Dog Bite Lawyer Tulare CA 93274

Nadrich Accident Injury Lawyers represents victims of dog bites in Tulare, CA, helping them recover financial compensation for medical bills, lost wages, pain, suffering and more.

If you have suffered a dog bite injury, we will represent you on a contingency fee basis, which means that we won’t charge any fee to handle your dog bite claim until and unless we recover financial compensation on your behalf. We won’t charge any upfront fees or out of pocket fees to handle your dog bite case. The only fee we’ll charge you is a percentage of whatever money we recover on your behalf to compensate you for your dog bite injuries.

If you’re a dog bite victim and can’t afford treatment for your injuries, we’ll get you to doctors who will treat your injuries on a lien, which means that you will not be charged for medical treatment until your case is over. We have a long track record of success, and doctors know this – this is why doctors give this deal to our clients.

We have been representing dog bite attack victims since 1990 and have recovered hundreds of millions of dollars in compensation for our clients. We have the experience and know-how to recover the most money possible to compensate you for your dog attack injuries.

Call a Tulare dog bite attorney at Nadrich Accident Injury Lawyers today for a free consultation, text us from this page or fill out this page’s free case evaluation form if you or a loved one was injured after being attacked by a dog.

Compensation a Tulare Dog Bite Lawyer Can Recover for You

California dog bite laws allow dog bite victims to recover financial compensation from dog owners. Typically, victims of dog attacks will recover compensation from the homeowners insurance of the dog owner.

Our Tulare dog bite lawyers can help you recover financial compensation for:

Medical Bills

The biggest chunk of compensation in dog bite claims usually comes in the form of compensation for medical expenses. When dog bites occur, their victims often come to us already owing money in medical bills. Dog bite cases also sometimes involve victims who require future medical treatment. We can help you recover compensation from an insurance company or dog owner for any past or future medical bills related to your dog bite injuries.

Lost Wages

Sometimes clients come to us unable to work for a period of time due to their dog bite injuries, and other times our clients need to take time off from work to get their dog bite injuries treated. We can help you recover compensation for any wages you’re unable to earn due to the dog bite you suffered.

Loss of Earning Capacity

Sometimes dog attacks leave their victims disabled. A disability can cause a dog bite victim to suffer a loss or reduction of their earning capacity. If your earning capacity has been eliminated or diminished due to your dog attack injuries, we can help you recover financial compensation for this.

Pain and Suffering

Dog bite attacks can cause their victims to go through physical pain. They can also cause mental suffering and conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder. When we handle your dog bite injury claim, an experienced dog bite attorney at Nadrich Accident Injury Lawyers can help you recover financial compensation for pain and suffering from a pet owner or an insurance company.

Wrongful Death

Sometimes dog bite attacks are fatal. Unfortunately, financial compensation won’t be able to bring your loved one back if you lost a loved one to an animal attack. However, our experienced dog bite lawyers can help you recover financial compensation which can ensure your family doesn’t need to experience financial hardship due to the loss of your loved one. We can help you recover financial compensation for:

• Your suffering
• Your grieving
• Your loved one’s funeral and burial costs
• Your loved one’s medical bills
• Your loved one’s pain and suffering
• The loss of your loved one’s love and companionship
• The loss of your loved one’s income and household services
• The loss of spousal benefits

What Should I Do After a Dog Bite Injury?

If a dog has harmed you and you have been injured, it’s very important to do the following to protect your legal rights and your health:

Seek Immediate Medical Attention for Your Dog Bite Injuries

You must immediately seek out medical attention, even if your injuries appear minor. You should have your injuries evaluated by a medical professional so complications such as infections don’t occur. In addition, the medical records generated by your visit to a medical professional can end up being important evidence when it comes time to file an injury claim regarding your dog bite.

Report the Attack

After you receive medical attention, you should report the dog bite attack to law enforcement or your local animal control. This is important from a public safety standpoint, and it will also assist you in identifying the owner of the dog. Sometimes owners may not be aware their dogs have bitten anyone. By reporting the dog bite, you may prevent attacks in the future.

Document the Dog Bite

It is vital to document any dog bite as much as you can. Take pictures of any injuries, the attack scene, and, if possible, the dog. Get the dog owner’s name, and get the contact information of any witnesses to the attack.

Consult a Lawyer Who Handles Cases Involving Dog Bites

A dog bite attorney can assist you with understanding your legal options and rights. You shouldn’t need to worry regarding how to navigate the complex legal process while you recover from your injuries. If a dog located in your neighborhood injured you, you might hesitate to file a dog bite claim against a neighbor or somebody you know. This is understandable. However, your neighbor won’t be harmed just because you talk with a lawyer. Most of the time, dog bite claims end up resolved by homeowners insurance policies. Good neighbors will be more concerned about you recovering from your injuries than they will claims being filed against their insurance policies. Allow us to answer any question you have and give you peace of mind regarding the entire legal process.

