This page was written and reviewed by Michael J. Cefali, Esq. Attorney Cefali is a founding partner of Cefali & Cefali, APC, based in San Juan Capistrano, CA. He holds a Juris Doctor from Chapman University Fowler School of Law and a B.A. in Global Studies & Maritime Affairs from the California Maritime Academy. Widely recognized for his advocacy in personal injury law, he has secured multi-hundred-thousand-dollar settlements in motorcycle accidents, hit-and-runs, and red-light collision cases. He maintains a perfect 10.0 “Superb” rating on Avvo.
Beyond his legal practice, Mr. Cefali actively supports his community through the Rotary Club of San Juan Capistrano, contributes to housing and meal programs for those in need, and enjoys fishing and spending time with his rescue dogs.
The date below reflects when this page was last reviewed for accuracy. Please see our Editorial Guidelines.
When a careless driver, property owner, or business injures you in Fullerton, California law allows you to collect the cost of your treatment, the income you lost, and money for the pain and disruption the injury caused, usually through the at-fault party's insurance. The deadline to sue is usually two years, but when the City of Fullerton, OCTA, or another government body shares the blame, a written claim must be filed with that agency inside six months before any lawsuit.
Injuries here are not rare events. The California Office of Traffic Safety recorded 736 people killed or injured in Fullerton traffic collisions in 2023, including 58 pedestrians, which placed Fullerton 12th worst for pedestrian victims among 62 similar-size California cities. Falls, dog bites, and other preventable incidents add to that count every year.
Cefali & Cefali is a personal injury firm led by husband and wife attorneys Michael J. Cefali and Courtney L.C. Cefali. Michael has recovered more than $60 million for injured people during his career. We serve Fullerton and North Orange County from our San Juan Capistrano office at 27136 Paseo Espada, Suite 1123, and meet clients by phone or video as well. A consultation costs nothing, and our fee comes only out of a recovery. Phone (949) 325-7790 any time of day.
Injury Cases We Take On in Fullerton
Our Fullerton clients come to us after the kinds of incidents that happen in a college town with busy commercial corridors and three nearby freeways:
Car accidents, from rear-end crashes on the SR-57 to left-turn collisions on Harbor Boulevard and Chapman Avenue.
Truck accidents involving tractor-trailers, delivery trucks, and other commercial vehicles.
Defective products, such as failed vehicle parts or unsafe household goods.
Wrongful death claims for families who have lost someone to another party's negligence.
We turn away workers' compensation, medical malpractice, birth injury, and criminal matters, and we represent injured people only, never the defense. If your situation falls outside what we handle, we will say so on the first call.
Brain Injury Claims in Fullerton
A traumatic brain injury happens when a blow or a violent jolt disrupts how the brain works, and it can occur in a crash even when the head never strikes anything. The CDC describes symptoms ranging from headaches, dizziness, and memory problems to changes in mood and sleep, and many of them appear hours or days later. A concussion is a mild TBI, but mild refers to the initial injury, not to how long the effects can last.
Brain injury claims are hard to value because the damage is often invisible on standard imaging and the worst losses lie in the future. We work with treating neurologists, neuropsychologists who test memory and processing speed, and life care planners who price long-term care, then present that evidence alongside testimony from family and coworkers about how the person has changed. If you notice symptoms after an accident, our guide to concussion signs after a car accident explains which ones need prompt medical attention.
Where Fullerton Injuries Happen
Around Cal State Fullerton. State College Boulevard, Nutwood Avenue, and the streets around campus carry heavy student foot, bike, and scooter traffic alongside commuters.
Downtown Fullerton. Harbor Boulevard and Commonwealth Avenue draw nightlife crowds, so late-night pedestrian crashes and impaired-driving collisions are a recurring problem.
The Fullerton Transportation Center. Metrolink and Amtrak riders, buses, and pickup traffic converge near Harbor Boulevard and Santa Fe Avenue.
Freeways. The SR-57 runs north and south along the east side of the city, the SR-91 crosses near the southern edge, and the I-5 passes to the southwest. Fullerton Police investigate crashes on city streets, while the CHP handles the freeways.
