You
What is the California personal injury statute of limitations?
S
CCP § 335.1 sets the basic personal-injury statute of limitations at two years from the date of injury. The discovery rule extends the clock in some cases (latent injuries, fraud, concealment), but for typical car-crash, slip-and-fall, or assault cases, the two-year window from the date of the accident or assault is the controlling deadline. Medical malpractice is different: CCP § 340.5 sets one year from discovery or three years from injury (whichever is sooner). Government tort claims have a six-month presentation deadline under Gov. Code § 911.2. Minors generally toll until age 18 (CCP § 352).
You
Why does Sergei do pre-suit memos instead of full PI representation?
S
California personal-injury litigation is contingency-fee work. The plaintiff-side firms that handle PI cases run on contingency (typically 33.3 percent pre-filing, 40 percent after filing) and absorb expert costs, medical-record retrieval, deposition costs, and the 12-24 months of litigation time before any recovery. The economics only work at scale, which is why dedicated PI firms exist. I do not have the contingency-fee infrastructure or the medical-expert relationships to handle PI cases at the volume those firms do. I do the front end: SOL preservation, the case map, the demand-letter draft when settlement is realistic, and a clean handoff to a contingency PI litigator I trust.
You
What is in the $349 personal injury memo?
S
A written legal memo covering: (1) the SOL analysis under CCP § 335.1 (or § 340.5 for medical, or Gov. Code § 911.2 for government claims) with the calendared filing window, (2) a liability theory based on the facts you provide (negligence elements, comparative fault under Prop. 51), (3) a damages framework distinguishing economic damages (medical, lost wages, future care) from non-economic damages (pain and suffering, emotional distress, loss of consortium), (4) an outline of what a credible settlement demand looks like for your case, and (5) a referral recommendation to a contingency-fee plaintiff-side PI litigator I work with, with the memo, medical records, and intake summary delivered to them at handoff.
You
Can I send a demand letter myself without an attorney?
S
You can, but insurance adjusters know within the first sentence whether they are reading a pro se letter or an attorney letter. Pro se demand letters typically get a token offer (5 to 20 percent of the settlement value) and then go to claims-closing because the adjuster knows the file is unrepresented. The MICRA-style pre-suit memo I write is not the same thing as a demand letter, it is a case-evaluation memo that a contingency PI litigator can hand to an adjuster to anchor the case at a credible number. If your case is small enough that a contingency firm will not take it (settlement value below $15,000 or so), I can draft a $575 attorney demand letter directly to the insurer; scope is discussed on intake.
You
What if the injury was caused by a government employee or vehicle?
S
California government claims are governed by the Government Claims Act (Gov. Code § 810 et seq.). Before suing a public entity, you must present a written claim within six months of accrual (Gov. Code § 911.2). If the claim is denied or deemed denied after 45 days, you have six months from denial to file suit. Missing the presentation deadline almost always bars the claim, with very narrow exceptions for late-claim relief. Government tort claims are aggressive on technicalities, so the pre-suit memo prioritizes the presentation deadline above everything else when a public entity is involved.
You
How does Proposition 51 affect my recovery?
S
Proposition 51 (codified at Civ. Code § 1431.2) abolished joint and several liability for non-economic damages in California. Each defendant pays only their proportionate share of non-economic damages (pain and suffering) based on fault percentage assigned at trial. Economic damages remain joint and several, so any defendant can be tagged for the full economic-damages amount. The practical effect: in cases with multiple defendants of varying solvency, you can collect the full medicals and lost wages from any solvent defendant but only a percentage of pain-and-suffering. The memo flags whether Prop. 51 changes the case math for your specific defendants.
You
What is the discovery rule for personal injury cases?
S
The discovery rule tolls the SOL until the plaintiff knows, or through reasonable diligence should have known, of the injury and its negligent cause. It applies to latent injuries (chemical exposures, defective medical devices, asbestos), fraud and concealment cases, and some delayed-onset trauma cases. Garden-variety car-crash cases do not benefit from the discovery rule because the injury is contemporaneous with the accident. The memo addresses whether your specific facts support a discovery-rule extension; if they do, the calendar window is calculated from the date of reasonable discovery.
You
What evidence do I need to send before the memo?
S
Police report (if any), medical records for treatment connected to the injury, photographs of the accident scene and visible injuries, contact information for the defendant or their insurer, witness names and statements if available, your own written timeline of events, pay-stubs or employer documentation of lost wages, and any communications you have already had with the defendant or their insurance carrier. If records are incomplete, send what you have. I tell you what is missing and whether the gaps affect the memo before quoting.
You
When should I contact a personal injury attorney?
S
Sooner is always better. Insurance carriers start building the defense file the day after the accident; recorded statements, social-media monitoring, and surveillance can all damage a case in the first weeks. Medical records contemporaneous with the injury are the strongest evidence; gaps in treatment are read against the plaintiff. The two-year SOL feels generous until medical bills accumulate, witnesses move, and physical evidence disappears. I quote turnaround at seven to ten business days once records arrive; getting the memo done early and the case to a contingency litigator with time on the clock is the right pattern.
You
What kinds of injuries does this practice area cover?
S
The CCP § 335.1 two-year SOL covers most California personal-injury cases: motor-vehicle accidents (car, motorcycle, truck, rideshare, pedestrian, bicycle), premises liability (slip-and-fall, dog bites under Civ. Code § 3342 strict liability, security negligence), assault and battery, products liability (also subject to discovery rule for latent defects), and most intentional torts. Medical malpractice is under § 340.5 (MICRA). Asbestos and toxic-tort cases have separate windows under CCP § 340.2 and § 340.8. The memo identifies the controlling limitations statute for the facts you present.