BODILY INJURY
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James B. Kamanski, Attorney at Law
10940 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 600
Los Angeles, CA 90024
(424) 901-8011 (424 is West L.A.'s newest area code)
(424) 901-8012 fax
james@jbeklaw.com
Plaintiff's Bodily Injury
10940 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 600
Los Angeles, CA 90024
(424) 901-8011 (424 is West L.A.'s newest area code)
(424) 901-8012 fax
james@jbeklaw.com
Plaintiff's Bodily Injury
DISCLAIMER: The following content is not intended to be legal advice to the reader.
If you have clicked on this link you have probably been in an accident of some kind. You may have heard
the phrase “personal injury” or “personal injury lawyer” before. Jim’s law practice is devoted primarily to
bodily injury law, which is the same thing as personal injury.
What You Should Know About Personal Injury Lawyers
Lawyers come in all varieties, and there is no exception for personal injury lawyers. In every major
metropolitan area there are a few “heavy hitter” personal injury lawyers that handle only the biggest cases
with the most catastrophic of injuries or the most horrific of deaths, and often with relatively simple liability
issues. These attorneys are often (but not always) leaders for the other personal injury lawyers in the
community and enjoy sizeable incomes and notoriety. They are good at what they do, and they are
selective in their cases. At the other end of the spectrum are personal injury lawyers that may handle all
variety of relatively smaller cases, often attempting to create a “mill” in order to generate income from a
large number of small cases which, individually, are not worth very much in fees and are often settled for
even less than their full value to move the mill along.
Jim’s practice fits toward the top. Jim used to defend personal injury lawyers sued for malpractice and the
bulk of his practice is now devoted to representing personal injury claimants. What sets Jim apart from the
pack of personal injury lawyers is that he will apply solid and aggressive lawyering to your case despite the
fact it may not involve the most catastrophic of injuries or the most horrific of deaths. Jim does not take
small cases. Jim does not run a “mill.” Jim takes cases involving significant and usually permanent bodily
injuries and where liability against the defendant can reasonably be shown. Jim also represents families
whose loved ones have been killed - also called “wrongful death.” Jim will take your case to jury trial if that
is appropriate which, in fact, many personal injury attorneys are afraid to do. Jim will give you attentive
and committed representation throughout your case, and will guide you through the labyrinth of pits and
obstacles that face every personal injury claimant.
How do Personal Injuries Lawyers Make their Money?
Personal injury lawyers make their money through the contingency fee. This means that the personal
injury lawyer agrees to represent you, the client, free of any charges as your case progresses in exchange
for a “cut” of your final recovery. If you do not recover anything in your case, the personal injury lawyer
takes nothing. Usually the “cut” is at least 33% of your recovery, which is standard throughout the
country. The upside to this arrangement is that the lawyer can profit considerably. The downside is that
the lawyer can spend a tremendous amount of time and energy on a case, only to collect nothing at the
end of the day if your case is lost. Because of the nature of such agreements, it is to the personal injury
lawyer’s benefit to select winnable cases with significant damages. Indeed, a failure to exercise great
discretion by a personal injury lawyer in case selection can eventually lead to a failure of his or her
practice.
As your case progresses, personal injury lawyers usually advance or “cover” all of the expenses
associated with your case. Usually, there are thousands of dollars of expenses associated with a personal
injury case. The single largest expense is almost always the costs associated with expert witnesses.
Virtually no personal injury case can move forward unless there is some expert witness involvement and
support. This will always include a medical doctor to talk about the injuries involved. For significant
matters, other kinds of experts, such as car accident reconstruction experts, safety experts, psychological
factors experts, medical speciality experts, and so forth, are enlisted to work up and present a case. For
big cases, overall expenses can climb to well over $100,000.00 by the time a jury trial is over.
The personal injury lawyer views these expenses as investment money. The idea is that if several
thousand dollars are invested into expenses and the case is worked up properly, a much larger pay-out
will occur and the lawyer will not only recover a sizeable amount for you, the client, but will recover all of his
or her investment plus a reasonably good fee as compensation for all of the hard work.
For personal injury clients, Jim also earns his money using the contingency fee. Jim will handle your case
on a contingency fee basis, and will usually advance all of the costs and expenses as is customary to do.
What is all this Talk About Frivolous Lawsuits and Tort Reform?
Personal injury lawyers are both loved and hated. They are among some of the most dedicated and
effective lawyers in the profession. Without personal injury lawyers, much of the safety and fairness we
take for granted in society would not exist, and we would live in a more troubled place. On the other hand,
personal injury lawyers are also thought to stir up litigation over marginal claims and collaborate with
dishonest expert witnesses to make money, with the net effect of burdening big business and the
insurance industry with a “lawsuit tax.” What sets Jim apart from many other personal injury lawyers is that
he recognizes and appreciates this perspective and what truth there is behind it. Consequently, Jim will
not foist a victim mentality on to you to bolster your claim of injuries. By the same token, if you have
honest injuries, you have been honest about your own responsibility in causing your injuries, you have
genuine motives to be helped and to help yourself, and you have honestly assessed whether you should
blame someone else for your injuries, then Jim is eager to help you.
How do you get Started?
Pick up the phone and call Jim. Usually, as a client, your involvement in a personal injury case requires
little time. There will be times when you need to meet with Jim, or speak with him over the telephone or by
email. You will also need to gather documents for Jim at the beginning of your case, and later in your case
you may need to meet for a deposition. On occasion, if your case cannot be settled, you may need to
appear at a trial. However, over 95% of personal injury cases settle before a trial. Overall, your time
commitment to a case will be minimal. Of course, if you ever have questions please call or email Jim, and
he will respond to you promptly.
