What is my claim worth? How long will my case take to settle? How can I establish liability in my claim?

Do I Have to Pay Upfront to Work with BD&J?

Not at all! We work on a contingency fee basis, which means we advance all case costs to you and obtain final attorney fees from the settlement amount after a case resolves.

This means no hourly rates for injured clients. You only pay when your case resolves.

How To Maximize Your Compensation in a Personal Injury Case

The aim of any personal injury case is to obtain compensation related to injuries and other expenses incurred in an accident. Maximizing your compensation helps allow you and your family peace of mind as you heal from injuries.

Maximize your compensation by following these steps:

Document everything. – Preserve all evidence from the accident, including photos and videos, the contact information of people who saw the accident unfold, and the information of the other party involved in the accident.
Make an official report of the accident. – Call the police to report a car or other vehicular accident, make an official report with the appropriate agency (as an example, reporting a construction site accident to OSHA), and keep a copy of this report for your own records.
Consider all expenses, including future ones. – When the negotiation process starts, many injured Californians tend to think of past and current expenses, but not expenses for future repairs or treatments, which are just as important.
Don’t take the first settlement offer. – Insurance companies may lowball the first offer, which is why you should always wait to accept any offer until speaking with an attorney first.
Consult with a personal injury attorney. – A personal injury lawyer will have the experience and prior knowledge to aggressively fight for a higher compensation amount.