When you've been injured in a motorcycle accident, you want an experienced lawyer to help you get full and fair compensation for your injuries. When you are involved in an accident while riding a motorcycle, even at low speeds with all available safety gear, the injuries sustained can still be serious. As a bicyclist in northern California, you have as much right to the road as any motor vehicle, including cars, trucks, buses, delivery vans and light rails. If you have been injured on a motorcycle because another motorist made a left turn into your path, you want an experienced motorcycle injury lawyer to help you get full and fair compensation for your losses. Under California law, a driver may not change lanes on any road unless the lane change can be completed with reasonable safety, and only after giving an appropriate signal to other drivers. When you’re on a motorcycle, any defect or irregularity in the roadway can put you at risk for serious injury. When you have suffered physical injury or property loss while riding a motorcycle in California, you generally look to the other driver’s insurance company to seek recovery for your losses. You want an experienced lawyer to help you gain full and fair compensation for your losses as a result of other drivers failing to obey traffic signals. We provide comprehensive results-based counsel to individuals who have suffered injury while riding a bicycle. We are Fully Prepared to Aggressively Represent You.

Truck and Commercial Vehicle Accident Claims

Posted on September 22, 2011 by glmain

San Francisco | San Jose | Oakland | San Rafael, CA

The personal injury lawyers of Weber & Nierenberg represent motorcyclists and bicycle riders who have suffered serious injuries when struck by a truck or other commercial vehicle in the San Francisco Bay Area. Our understanding of the important differences between accident litigation involving commercial insurance and those cases involving private auto policies can make a significant difference in the outcome of a severe injury case.

In bike collisions with private passenger vehicles, the policy limits of the driver that hit you represent an important factor in the case’s resolution. In catastrophic injury accidents, an auto driver’s liability coverage limits of $50,000, $100,000 or even $200,000 will come nowhere close to what you need to cover a permanent disability, years of lost income or complex medical and rehabilitative treatment.

As a result, our attorneys can often reasonably expect to settle these cases at the policy limits once we establish the other driver’s liability and the extent of the accident victim’s injuries. We then pursue any and all other potential defendants to maximize the value of your overall financial recovery.

Commercial Vehicle Accidents Mean Commercial Insurance Coverage

When the driver who hit you is covered under a commercial vehicle or fleet liability policy, however, it is unrealistic to expect a prompt settlement at the policy limits. Coverage typically begins at $1 million per accident, with much larger policy limits common. What this means for the injured motorcyclist in practical terms is that the victim needs to prove every element of his or her loss in detail, often with expert support.

Unlike a severe injury case that would likely settle at low liability coverage limits, the claims adjusters and defense lawyers in a semi-truck or other commercial vehicle case have every incentive to demand strict proof of injury claims.

If you need $700,000, they will try to settle for $400,000. If you need $1.6 million, they will attack the evidence supporting the damages demand in an attempt to settle the case for $800,000. Truck accident litigation often develops into a contest between opposing teams of experts, with each side presenting a thoroughly reasoned analysis of its position.

Call a San Francisco Motorcycle Accident Attorney: 866-288-6010

Weber & Nierenberg has the experience and sophisticated approach to complex accident litigation necessary to give an injured motorcycle or bicycle rider a strong chance of recovering fair compensation for severe or disabling injuries. Our familiarity with the legal strategies used by commercial vehicle insurance defense lawyers represents an important advantage for our clients. Contact us at any of our four Bay Area locations to learn more about our experience with northern California truck and commercial vehicle litigation.

With offices in San Francisco, San Rafael, Oakland and San Jose, our attorneys represent clients throughout the East Bay, North Bay, South Bay and other northern California communities, including Sacramento, Napa, Santa Rosa, Berkeley, Richmond, Fremont, Hayward, Modesto, Stockton, San Mateo, Santa Cruz and Walnut Creek.

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Overcoming Jury Bias in Motorcycle Accident Cases

Posted on September 8, 2011 by glmain

San Francisco | San Jose | Oakland | San Rafael, CA

The experienced trial lawyers at the law firm of Weber & Nierenberg understand how each side tries to use the prospect of presenting its case before a jury to its advantage in the pretrial and settlement negotiation stages of a civil action.

We understand the value of preparing each case as if it will go to trial. That way, we convince insurance defense lawyers of our willingness and ability to present a close case to a jury. Similarly, the defense will often try to scare the plaintiff into a low settlement on the grounds that “no jury in _____ County will ever award a client like yours that kind of money.”

Insurers Use the Threat of Jury Bias to Settle Cases Cheaply

Scare tactics based on jury bias are especially common in motorcycle accident cases. Defense attorneys are not above playing up the stereotypes of bikers as risk-taking renegades for whom the dangers of motorcycle travel are a large part of the appeal, no matter how far removed from reality that image might be in a given case.

