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Law Office of Arnold Hernandez
Welcome to my website. You are
probably here, because you have a legal problem and need legal help. Look
at this website as a starting point, but do not rely on this information
as the law is subject to change, set up an appointment and consult with
an attorney first before making any major decision. I practice law in California and do not offer legal
representation in any other state. The majority of our work is
plaintiffs’ work and we work mostly on a contingency basis, meaning
attorney fees are not due until we win at trial or obtain a favorable
result for you. We represent
plaintiffs in unpaid overtime wage claims and personal injury claims
arising from truck accidents, car accidents, dog bites, and also families
in wrongful death claims.
To discuss your specific
situation or case email me or call my office and speak with lawyer. If you email keep in mind that no
attorney client privilege is formed, so be sure you do not disclose
sensitive information. We offer
legal representation throughout Southern California, most of our cases
are in North San Diego County,
but we have represented clients in Orange
County, Riverside
and Imperial
County. We have represented clients from many different cities including the
Cities of San Marcos, Vista, Escondido, Oceanside, Carlsbad, Rancho
Bernardo, Fallbrook, Poway, National City, Chula Vista, San Diego,
Temecula, Riverside, El Centro, Borrego Springs, Calexico, Palm Desert,
Cathedral City, Thousand Palms, La Quinta, Indio, Coachella, Yucca
Valley, 29 Palms and Thermal among others.
Click on our articles section
for information on other areas.
Aga Click Aqui Para Informacion en Espanol
Want to know if you have an unpaid overtime case? CLICK HERE
Want to know if you have a rest period
violations case? CLICK HERE
Want to know if you have a personal injury case? CLICK HERE
To speak with an attorney
call our office at (760) 471-4624,
if you are too far away we go to you.
We represent plaintiffs in labor violation claims and plaintiffs
in personal injury claims. Labor violations includes claims for unpaid overtime,
unpaid wages, minimum wage violations and misclassification of employees,
and meal and rest period violations.
Personal injury claims includes bodily injury claims resulting
from another’s fault including car accidents, truck accidents, bus
accidents, construction accidents, dog
bites, motorcycle accidents,
forklift accidents, domestic violence, and bicycle accidents. Typical injuries include fractured
ankles, whiplash, rotator cuff tears, herniated discs, meniscus tears, fractured
ribs, fractured clavicles, and fractured ribs. We also represent families in wrongful
death claims. These are some examples of cases we have handled.
ENCINITAS, CALIFORNIA WRONGFUL DEATH CLAIM
Wrongful death cases are
difficult on many different levels.
Under California
law the statue of limitations can be very short when a government agency
or its employees are the culprits.
A grieving family is not likely to be thinking about filing a
lawsuit for a wrongful death claim and not likely to contact a lawyer
right after the death of a loved one.
A wrongful death lawsuit will not do much to alleviate the pain of
the family, and the family of the deceased is not thinking about the
economic needs of the family.
They will more likely seek spiritual help from a priest than legal
help from a lawyer. Sometimes the
main provider passes away and the single parent may be too late in
consulting a lawyer. In some
cases a year is too late to consult a lawyer. When the family of the deceased does
consult a lawyer right away, they are often disappointed with the
available remedies which is usually monetary
compensation. When there are
children and the deceased was the primary provider of income the monetary
compensation is helpful, but it really never makes up for the absence of
a mother or a father and there is not much a lawyer can do beyond
obtaining monetary compensation.
In most instances there are no criminal proceedings for a wrongful
death, and if there are criminal proceedings the punishment is often
minimal.
In one case a young man
did not come home as expected. It
was late at night, and his concerned father made some calls, but no one
could tell him where his son was.
Shortly after midnight, the California Highway Patrol knocked at
the door of the father’s home and informed him that his son had
been involved in a serious injury accident and that he had died. The father was clearly saddened by the
wrongful death of his son, but that did not stop bill collectors and in a
matter of weeks the father started receiving bills and calls from
collectors demanding payment.
After viewing commercials on TV the father hired contacted and
hired a San Diego
wrongful death attorney at a fancy office with a large staff. He never saw the wrongful death
attorney and never actually spoke with him, he communicated with his
staff only.