If you have more questions about personal injury law or getting started with a case, please feel free to
contact Jim by sending an email either direct or through the "Contact Us" page on this site, or by calling.
You may also call to set up an in-person meeting. All initial consultations are without charge, regardless of
whether Jim accepts your case.
DISCLAIMER: The content above is not intended to be legal advice to the reader.
If you have clicked on this link you have probably been in an accident of some kind. You may have heard
the phrase “personal injury” or “personal injury lawyer” before. Jim’s law practice is devoted primarily to
bodily injury law, which is the same thing as personal injury.
What You Should Know About Personal Injury Lawyers
Lawyers come in all varieties, and there is no exception for personal injury lawyers. In every major
metropolitan area there are a few “heavy hitter” personal injury lawyers that handle only the biggest cases
with the most catastrophic of injuries or the most horrific of deaths, and often with relatively simple liability
issues. These attorneys are often (but not always) leaders for the other personal injury lawyers in the
community and enjoy sizeable incomes and notoriety. They are good at what they do, and they are
selective in their cases. At the other end of the spectrum are personal injury lawyers that may handle all
variety of relatively smaller cases, often attempting to create a “mill” in order to generate income from a
large number of small cases which, individually, are not worth very much in fees and are often settled for
even less than their full value to move the mill along.
Jim’s practice fits toward the top. Jim used to defend personal injury lawyers sued for malpractice and the
bulk of his practice is now devoted to representing personal injury claimants. What sets Jim apart from the
pack of personal injury lawyers is that he will apply solid and aggressive lawyering to your case despite the
fact it may not involve the most catastrophic of injuries or the most horrific of deaths. Jim does not take
small cases. Jim does not run a “mill.” Jim takes cases involving significant and usually permanent bodily
injuries and where liability against the defendant can reasonably be shown. Jim also represents families
whose loved ones have been killed - also called “wrongful death.” Jim will take your case to jury trial if that
is appropriate which, in fact, many personal injury attorneys are afraid to do. Jim will give you attentive
and committed representation throughout your case, and will guide you through the labyrinth of pits and
obstacles that face every personal injury claimant.
How do Personal Injuries Lawyers Make their Money?
Personal injury lawyers make their money through the contingency fee. This means that the personal
injury lawyer agrees to represent you, the client, free of any charges as your case progresses in exchange
for a “cut” of your final recovery. If you do not recover anything in your case, the personal injury lawyer
takes nothing. Usually the “cut” is at least 33% of your recovery, which is standard throughout the
country. The upside to this arrangement is that the lawyer can profit considerably. The downside is that
the lawyer can spend a tremendous amount of time and energy on a case, only to collect nothing at the
end of the day if your case is lost. Because of the nature of such agreements, it is to the personal injury
lawyer’s benefit to select winnable cases with significant damages. Indeed, a failure to exercise great
discretion by a personal injury lawyer in case selection can eventually lead to a failure of his or her
practice.
As your case progresses, personal injury lawyers usually advance or “cover” all of the expenses
associated with your case. Usually, there are thousands of dollars of expenses associated with a personal
injury case. The single largest expense is almost always the costs associated with expert witnesses.
Virtually no personal injury case can move forward unless there is some expert witness involvement and
support. This will always include a medical doctor to talk about the injuries involved. For significant
matters, other kinds of experts, such as car accident reconstruction experts, safety experts, psychological
factors experts, medical speciality experts, and so forth, are enlisted to work up and present a case. For
big cases, overall expenses can climb to well over $100,000.00 by the time a jury trial is over.
The personal injury lawyer views these expenses as investment money. The idea is that if several
thousand dollars are invested into expenses and the case is worked up properly, a much larger pay-out
will occur and the lawyer will not only recover a sizeable amount for you, the client, but will recover all of his
or her investment plus a reasonably good fee as compensation for all of the hard work.
For personal injury clients, Jim also earns his money using the contingency fee. Jim will handle your case
on a contingency fee basis, and will usually advance all of the costs and expenses as is customary to do.
What is all this Talk About Frivolous Lawsuits and Tort Reform?
Personal injury lawyers are both loved and hated. They are among some of the most dedicated and
effective lawyers in the profession. Without personal injury lawyers, much of the safety and fairness we
take for granted in society would not exist, and we would live in a more troubled place. On the other hand,
personal injury lawyers are also thought to stir up litigation over marginal claims and collaborate with
dishonest expert witnesses to make money, with the net effect of burdening big business and the
insurance industry with a “lawsuit tax.” What sets Jim apart from many other personal injury lawyers is that
he recognizes and appreciates this perspective and what truth there is behind it. Consequently, Jim will
not foist a victim mentality on to you to bolster your claim of injuries. By the same token, if you have
honest injuries, you have been honest about your own responsibility in causing your injuries, you have
genuine motives to be helped and to help yourself, and you have honestly assessed whether you should
blame someone else for your injuries, then Jim is eager to help you.
How do you get Started?
Pick up the phone and call Jim. Usually, as a client, your involvement in a personal injury case requires
little time. There will be times when you need to meet with Jim, or speak with him over the telephone or by
email. You will also need to gather documents for Jim at the beginning of your case, and later in your case
you may need to meet for a deposition. On occasion, if your case cannot be settled, you may need to
appear at a trial. However, over 95% of personal injury cases settle before a trial. Overall, your time
commitment to a case will be minimal. Of course, if you ever have questions please call or email Jim, and
he will respond to you promptly.
If you have more questions about personal injury law or getting started with a case, please feel free to
contact Jim by sending an email either direct or through the "Contact Us" page on this site, or by calling.
You may also call to set up an in-person meeting. All initial consultations are without charge, regardless of
whether Jim accepts your case.
DISCLAIMER: The content above is not intended to be legal advice to the reader.