Our experience with cases involving serious motorcycle injuries suffered by bikers of all shapes and sizes allows us to state categorically: no motorcycle accident victim ever needs to fear jury bias based solely on the fact of having been injured while riding. No matter how you dress, how long you’ve been riding or how many tattoos you have, you’re entitled to the same fair treatment before a jury as anybody else, and we know how to help you get the most out of your day in court.

Our strategies in juror selection, jury instructions and objections during testimony are generally more than sufficient to overcome the risk that a particular jury might be prejudiced against a biker for reasons ranging from “she wasn’t wearing a helmet” to “he’s a member of a gang.” We find that keeping the jury focused on the evidence, especially on the accident’s impact on our client’s ability to live life as normal, is enough to accomplish a just result.

What Jury Bias? 4X Settlement Offer Awarded to Dykes on Bikes Member

One of our past cases illustrates very well our ability to protect our clients’ right to a fair trial while overcoming a very conscious jury-bias settlement strategy on the part of an insurer. Our client was a member of Dykes on Bikes, the San Francisco lesbian motorcycle club. She suffered a knee injury when a double-parked vehicle suddenly pulled into her path without signaling. We rejected a very low settlement offer that was based on the insurance company’s belief that the jury would hold her sexual orientation against her. Instead, the jury awarded our client a verdict four times the amount of the offer.

Find out more about the ways experienced trial lawyers can overcome jury bias and its use in settlement negotiations in northern California motorcycle accident litigation. Contact Weber & Nierenberg for a free consultation at any of our four Bay Area locations.

With offices in San Francisco, San Rafael, Oakland and San Jose, our attorneys represent motorcycle accident clients throughout the East Bay, North Bay, South Bay and other northern California communities, including Sacramento, Napa, Santa Rosa, Berkeley, Richmond, Fremont, Hayward, Modesto, Stockton, San Mateo, Santa Cruz and Walnut Creek.

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Comparative Fault Issues in Motorcycle Accident Litigation

Posted on August 17, 2011 by glmain

San Francisco | San Jose | Oakland | San Rafael, CA

The doctrine of comparative fault allows an accident victim to recover a portion of the damages proved against another negligent party, even though the victim’s own negligence is shown to have played a role in the accident. Many motor vehicle accident cases involve fault on the part of two or more motorists. The question for the jury is which motorist was more at fault.

Contact a personal injury attorney at Weber & Nierenberg at any of four Bay Area office locations to learn about your right to compensation for motorcycle accident injuries that may have been in part your own fault. You might have been speeding or given a ticket for a different moving violation. You might have been lane splitting under traffic conditions that were unreasonably dangerous. Your injuries might have been more serious than they would have been if you had been wearing a helmet, heavy boots or other protective gear.

The Amount You Recover Is Reduced by Your Percentage of Fault

Despite any of these circumstances, you still have the right to recover damages against another negligent motorist and his or her insurance company under California law. Our state follows a so-called pure version of comparative fault or negligence. In other words, no matter how the jury apportions the fault between the drivers in court — 50-50, 40-60, 90-10, 10-90, 20-30-50 or any other combination that adds up to 100 percent — you’re entitled to recover the portion of damages that represents the other driver’s percentage of fault.

For example, if you were speeding, stopped abruptly at a light, leaked into the intersection and got hit by someone making an illegal turn, you can still recover damages from the driver who hit you. If you were found to be 40 percent at fault, the other driver’s insurer would pay 60 percent of the damages proved at trial. If you were found 70 percent at fault, you could still recover 30 percent of your damages.

Comparative Fault Won’t Defeat Your Claim, But Reduces Your Damages

Our goal in cases where we anticipate a strong comparative negligence defense is to protect the greatest percentage possible of the damages we prove on your behalf. Weber & Nierenberg has handled many cases where our client’s partial responsibility for the accident was clear, but we still managed to recover a substantial damages award.

In one case, our client was speeding on his motorcycle when struck and seriously injured by an uninsured driver pulling out from a stop sign. Our investigation showed that a van illegally parked close to the intersection created a visual obstruction whereby neither the biker nor the driver could see the other. Our client was found to be 50 percent at fault, but still collected a jury verdict of more than $500,000 based on the van owner’s negligence.

Call 866-288-6010 for a Free Consultation in the Bay Area

As experienced trial attorneys focused on motorcycle accident litigation, we at Weber & Nierenberg encounter comparative fault defense arguments on a regular basis in our practice, and we often find ways to overcome them or at least protect as much of our client’s proven damages as possible. Contact us at any of our four Bay Area offices to learn more about comparative fault as it affects your claim to compensation.

With offices in San Francisco, San Rafael, Oakland and San Jose, the personal injury lawyers of Weber & Nierenberg represent motorcycle accident clients throughout the East Bay, North Bay, South Bay and other northern California communities, including Sacramento, Napa, Santa Rosa, Berkeley, Richmond, Fremont, Hayward, Modesto, Stockton, San Mateo, Santa Cruz and Walnut Creek.

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