The CHP claimed the son
caused the accident and injury to himself and that it was not a wrongful
death because the son recklessly crossed the freeway. The CHP concluded
that both the driver and his son were under the influence of alcohol at
the time of the accident. Upon reviewing the CHP report the TV
lawyer’s office
immediately sent a letter out and informed the father he
was on his own. The father then contacted us. We reviewed the police report,
examined the photographs, and examined the accident scene.. By examining
the damage to the vehicle and the trail of debris in the photographs and
then actually examining the scene of the accident it was evident that the
son was walking on the right shoulder of the freeway, and the defendants
mistook the right shoulder for another lane because it was unusually wide
and the son’s death was a wrongful death caused by another’s
negligence. The defendants must have been on the right shoulder and then
as it narrowed about 100 yards before the next exit they must have caused
the accident with the young man. We presented our evidence and the case
resolved within a few months. Not
every case resolves quickly and not all San Diego wrongful death attorneys
litigate cases, but we assume every wrongful death case will go to trial
and prepare accordingly. The vast
majority of wrongful death cases settle without a trial, but we prepare
the case for those few cases that do not.
We never promise or guarantee the outcome of any case, but we do
our best under the circumstances to obtain the best result for our
clients.
Speak to a NORTH COUNTY
SAN DIEGO
WRONGFUL DEATH ATTORNEY
(Fallbrook, Escondido,
San Marcos, Rancho Bernardo, Vista, Oceanside, Carlsbad,
Encinitas)
(760)471-4624
or Email me arnold@ArnoldHernandez.com
CALIFORNIA PERSONAL INJURY FOR SERIOUS INJURY FOLLOWING A CAR ACCIDENT
In summer of 2002, a couple
went to fill up at a nearby gas station.
The father got out of the car and started walking towards the gas
station with his three year old daughter following behind him, he did not expect an accident. As the father turned to make sure she
was keeping pace the driver of truck quickly backed out knocking the
little girl to the ground and crushing her skull with the rear tire. The
driver knew there were several children in the vicinity, but still did
not exercise due care and caused the truck accident. Police officers came to the accident
scene, but the parents spoke virtually no English, so the police officers
relying on the driver’s side of the story blamed the parents. Fortunately the child was very
resilient and did not suffer any brain injury from the truck accident,
but her doctor warned of a high probability of future hearing loss. After a careful review of this truck
accident we carefully reviewed the facts inspected the accident scene and
then contacted the truck driver’s insurance company and presented
our case. Nine months later the child recovered from the truck accident
and the case resolved very favorably.
Speak to a NORTH
COUNTY SAN DIEGO CAR ACCIDENT LAWYER
(Fallbrook, Escondido,
San Marcos, Rancho Bernardo, Vista, Oceanside, Carlsbad,
Encinitas)
(760)471-4624
or Email me arnold@ArnoldHernandez.com
ESCONDIDO, CAILFORNIA PERSONAL INJURY FOR A SERIOUS
INJURY CAR ACCIDENT
A couple of years
ago a middle age man came to our office almost two years after
experiencing injuries from a car accident. He was involved in a car accident where
an elderly woman ran a stop sign.
Unfortunately too many car accidents are caused by the elderly as
their ability to react and see diminishes. The injury victim did not want to
pursue a personal injury claim, but he suffered from back pain that got
progressively worse and worse. A
few months after the car accident he continued to have low back
pain. An MRI was taken and it
showed a herniated disc injury at the L4-L5 disc. He was considering making a claim after
he was no longer able to work and after surgery was recommended for his
herniated disc. The injury was
clearly caused by the car accident, but he was uncomfortable filing a
claim against an elderly woman. As
a result of the injury he was eventually unable to work, but his bills
kept piling up. Soon collection
agencies starting calling him and demanding payment. Finally two weeks before his rights for
a personal injury claim would expire under the California statute of limitations he
came to our office. We could not
stop the bills from coming, but we are able to protect his rights by
filing the personal injury lawsuit and after carefully crafting his
personal injury claim resulting from the car accident, we resolved the
matter. This car accident caused
him great grief not only from the injuries, but also from the financial
devastation. Hiring a lawyer to
pursue his herniated disc claim was the first step he then had to undergo
medical treatment for injuries which eventually resulted in a L4-L5 disc
injury surgery. He received
substantial monetary compensation for his personal injury claim, but it
only did what the law is intended to do.
