San Jose Drunk Driving Attorney
Helping Victims of Drunk Driving Accidents Throughout Santa Clara County
Drunk driving causes some of the most devastating and tragic accidents on our roadways, causing severe injury, disability, and death to thousands of innocent victims. More than 10,000 people lose their lives in drunk driving accidents in the United States every year. In California alone, more than 1,000 people die each year as a result of drunk driving. Approximately 30% of fatal collisions in California involve a driver with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.08 or higher. Despite these statistics, driving under the influence of alcohol remains all-too-common. There are more than 100,000 arrests for driving under the influence (DUI) in California each year. This is just the number of people who are caught driving under the influence. Just imagine the number of people driving drunk every day in California who are never caught, but are posing a severe risk of injury and death to other motorists on the roadways.
If you or a loved one has been injured in a drunk driving accident, this will be one of the most painful and challenging periods of your life. Drunk driving causes a disproportionate number of severe injuries and fatalities, dramatically increasing the extent of damage from a collision. Suffering through the injuries, undergoing extensive medical treatment, having difficulty obtaining the best medical providers, losing wages from time off work, and knowing that someone who was drunk driving caused all of it will be extremely difficult to endure.
Legal Recourse Under California Law
As a victim of a drunk driver, you are entitled to significant compensation for your injuries and other damage you sustained. You are entitled to recover for medical expenses, lost wages, loss of earning capacity, property damage, loss of use of property, and other economic damages. You are also entitled to be compensated for non-economic damages, including pain, suffering, disfigurement, and loss of enjoyment of life caused by your injuries. These are the damages generally recoverable in a negligence action for a motor vehicle collision in California.
However, under California law, you can pursue additional damages if you are the victim of a drunk driving accident. Under California Code of Civil Procedure Section 1021.4, the prevailing plaintiff may be awarded reasonable attorney’s fees against a defendant who was convicted of a felony that caused the injuries, such as driving under the influence and causing an injury accident, which is prosecuted as a felony. Moreover, pursuant to California Civil Code Section 3294(a), a plaintiff may recover punitive damages against a defendant where it is proven that the defendant was guilty of oppression, fraud, or malice. While it is frequently difficult to recover punitive damages in a typical motor vehicle accident case, the malice required for punitive damages may be established where the defendant’s drunk driving caused the accident.
Being involved in an accident caused by a drunk driver is not your typical motor vehicle accident. You have been injured as the result of another driver’s criminal conduct, which goes far beyond the typical negligence involved in a collision. You have substantial legal rights that need to be enforced and upheld. The Law Office of James C. Suits is here to help you navigate all of the legal hurdles in a drunk driving accident case that need to be overcome to achieve the justice that you deserve. James will fight to obtain the maximum recovery for your injuries permitted under California law. He handles all of the difficult legal work necessary so that his clients’ involvement in the process is as simple and easy as possible. James personally handles all of his free consultations, so you will be able to speak directly with a lawyer about all of your concerns, rather than having to speak with a paralegal or other unlicensed case intake specialist, as you would at many other personal injury firms. After being retained as your attorney, James will immediately get to work to recover the maximum possible monetary recovery in the shortest time possible.
Schedule Your Complimentary Consultation
Please feel free to call Suits Litigation, Inc at their San Jose office at (408) 479-7622 for a consultation to discuss your accident. James looks forward to speaking with you, answering any questions you may have, and discussing what options you have to move forward with your case.