File Your Dog Attack Injury Claim

California law holds dog owners liable for dog bites, even when the owners aren’t previously aware of a dog’s dangerous propensities.

If you take the right steps after a dog bite, this can significantly impact your recover as well as the amount of financial compensation you recover in any injury claim. Call our lawyers today for a free consultation so we can protect your legal right to financial compensation.

What is the Average Dog Bite Settlement?

The amount you will receive in a dog bite claim ends up depending upon numerous factors, including:

The Extent of Your Injuries

A dog bite attack can be emotionally and physical traumatizing. However, it can also cause permanent, serious injuries, including traumatic brain injuries, severe facial scarring, amputations or nerve damage. These injuries can impact your quality of life as well as your ability to work. The extent of your injuries will play a huge role in determining the final amount of your settlement.

There are not many things more horrific you can go through than being bitten by a dog. Dog attacks are nightmare fuel and typically cause emotional distress. Their victims often end up being afraid of dogs, afraid to leave their home, and end up developing PTSD. If you suffer disfigurement from your dog bite injuries, you may require years of counseling. These factors will be considered when deciding upon a settlement amount.

Did Injuries Further Aggravate a Pre-existing Condition?

If your dog attack injuries worsened a pre-existing condition you had, the owner of the dog might be liable regarding any medical complications which arise. For example, say someone elderly has a heart attack while a dog bites them. If this person suffers additional health issues, the amount they receive in a settlement might be very high. This will especially be true for the family of the victim if the dog attack eventually causes them to die.

Did the Dog Owner Act Recklessly or Negligently?

If the dog owner’s behavior was particularly negligent or reckless, you may be awarded punitive damages by a court. For example, not only would letting a dog loose upon someone due to a personal beef with them be grounds for punitive damages, but it’d also be grounds for criminal charges. However, something leading to punitive damages may be something a bit more benign, such as repeatedly letting a dog roam free around a neighborhood, unsupervised, leading to a dog bite.

When the behavior of a dog owner is particularly flagrant, courts may award punitive damages which are in addition to damages for medical bills, pain, suffering and lost wages. The point of punitive damages is to punish wrongdoers and discourage others from behaving similarly.

Were You Partially at Fault for the Dog Bite?

In California, there’s a legal concept known as comparative negligence. This means the compensation you recover can be reduced by your percentage of fault for an incident if a court finds you share partial blame for a dog bite.

For example, say someone invited you into their home and you tried to pet the dog. If you were warned by the owner of the dog that their dog may be aggressive but you tried to pet it regardless and you were bitten, a court might find that you were partially at fault for the bite, reducing the amount of your settlement by your percentage of fault. So, if you were found 20 percent at fault, your settlement would be reduced by 20 percent.

Can I File a Claim if a Dog Injured Me but Didn’t Bite Me?

You may be able to file a claim if you were injured by a dog but not bitten. As an example, if a dog knocked you over and you hit your head or broke a bone, you might have a claim you can file against the owner, handler or keeper of the dog.

However, while, with very few exceptions, dog owners are liable for dog bites even in the absence of negligence, when a bite doesn’t occur, then you have to be able to establish negligence to successfully recover compensation for your injuries. This means that in order to recover compensation for non-bite dog attack injuries, you need to be able to prove the owner, keeper or handler of the dog failed to exercise reasonable care and the attack occurred due to this failure.

Examples of negligence on the part of a dog owner include:

• Letting dogs be off leashes in public areas which aren’t designated leash-free zones
• Not properly restraining dogs with a history of attacking or biting people
• Letting dogs roam in unfenced areas like front yards
• Not taking reasonable steps to prevent dogs from injuring others, like keeping dogs in fenced yards, keeping dogs on leashes, having warning signs posted, etc.
• Bringing dogs to areas where they’re not allowed, like public hiking trails or beaches

Is There a Time Limit to File Dog Bite Claims in California?

If you’ve been injured in California, and this includes dog bite injuries, you have two years from the date of the injury to file a claim seeking compensation. If you fail to file a claim within this time limit, you may be forever barred from recovering compensation for your dog bite injuries.

Exceptions exist to this time limit, which is known as a statute of limitations. Some exceptions lengthen the statute while others shorten it.

The best way to find out if you qualify to file a dog bite claim is to call our lawyers today for a free consultation. By calling us today, you give us the most time possible to investigate your case, gather evidence, build a strong case on your behalf and file any paperwork on time. In other words, calling us today gives you the best chance at recovering the most money possible for your injuries.

Call us today for a free consultation. Remember – we won’t charge you a fee unless we win your dog bite case.