He was just able to get back to where he was, if the accident had
not occurred. He was compensated
for his personal injury claim, and had surgery for the L4-L5 disc injury
and was able to resume a more normal life, but unlike common myth and
rumors he did not win the lottery.
Speak to a NORTH
COUNTY SAN DIEGO CAR ACCIDENT LAWYER
(Fallbrook, Escondido,
San Marcos, Rancho Bernardo, Vista, Oceanside, Carlsbad,
Encinitas)
(760)471-4624
or Email me arnold@ArnoldHernandez.com
ESCONDIDO, CALIFORNIA UNPAID OVERTIME PAY CLAIM
A construction worker
working for a concrete contractor in Escondido called an unpaid overtime
attorney after he was shorted. This construction worker worked, overtime
from the very beginning. He was promised he would be paid his overtime
pay at the end of the year. At the
end of the year he brought up the subject of his unpaid overtime pay and
was terminated for asking about his unpaid overtime pay. This led the construction worker to
call a lawyer to help him collect his unpaid overtime pay due. This employer like many others in the
construction business attempted to create an independent contractor
agreement to avoid paying overtime, but instead the employee called an
unpaid overtime attorney. The
employer had multiple business entities in what appeared to be an efforts
to hide him self from lawsuits. The efforts backfired and resulted in a
much greater cost to just answer the lawsuit filed by construction
worker’s overtime attorney, because each entity had to answer the
complaint and pay a filing fee.
The employer was fortunate enough to have a good attorney that
informed him that he would become liable not only for the unpaid overtime
pay, but also for attorney fees incurred by the employee’s
attorney. The employer quickly
paid the employee’s attorney for the unpaid overtime wages and
attorney fees.
Speak to a NORTH COUNTY SAN DIEGO
UNPAID OVERTIME WAGE CLAIM LAWYER
(Fallbrook, Escondido,
San Marcos, Rancho Bernardo, Vista, Oceanside, Carlsbad,
Encinitas)
(760)471-4624
or Email me arnold@ArnoldHernandez.com
OCEANSIDE, CALIFORNIA PERSONAL INJURY AFTER A DOG BITE
Dog bites and dog attacks
can cause not only physical pain, but can also adversely affect a
person’s life for many years to come. Injuries from dog bites give rise to a
legal right for a personal injury in most situations. Click Here For Information About California Dog Bite
Laws Some individuals
are not able to regain their confidence and have the constant fear of a
dog bite, whenever they are in a setting where there are dogs. Children are frequently the victims of
dog bites and the dog attack usually occurs at the home of a friend or
family member. Click Here For Statistical Information on Dog Bites These dog bites to children are often
to the face leaving scars that can last their entire childhood. Even though the number of deaths
resulting from dog bites or dog attacks is small the number of dog bites
is very high. The number of
personal injury claims for dog bites is relatively small in comparison to
the number of victims for dog bites and dog attacks. The chance of death from a dog bite or
dog attack is very slim, but the chance of a dog bite is extremely high
and is the number two reason for emergency room visits among
children. The following is a
typical case:
In 2001 a teenage girl went
to her friend’s home, outside the house was the grandmother who
invited the girl to enter the home and go upstairs to find her
friend. She had no reason to
believe she would be the victim of a dog bite or dog attack. When she entered two small dogs
attacked the girl, the dog bites were to her ankle, her forearm and her
leg. The first dog bite was to her
ankle and as she reached down to push the dog away the second dog jumped
biting her forearm. She fell to
the ground and screamed as these dogs attacked. The friend and the dog owner came in
after hearing the victim’s screams and pulled the dogs away, but
only after she suffered repeated dog bites to her ankles, forearm and
leg. Following the dog attack the
dog owner called her parents and informed them the girl had been the
victim of a dog attack. The
victims parent were upset to see
the girl with her arms and shirt covered in blood and the dog owner had
not sought medical treatment for the girl following the dog attack. After visiting the doctor the
victim’s family asked the dog owner about paying for the damage
caused by the dog bites to their daughter’s legs and arm. The dog bites resulted in deep wounds,
but fortunately the dog bites did not cause any nerve damage. The hospital bill for treating the dog
bite wounds exceeded $2,000. The
dog owner declined to pay for the medical expenses resulting from the dog
bite injuries and informed the parents that if they were to obtain a
personal injury lawyer that they would obtain one too and fight the
matter. Months after the dog
attack, the teenage girl still had scars from the deep dog bite wounds,
but fortunately there was not permanent damage other than scars to her
forearm from the dog bites. About
one year after the dog attack a cosmetic surgeon could do a scar evaluation
and estimate the cost for surgery to minimize or eliminate the scars to
her arm. Soon after that the
matter resolved and the settlement provided compensation not only for her
pain and suffering, but also for her disfigurement and would permit her to
obtain cosmetic surgery to remove the dog bite scars.
