Personal injury lawyer help in Riverside County, California

Riverside County, California includes 42 named communities, the largest being Riverside, Moreno Valley, Corona. Whether an accident happened on a county road, in a small town or in one of the larger communities, the same California rules apply: a 2-year filing deadline for most injury claims, pure comparative negligence, and lawsuits filed in the Riverside County Superior Court. This page is the county-wide guide, with links to a page for each community.

You describe what happened anywhere in Riverside County using the free claim review form, and your request may be shared with participating attorneys or legal services partners who handle that type of matter in California. Submitting a request does not hire an attorney, and everything below is general legal information, not legal advice about your specific situation.

Each community below has its own guide with the local court, insurance rules and every type of injury claim.

• Riverside, CApop. 322,424
• Moreno Valley, CApop. 204,198
• Corona, CApop. 164,226
• Temecula, CApop. 112,011
• Murrieta, CApop. 109,830
• Indio, CApop. 87,533
• Menifee, CApop. 87,174
• Hemet, CApop. 83,861
• Perris, CApop. 74,971
• Lake Elsinore, CApop. 61,981
• Cathedral City, CApop. 53,826
• Palm Desert, CApop. 51,869
• Palm Springs, CApop. 47,371
• San Jacinto, CApop. 46,951
• Coachella, CApop. 44,635
• Beaumont, CApop. 43,811
• Wildomar, CApop. 35,632
• Banning, CApop. 30,945
• Desert Hot Springs, CApop. 28,335
• Norco, CApop. 26,289
• Blythe, CApop. 19,208
• Rancho Mirage, CApop. 18,083
• Mecca, CApop. 8,577
• Calimesa, CApop. 8,542
• Thousand Palms, CApop. 7,715
• Nuevo, CApop. 6,447
• Homeland, CApop. 5,969
• Indian Wells, CApop. 5,289
• Idyllwild, CApop. 3,583
• Anza, CApop. 3,014
• Thermal, CApop. 2,865
• Cabazon, CApop. 2,535
• Winchester, CApop. 2,534
• Aguanga, CApop. 1,128

Smaller communities in Riverside County include Desert Center, La Quinta, March Air Reserve Base, Mira Loma, Mountain Center, North Palm Springs, Sun City, White Water. Residents of these areas follow the same California rules, use the same Riverside County Superior Court, and can request a free claim review from anywhere in the county.

California generally gives an injured person two years from the date of injury to file a personal injury lawsuit (Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 335.1); medical malpractice is different (the EARLIER of three years from injury or one year from discovery (Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 340.5); § 364 also requires 90 days’ notice before suit). A wrongful death claim has its own deadline: two years from the death (Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 335.1). For an injured child: The clock pauses until 18 (Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 352(a)); medical malpractice follows its own rule. Claims against California public entities require a government claim within six months (Gov. Code § 911.2). Claims against a city, county, school district or state agency follow a separate deadline: 6 months (Gov. Code § 911.2). Once the deadline passes, the Riverside County Superior Court will dismiss the case regardless of how clear the fault was, so the practical rule in Riverside County is to get legal advice early.

California follows pure comparative negligence, a rule set by the courts in Li v. Yellow Cab Co. (Cal. 1975) rather than by statute. In plain terms, you can recover damages even if you were mostly at fault, but your award is reduced by your percentage of fault. Insurance adjusters apply this rule from the first phone call, which is why the way an accident is described and documented in the days after it happens in Riverside County has a direct effect on what a claim is worth.

After a crash in Riverside County, the at-fault driver's liability insurance is the primary source of compensation. California requires drivers to carry only 30/60/15 in coverage (thousands of dollars for bodily injury per person, per accident, and property damage), which serious injuries quickly exhaust. Underinsured motorist coverage on your own policy and claims against additional responsible parties often make the difference in Riverside County cases.

Lawsuits arising from accidents in Riverside County are typically filed in the Riverside County Superior Court, the trial court of general jurisdiction for Riverside County, although cases can sometimes be filed where the defendant resides or does business, and claims against out-of-state trucking companies or manufacturers may end up in federal court. Most claims settle before trial, but the credible ability to try a case in Riverside County is what moves insurers to pay fair value.

Employees injured on the job in Riverside County are generally covered by California workers' compensation, administered through the California Division of Workers' Compensation. Report the injury to your employer within 30 days — that notice deadline is short and missing it can end the claim before it starts — then file the formal claim within one year. Workers' compensation does not pay for pain and suffering, so when a third party such as a subcontractor, driver or equipment manufacturer caused the injury, a separate personal injury claim is often worth pursuing alongside it.

• San Bernardino County, CA
• San Diego County, CA
• Orange County, CA
• Los Angeles County, CA

See the California personal injury guide for every county in the state.