Eureka, CA Personal Injury Law Firms & Lawyers

First, if you or the car was insured at the time, your insurance company should provide an attorney to defend you. Your attorney would be in a much better position to answer these questions. Your description of the accident is vague, and it is difficult for me to ascertain who may be at fault. When you say the cop hit you "driving towards oncoming traffic", I assume he was traveling the same direction as you since you were looking at oncoming traffic. I cannot tell if the oncoming traffic was such that you needed to stop. I assume you were rear ended by the cop and that he bounced off you and hit the girl. The government's liability is capped at $350,000.00. if her damages greatly exceed that, her attorney may be looking for someone else to sue. The attorney may be "grasping at straws". Sometimes, you sue anyone who might possibly be liable, and see how the case develops, and perhaps squeeze a settlement out of them. If you were rear ended, unless you stopped suddenly for no reason, or our brake lights were not working, then it is unlikely that you would have any liability. If I misunderstood the facts, and you were somehow at fault, they could get a judgment against you that would probably be noncollectable. They could only hold your parents liable under a doctrine known as the Family purpose doctrine. That only applies if your parents provided you with the car, and I think it requires you live with them, although I have not used the doctrine recently and it may also apply to family members who live outside the home.

I can possibly help if you are in upstate South Carolina. If the accident was the result of someone else's negligence, an attorney may be able to help you file a lawsuit against the other individual. If the accident was not a result of someone else's negligence, an attorney may be able to assist you in obtaining Social Security Disability.