Speak to a NORTH
COUNTY SAN DIEGO DOG BITE LAWYER
(Fallbrook, Escondido,
San Marcos, Rancho Bernardo, Vista, Oceanside, Carlsbad,
Encinitas)
(760)471-4624
or Email me arnold@ArnoldHernandez.com
SAN
MARCOS, CALIFORNIA
PERSONAL INJURY AFTER CAR ACCIDENT
Following a hit run
case a woman called my San
Marcos office looking for a car accident
lawyer. We investigated the case and
found the case to have merit, but believed the claim to be too
small. We accepted the car
accident claim, but could resolve it informally. A trial was set and after all the
evidence was presented we obtained a favorable verdict. The value of the lawyer's time invested
in the case was approximately $20,000.00.
After deducting the time and costs, the jury verdict resulted in a
loss to the law and the client, but our client followed our advice and we
were in agreement that it was the best course of action. It was a risk worth taking, because an
informal settlement would have still resulted in a loss to the attorney
and the client.
Speak to a NORTH COUNTY
SAN DIEGO
CAR ACCIDENT LAWYER
(Fallbrook, Escondido,
San Marcos, Rancho Bernardo, Vista, Oceanside, Carlsbad,
Encinitas)
(760)471-4624
or Email me arnold@ArnoldHernandez.com
SAN MARCOS, CALIFORNIA UNPAID OVERTIME CASE
A contractor hired
several individuals to work on a construction project. He was located out of the area and
upon completing the project left without paying the employees their last
pay check which accounted for about $1,100 in wages. The employees called repeatedly asking
for their last paychecks. The
employees were informed by the secretary, there was no last paycheck and
indirectly encouraged them to hire a lawyer. The employer was effective in hiding
and was difficult to locate, but as usually he was located and a lawsuit
promptly filed for wages owed. The
employer soon found himself in a lawsuit and had to hire his own
lawyer. The cost for his lawyer
alone must have been in the $7,000 to $10,000. The defendant’s own greed cost
him about 5 to 10 times in lawyer fees.
His failure to pay wages due cost him much more than what he would
have pocketed.
Speak to a NORTH COUNTY SAN DIEGO
UNPAID WAGE CLAIM LAWYER
(Fallbrook,
Escondido, San Marcos,
Rancho Bernardo, Vista, Oceanside, Carlsbad,
Encinitas)
(760)471-4624
or Email me arnold@ArnoldHernandez.com
VISTA, CALIFORNIA PERSONAL INJURY CLAIM AFTER A CAR
ACCIDENT
A woman was traveling in
the back seat of a vehicle. It was
raining and the road was slippery. The driver saw a car accident and slowed
down. The driver behind them was a
young woman distracted by her conversations on her cell phone did not see
the car accident and could not stop in time to avoid causing another very
serious high speed car accident. Both
vehicles were damaged beyond repair. The woman in the back seat suffered a
herniated disc, which was not diagnosed for several months. Often injury victims have to tolerate
extreme pain from a herniated disc following a car accident. Once the injury was identified she was
scheduled for surgery for the herniated disc and the case resolved
quickly.
Speak to a NORTH COUNTY SAN DIEGO
UNPAID WAGE CLAIM LAWYER
(Fallbrook,
Escondido, San Marcos,
Rancho Bernardo, Vista, Oceanside, Carlsbad, Encinitas)
(760)471-4624
or Email me arnold@ArnoldHernandez.com
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