Personal injury is a branch of tort law, not a separate body of law. Every car crash claim, slip and fall, dog bite, and defective product case in California is a tort claim, governed by the same civil rules that apply to any private dispute over harm one person causes another. When a Long Beach personal injury attorney calls a case a tort action, the label is not decoration. It sets what must be proven, what can be recovered, and how long there is to act.
What is a tort?
A tort is a civil wrong that harms a person or their property and gives the injured party a right to sue for money damages. It exists separately from any criminal charge and from any contract between the parties.
California codified the principle in Civil Code section 1714, which makes everyone responsible for injury caused to another by their want of ordinary care in managing their person or property. That sentence has been on the books since 1872 and is what nearly every injury claim in the state rests on.
Are all torts personal injury cases?
No. Personal injury covers torts where the harm is bodily or psychological rather than purely financial or reputational. Defamation, trespass, and conversion are torts too, but not personal injury. Injury claims arise from three general categories:
- Negligence, where someone failed to use reasonable care. This covers most vehicle collisions, premises cases, and medical malpractice.
- Intentional torts, where someone acted on purpose. Assault and battery belong here, and they can be pursued civilly whether or not a prosecutor files charges.
- Strict liability, where fault need not be proven. California applies it to defective products and, under Civil Code section 3342, to dog bites, making an owner liable for a bite in a public place regardless of whether the dog showed aggression before.
What has to be proven in a negligence case?
Four elements, all of them required: duty, breach, causation, and damages.
Duty means the defendant owed a legal obligation to act with reasonable care, as drivers owe other road users and property owners owe people lawfully on the premises. Breach means falling short of it. Causation requires showing the conduct was a substantial factor in bringing about the harm. Damages means actual loss, which is why a near miss that injures no one supports no claim no matter how careless the driver was.
The burden of proof is a preponderance of the evidence, meaning more likely than not. That is a lower bar than beyond a reasonable doubt, which is why someone acquitted of a crime can still be held liable for the same conduct in a civil case.
How does a tort claim differ from a criminal case?
Different party brings it, a different standard applies, and a different outcome is available. A criminal case is filed by the state to punish conduct against the public and can result in jail, probation, or fines paid to the government. A tort claim is filed by the injured person to compensate a private loss and results in a money judgment.
The two often run at once. A DUI collision can produce a prosecution in Los Angeles County Superior Court and a separate civil suit by the people who were hurt. Restitution ordered in the criminal case rarely covers the full loss, and accepting it does not close the civil claim.
What can be recovered in a California personal injury case?
Economic damages cover measurable loss such as medical bills, future care, and lost earning capacity. Non-economic damages cover pain, suffering, disfigurement, and loss of enjoyment of life. Punitive damages punish rather than compensate, and Civil Code section 3294 permits them only on clear and convincing evidence of malice, oppression, or fraud.
Two California rules shape the number more than people expect. Under pure comparative negligence, an award is reduced by the injured person’s own share of fault but never eliminated by it. Under Proposition 51, now Civil Code section 1431.2, multiple defendants are jointly liable for economic damages but each pays non-economic damages only in proportion to its own fault.
Medical malpractice runs on its own track. Under Assembly Bill 35, the cap on non-economic damages began in 2023 at $350,000 for non-death claims and $500,000 for wrongful death, and both step up each January on a ten-year schedule toward $750,000 and $1 million.
How long is there to file?
Two years from the date of injury for most California personal injury claims under Code of Civil Procedure section 335.1, and three years for property damage.
The exceptions matter more than the rule. A claim against a city, county, school district, or state agency requires a written government claim within six months under the Government Claims Act. Medical malpractice runs one year from discovery or three years from the injury, whichever comes first, under Code of Civil Procedure section 340.5. Claims involving a minor are tolled until the child turns 18.
What does hiring a Long Beach personal injury attorney cost?
Nothing up front under a standard contingency agreement. The fee is a percentage of the recovery, commonly around a third if the case resolves before suit is filed and closer to 40 percent once litigation begins, with nothing owed if there is no recovery. Costs such as filing fees, records, and experts are usually advanced by the firm and reimbursed from the settlement. Medical malpractice is the one area California caps fees by statute, under a descending scale in Business and Professions Code section 6146 that starts at 40 percent of the first $50,000 recovered and drops to 15 percent above $600,000.
Personal injury is tort law applied to people who have been hurt, and the elements, damages, and deadlines attached to that classification decide whether a claim succeeds. Anyone weighing a claim after a collision, a fall, or an injury caused by someone else’s carelessness should get those questions answered while the evidence is still there. Speaking with a Long Beach Personal Injury Attorney early costs nothing and puts the deadline, the liability picture, and the value of the case in front of you before an insurer makes an offer.