Wharton, TX Personal Injury Law Firms & Lawyers

You generally have 2 years within which to bring a personal injury claim in California. As for whether you have a case, it sounds like you have a claim for negligence.

You ask two different questions, which I will answer separately. First, as to the value of your case, there is no "formula" to determine the value of a case. Each case is different and dependent on its own facts. A person is entitled to be "made whole," that is, compensated for all injuries and damages sustained in an accident. There are a number of different factors that determine how much money you may be entitled to, including, but not limited to: whether your injury is permanent; how the injury affected you while you recovering and whether it will affect you in the future; medical expenses; lost wages; pain and suffering; and inconvenience. If an injury is permanent, you are entitled to money, if applicable, for some or all of these items in the future as well. You calculate money for future items based on either estimates, such as the cost of any medical treatment in the future, and your life expectancy. You do not provide any information regarding your injuries and other damages so I cannot answer your question about what your case might be worth. The fact that the "guy at fault has the maximum coverage" does not have any effect on the value of your case. It only goes to whether he has enough insurance coverage to fully compensate you. Second, it is possible that both the drunk driver's and your driver's car insurance companies may both have to pay you. You likely can collect at least some money from the drunk driver's insurance company. Whether you can collect from your driver's insurance company depends on information you do not provide, such as: why was the vehicle pulled over off the roadway; how far off the roadway was the vehicle; were the lights or flashers on or off; and did the accident occur during the day or night. If the accident occurred at night, your driver did not have his or her lights or flashers on and did not pull completely off the roadway, then your driver might also be partially at fault. If only the drunk driver is at-fault, then you would collect all money for his or her insurance company, assuming there is enough insurance coverage to fully compensate you. If both driver's were partially at fault, then you could collect from both insurance companies. I would suggest contacting a personal injury attorney to discuss your case. Most offer a free initial consultation and you can get more information about the value of your case and the fault of the driver's involved.

I think you're out of luck on this one. The only person you could sue I'd the car manufacturer or the municipality that owned the road. Your exclusive remedy against your employer and any co-employees of the same employer is Workers Compensation. If you can find someone else to blame then you can bring what is called a "third party action". That's where the big money is.