Commercial corridors. Orangethorpe Avenue, Euclid Street, and Chapman Avenue mix shopping center driveways with fast-moving traffic, a common setting for broadside collisions.
Protecting your health comes first, and the same steps also preserve the evidence your claim will depend on:
Call 911. Get medical help to anyone who is hurt and make sure police or the CHP document the incident. In a store or apartment complex, have the manager put the incident in writing.
Get examined quickly. Brain, neck, and internal injuries are easy to miss in the first hours, and a prompt medical visit ties those injuries to the incident.
Record the scene. Take photos and video of the vehicles or hazard, traffic signals, lighting, and your injuries before conditions change.
Gather contacts. Write down names, phone numbers, insurance details, and plate numbers for everyone involved and anyone who saw it happen.
Hold on to evidence. Keep damaged belongings, footwear from a fall, bills, receipts, and notes on the work you missed.
Limit what you tell insurers. Give your own insurer the basic facts. Skip any recorded statement the other side's adjuster asks for, and hold off on signing releases until treatment ends.
Call a lawyer before evidence disappears. Surveillance systems at many Fullerton businesses overwrite footage within days, and a preservation letter can stop that.
Proving Fault in a Fullerton Injury Case
Nearly every injury claim turns on negligence, meaning someone failed to act with reasonable care and that failure hurt you. Civil Code section 1714(a) places responsibility on anyone whose lack of ordinary care injures another person. In practice, your claim needs to show four things:
A duty existed. The other party owed you reasonable care, as every driver does to others on the road and every property owner does to visitors.
The duty was breached. They fell short, for instance by speeding, looking at a phone, or leaving a known hazard in a walkway.
The breach caused your injury. Their conduct was a substantial factor in the harm you suffered.
You have losses. The injury led to bills, missed income, pain, or other measurable harm.
California law gives injured people useful tools. A driver who violates a traffic law and causes the very injury that law aims to prevent is presumed negligent (Evidence Code section 669). Dog owners answer for bites even without proof of carelessness (Civil Code section 3342). Property owners are judged by whether they acted reasonably, not by whether the injured person was a customer or a guest, a rule that dates to Rowland v. Christian (1968) 69 Cal.2d 108.
You can still recover if you were partly to blame. Under the pure comparative fault system adopted in Li v. Yellow Cab Co. (1975) 13 Cal.3d 804, your award shrinks by your share of fault, so someone found 30 percent responsible receives 70 percent of their damages. When several parties share the blame, Civil Code section 1431.2 lets you collect all economic damages from any one of them, while each pays non-economic damages only in line with its own share. Our pure comparative fault guide goes deeper.
What a Fullerton Injury Claim Can Recover
Compensation covers both the money the injury cost you and what it took from your daily life:
Category
Examples
Medical care
Emergency treatment, imaging, surgery, rehabilitation, prescriptions, and care you will need later
Income
Wages lost while recovering and the loss of future earning power when you cannot return to your job
Property
Repair or replacement of your vehicle, phone, bike, and other damaged items
Pain and suffering
Ongoing pain, anxiety, disfigurement, and lost enjoyment of hobbies and family life
Loss of a loved one
Financial support, household help, and companionship lost when a family member dies
Punitive damages
Reserved for malice, oppression, or fraud established by clear and convincing evidence (Civil Code section 3294)
Two California rules shape these numbers. Past medical expenses are generally measured by the amount actually paid or still owed, following Howell v. Hamilton Meats & Provisions, Inc. (2011) 52 Cal.4th 541, and no statute limits pain and suffering in vehicle, premises, or most other injury cases. For how each type is documented, see economic vs. non-economic damages.
Filing Deadlines for Fullerton Injury Claims
Missing one of these dates can end a strong case before it starts:
Situation
Time limit
Law
Personal injury suit, private defendant
2 years after the injury
Code of Civil Procedure section 335.1
Wrongful death suit by the family
2 years after the death
Code of Civil Procedure section 335.1
Vehicle or property damage only
3 years
Code of Civil Procedure section 338
Claim against the City of Fullerton, OCTA, Cal State Fullerton, or another public entity
Written claim within 6 months
Government Code section 911.2
Suing a public entity after it rejects the claim
Generally 6 months from written rejection
Government Code section 945.6
Injured child, private defendant
Generally paused until age 18
Code of Civil Procedure section 352
Fullerton injury lawsuits are typically filed in Orange County Superior Court, most often at the county's Central Justice Center, located in Santa Ana. Because witnesses forget and footage is erased long before any deadline arrives, it pays to start early.
