Firm Overview
Orange County Personal Injury Attorney
Firm Overview
At The Law Offices of Christopher E. Purcell, we are committed to helping people injured by the negligent, reckless, or wrongful acts of others to receive the compensation they deserve for their losses. Attorney Chris Purcell uses his fifteen years of litigation experience to help clients in the following areas of personal injury law.
With our main law office located in Orange County, we represent clients suffering catastrophic injuries throughout Southern California and the Inland Empire, including Orange, San Bernardino and Riverside counties, as well as the Palm Desert areas.
We can help with the following:
Our office has both the knowledge and resources to fully investigate any incident to determine if a cause of action exists against any third parties in relation to their actions and the events leading to the serious injuries to others. Often a financial recovery is all that is available to the injured person(s), and although such compensation can never erase the trauma and/or physical impairments, the goal is to provide as complete a recovery as possible in an effort to ensure the proper care, treatment and financial support needed to continue in a productive and rewarding life.
As California Catastrophic Personal Injury Attorneys, we thoroughly investigate each case we take, and prepare as if we are going to trial. We have access to investigators and expert witnesses who can assist us in establishing liability and proving damages. If we do not receive a settlement offer that our client considers reasonable, we will proceed to trial and seek a verdict or judgment.
We exclusively represent plaintiffs, in both the state and federal courts of California, on a contingency-fee basis. That means there is no fee unless a recovery is obtained. Contact a personal injury lawyer today.
Insurance Bad Faith
In addition to the areas of law above, we also help those wrongfully denied their insurance claims. "Insurance Bad Faith" is used to describe an insurance company's denial of coverage when such denial is wrongful and not in good faith. It generally involves actual or constructive fraud, deception or a refusal to fulfill a contractual obligation. Insurance companies owe a duty of good faith and fair dealing to their insured. It is an insurance company's obligation to find a way to provide coverage as opposed to finding a way to deny coverage. This duty is defined under the Fair Claims's Practices Act, various statutes, and modern case law, and each policy has this "duty" implied by law within it. An insurance company that fails to uphold its obligations to its policyholders can be sued for breach of duty of good faith and fair dealing. Some examples of insurance bad faith include:
- Failing to adequately investigate an insurance claim.
- Unreasonably delaying payment on an insurance claim.
- Unreasonably denying an insurance claim.
- Using unreasonable interpretations of insurance policy language.
- Refusing to settle a case brought against a policyholder (insured).
- Refusing to reimburse a policyholder for a covered loss.
Insurance policies are often intentionally full of confusing and ambiguous language and often contain restrictions or limitations in contradiction to representations made at the time of the sale of the policy to a consumer.
Willful and malicious conduct on the part of an insurer, if proven by the policyholder, can allow for an award of punitive ("punishment") damages. This applies to all types of insurance policies, including accident and individual health insurance, fire insurance, earthquake insurance, and homeowner's insurance.
Products Liability:
(UNSAFE, DEFECTIVE AND UNREASONABLY DANGEROUS PRODUCTS)
The law of product liability is the area of law that deals with the liability of the manufacturer and seller for injuries suffered by someone using a defective and unreasonably dangerous product. Products subject to the law can be food, drugs, tools, appliances, automobiles and medical devices, just to name a few. The law as it exists today allows almost anyone injured by a product which is unreasonably dangerous in relation to its intended use to bring an action for damages against any party in the chain of distribution of the product, whether it be the manufacturer, the wholesaler, the retailer or even the maker of a component part.
The plaintiff may bring an action based on one or all of the following theories:
- Negligence
- Breach of Implied and Express Warranties
- Strict Liability
Additional Product Liability Pages:
Product Liability Overview
Product Liability
Irvine Product Liability Lawyer
Irvine Product Liability Lawyers
A product may be inherently dangerous, however have a use that which though dangerous, is not considered "unreasonable." For instance, electricity is inherently dangerous, but its utility far outweighs any danger posed by it. Therefore, the law does not consider electricity "unreasonably dangerous" for its intended use. A ladder is another potentially dangerous product, but the law would not consider it in most cases to be "unreasonably" dangerous. However, a ladder with a step so fragile that it can not hold the weight of the person using it in an ordinary manner would be unreasonably dangerous, and therefore, defective.
A product may also be considered defective if there are not adequate warnings. An inadequate warning may increase the danger posed by a product and result in a factual determination that the product constituted an unreasonable risk of harm. The converse may also be true. An otherwise useful product carrying inherent risks may be determined not to be unreasonably dangerous for its intended use even with the absence of an adequate warning alerting the user to the danger.