How Our Fullerton Personal Injury Lawyers Build a Case
Securing evidence early. We request police reports, send preservation letters for video, photograph the scene, and collect records before they are lost.
Talking to witnesses. We track down people who saw the incident while their memories are fresh.
Bringing in experts. Accident reconstructionists, engineers, physicians, neuropsychologists, and economists help prove fault and measure losses.
Finding every source of payment. We identify each driver, employer, property owner, manufacturer, or agency at fault, plus every insurance policy that applies, including any underinsured motorist protection you bought yourself.
Getting ready for trial. We build each case as if it will reach an Orange County jury, which is what moves insurers toward fair offers.
Look for a lawyer who handles injury cases every day, answers your calls, and is willing to go to trial. Before you sign with anyone:
Verify bar status. Searching an attorney's name on the State Bar of California website confirms active status and lists any public discipline.
Ask who does the work. Find out whether an attorney or a case manager will handle your file day to day.
Ask about similar cases. A brain injury or wrongful death claim needs different experience than a minor fender bender.
Read the fee agreement. A written fee contract is mandatory for contingency cases (Business and Professions Code section 6147); make sure it states the percentage and who pays case costs.
Look at reviews for responsiveness. Former clients often say more about communication than about results.
How much time do I have to sue after a Fullerton injury?
Two years is the general rule (Code of Civil Procedure section 335.1). A shorter six-month window applies to the written government claim when the City of Fullerton, OCTA, Cal State Fullerton, or another public entity is involved (Government Code section 911.2).
Do you handle brain injury cases in Fullerton?
Yes. We represent people with concussions and more severe traumatic brain injuries from car, motorcycle, pedestrian, and bicycle crashes and from falls. These claims rely on medical testing and expert testimony to show how the injury affects memory, work, and daily life.
How much does a Fullerton personal injury lawyer cost?
Cefali & Cefali charges no upfront fee. We work on a written contingency agreement and are paid a percentage of what we recover; if there is no recovery, there is no attorney fee. Consultations are free.
Can I recover if the accident was partly my fault?
Yes. Your share of blame lowers the award rather than wiping it out, so a jury that puts 30 percent of the fault on you would still award 70 percent of your damages.
Which court hears Fullerton personal injury cases?
Most are filed in Santa Ana at the Central Justice Center of Orange County Superior Court, 700 Civic Center Drive West.
Are there cases your firm will not take?
Workers' compensation, medical malpractice, birth injury, and criminal defense fall outside our practice, and we never represent defendants. We focus on people hurt in accidents and on families bringing wrongful death claims.
Talk to a Fullerton Personal Injury Lawyer
Insurance companies begin working to limit what they pay as soon as a claim is reported. Cefali & Cefali can step in, lock down the evidence, deal with the adjusters, and press for every dollar the claim is worth so you can concentrate on recovery.
Reach us around the clock at (949) 325-7790 for a no-cost case review, or describe what happened through our contact form. No recovery means no fee.
Michael Cefali is a dedicated accident attorney based in San Juan Capistrano, California, committed to securing justice and fair compensation for accident victims.
A graduate of Newport Harbor High School, he went on to earn his Bachelor’s degree in Global Studies and Maritime Affairs from the California Maritime Academy, followed by his Juris Doctor from Chapman University School of Law.
Deeply invested in his community, Michael is an active member of the Rotary Club of San Juan Capistrano, contributing to efforts that provide meals, housing, and support to those in need. Outside of his legal work and volunteer service, he enjoys fishing in Dana Point and spending time with his three rescue dogs—a Chihuahua, a Spaniel mix, and a Shepherd mix.
Driven by his strong belief in justice and fairness, Michael remains steadfast in advocating for individuals harmed by the negligence or inaction of others.