In product liability law there also exists a distinction between manufacturing defects and design defects. A manufacturing defect can be found when a product does not conform to the manufacturer's plans or specifications. Again using a ladder as an example, the manufacturer's plans called for a certain grade of steel to be used in the making of the ladder. In the production process, a mistake occurs and a lesser grade steel is used. The ladder is subsequently unable to support the proper amount of weight. A design defect occurs when a product is manufactured exactly as the manufacturer intended, but the product itself is deemed to be unreasonably dangerous for its intended use. An automobile that rolls over when taking turns at a relatively low speed could be considered to have a design defect (SUV Rollover). Design defect issues are in the majority of product liability cases today, such as drug, power tool and automobile litigation.
Whether a product is unreasonably dangerous requires a balancing of the use of the product with the risk or danger posed by the product.
The elements of product liability can differ with reference to negligence, breach of implied warranty or strict liability.
Negligence Claims: In asserting a negligence claim a plaintiff must show that a party involved in the distribution chain had a duty to exercise reasonable care in the process of manufacturing or selling a product and breached that duty. Negligence consists of doing something that a person taking ordinary care would not do under the same or similar circumstances, or failing to do something that a person taking ordinary care would do under the same or similar circumstances. This can take the form of negligence in product plans, maintenance of the machines that make the component parts of the product, failure to inspect or improper inspection or testing of the product, no warnings or instructions or inadequate warnings or instructions, and negligence in releasing the product into the stream of commerce.
Breach of Warranty and Strict Liability: These theories differ in several key respects form product liability actions based on negligence. The elements of warranty and strict liability claims are as follows: 1. Defect (and it must be defective at the time it leaves control of the Seller); and 2. Seller or Sale.
Defect: As previously noted, a defect is a feature that makes a product unreasonably dangerous for its intended use.
Seller or Sale: A seller can be anyone who sells the "product" to anyone else in the Distributive chain, including, but not limited to, the manufacturer, wholesaler, on down to the retailer, who in turn sells the product to a consumer. Plaintiff must prove that the product was defective at the time it left the control of the seller. If the condition of a product changes so as to render the product unreasonably dangerous after the product has left the control of a defendant, that defendant cannot be held liable, unless the change was reasonably foreseeable within the scope of the intended use of the product.
As in every form of personal injury case the plaintiff must establish "causation." The injuries and damages claimed must have resulted from the use of the dangerous product. Further, a plaintiff's failure to read and follow the instructions for using the product can be argued as a defense to the action - defendant asserts that plaintiff's actions were a misuse of the product and acted to relieve defendant of liability - due to a lack of causation.
As previously indicated, under both strict liability and warranty theories, a plaintiff need not prove negligence. Similarly, the defense of contributory negligence of the plaintiff, available in product liability cases founded upon negligence, is not in most jurisdictions available to a defendant in cases involving strict liability and warranty.
Regardless of the type of injury our clients experience, we are committed to providing individual care and attention to our clients to assist them in what are understandably emotionally trying times. Getting compensated to pay for medical and rehabilitation expenses and lost income is very important to getting a person's life back on track after a serious injury or loss.
Our aggressive advocacy for our personal injury clients has frequently enabled us to reach a successful resolution with the opposing party through negotiation. We will always look out for the best interest of the client whether by proceeding through a trial, or negotiating a settlement.
Contact our personal injury lawyers now to make an appointment to discuss your legal options. The initial consultation is free, and we charge no fee without recovering damages for you.
Law Offices of Christopher E. Purcell
Orange County Wrongful Death Lawer
7700 Irvine Center Drive
Suite 200
Irvine, CA 92618
Toll Free: 888-840-4443
Phone: 949-861-2300
Fax: 949-861-2301
E-mail
From our offices in Irvine, our we help clients in Orange County, Mission Viejo, Rancho Santa Margarita, Santa Ana, San Diego, Riverside, Los Angeles, Long Beach, San Bernardino, Ontario, Norco, Murieta, Temecula, Hemet, Ladera Ranch, Aliso Viejo, Laguna Hills, Irvine, Costa Mesa, San Juan, Newport Beach, Laguna Beach, Orange, Fullerton, Anaheim, Westminster, Santa Barbara, Corona, Huntington, San Clemente, Yorba Linda, Dana Point, and more.
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