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.
If someone else's carelessness hurt you in Hemet, California law lets you claim your medical bills, lost pay, and compensation for pain and lost quality of life, and that money normally comes from the responsible party's insurance company. The deadline for most injury lawsuits is two years from the date of harm, but if the City of Hemet, Riverside County, Caltrans, or another public agency may be responsible, a written government claim is due within six months.
Crashes are a real risk here. Figures from the California Office of Traffic Safety show that 510 people were killed or injured in Hemet traffic collisions in 2023, ranking the city 13th out of 103 California cities of similar size. Hemet also ranked 10th in that group for speed-related injury and fatal crashes, with 87 of them in a single year.
Cefali & Cefali is run by a married pair of trial lawyers, Courtney L.C. Cefali and Michael J. Cefali. Over his career, Michael has won more than $60 million for people who were hurt. Our Hemet office is at 211 N State Street, Suite 111, Hemet, CA 92543, and we represent people throughout the San Jacinto Valley. Your first consultation costs nothing, and you pay us only if we recover money for you. Phone (949) 325-7790 at any hour, day or night.
Personal Injury Cases We Handle in Hemet
Most of our Hemet clients were hurt on the valley's highways and busy arterials, but we also take premises, animal, product, and recreation cases:
Car accidents, including rear-end, broadside, and head-on crashes on Florida Avenue, Winchester Road, Sanderson Avenue, and State Street (see the next section).
Truck accidents with tractor-trailers, box trucks, and farm or construction equipment. Our Riverside County truck accident page covers federal trucking rules and commercial insurance.
Motorcycle accidents, which accounted for 19 of the people killed or injured in Hemet in 2023. See our Inland Empire motorcycle accident guide.
Pedestrian and bicycle accidents, a particular concern for children: Hemet ranked 14th in its group for pedestrian victims under 15 and 13th for young bicyclists.
Uber and Lyft crashes for passengers, other drivers, and people on foot. Our rideshare accident page explains the layers of rideshare insurance.
Slip and fall injuries in stores, parking lots, apartment complexes, and public walkways.
Dog bites, where California holds owners strictly liable.
Boat and personal watercraft accidents at Diamond Valley Lake, Lake Hemet, and Lake Skinner.
Defective products, from failed vehicle parts to e-bike battery fires.
Brain and spinal cord injuries and other catastrophic harm. Our traumatic brain injury guide explains how these claims are valued.
Wrongful death claims for families who lost someone because of another party's negligence.
We do not handle workers' compensation, medical malpractice, birth injury, or criminal defense, and we never represent insurance companies or defendants. If your case is outside our practice, we will tell you on the first call.
Hemet Car Accident Claims
Car crashes are the most common reason Hemet residents call us. The city's long, straight arterials invite speeding, and the 2023 state data puts Hemet near the top of its group for speed-related crashes. Long commutes to the I-215 and growing traffic around new housing in the valley add to the risk.
Most crashes inside Hemet city limits are investigated by the Hemet Police Department, while collisions on highways and in unincorporated parts of the valley usually go to the California Highway Patrol. Either way, the officer's report, scene photos, and any video from nearby businesses become the backbone of the claim, so we move quickly to request and preserve them.
A Hemet car accident claim normally runs against the at-fault driver's liability policy. California's minimum is now $30,000 per injured person and $60,000 per crash for bodily injury (Vehicle Code section 16056), which rarely covers a serious injury. When the other driver has too little insurance, none at all, or drives away, the UM and UIM coverage you carry with your own insurer may fill the gap. Insurers must include that coverage unless you waived it in writing (Insurance Code section 11580.2). Our California hit-and-run law guide covers what to do when the other driver leaves.
Roads and Places Where Hemet Injuries Happen
Florida Avenue (SR-74). Hemet's main east-west corridor. SR-79 shares Florida Avenue with SR-74 for several miles through town, so the downtown stretch carries both highway and local traffic, with frequent turning and intersection crashes.
Winchester Road (SR-79 south). The route from Hemet toward Winchester, Temecula, and the I-15. Its faster rural sections see serious head-on and broadside crashes.
SR-79 north through San Jacinto. After leaving Florida Avenue, SR-79 runs north through San Jacinto toward Lambs Canyon and Beaumont, a two-lane climb where passing and speed cause severe collisions.
Sanderson Avenue, State Street, and Ramona Expressway. Busy north-south and cross-valley connectors linking Hemet, San Jacinto, and Perris, with heavy commuter and truck traffic.
Domenigoni Parkway. The southern link between Hemet, Diamond Valley Lake, and the I-215 at Menifee and Winchester, where traffic keeps growing with new neighborhoods.
Many people injured in the valley are taken first to Hemet Global Medical Center (formerly Hemet Valley Medical Center) on East Devonshire Avenue. Patients with major head, chest, or spinal injuries may be transferred to a regional trauma center such as Riverside University Health System Medical Center in Moreno Valley or Loma Linda University Medical Center.
Other Injury Claims We Handle in the San Jacinto Valley
Slip and Fall and Premises Injuries
Property owners and businesses in Hemet must keep their premises reasonably safe for visitors. Under Civil Code section 1714 and Rowland v. Christian (1968), courts ask whether the owner behaved sensibly, and your status as a shopper or a guest no longer decides the case. A strong claim shows the dangerous condition existed long enough that the owner should have spotted it, and that nobody repaired it or posted a warning. Our article on how negligence is shown after a fall walks through the evidence, and our Riverside slip and fall lawyer page covers falls on public sidewalks.
Dog Bites
California's dog bite statute, Civil Code section 3342, covers bites that happen in public or on private property where the injured person had a right to be, and it applies even when the animal has no history of biting. Our Riverside County dog bite page explains these claims in more depth.
Boat and Watercraft Accidents
Diamond Valley Lake, Lake Hemet, and Lake Skinner draw boaters, anglers, and jet ski riders from across the valley. Careless operators, impaired drivers, and poorly maintained rentals cause serious injuries every season. Our Hemet boat accident attorney page explains how California boating law applies, and our Riverside boat accident lawyer page covers Lake Perris and Lake Elsinore.
Defective Products
Since Greenman v. Yuba Power Products, Inc. (1963), California has held manufacturers strictly liable for defective products. You do not have to prove carelessness, only that the product had a design defect, a manufacturing defect, or an inadequate warning, and that the defect caused your injury. Claims can reach the manufacturer, a parts supplier, and the seller. Read more on our Hemet defective products attorney page.
Wrongful Death
If careless conduct takes a life, the surviving spouse, children, or other heirs named by statute (Code of Civil Procedure section 377.60) may sue for the income, help around the home, and love and guidance the family no longer has. A separate survival action can recover certain losses the person suffered before death. Our Riverside wrongful death lawyer page explains both.
How Fault Is Proven in a Hemet Injury Case
Most claims rest on negligence: someone owed you reasonable care, failed to provide it, and caused your injury. Under Civil Code section 1714, people answer for injuries their carelessness causes to others. Several California rules make that easier to prove:
Broken safety laws. When a driver breaks a traffic law and the crash is the sort of harm that law exists to stop, the court starts from a presumption that the driver was careless (Evidence Code section 669).
Shared fault. Since the 1975 decision in Li v. Yellow Cab Co., California has followed pure comparative fault. If jurors decide you were 20 percent to blame, your award drops by that share and you keep the remaining 80 percent.
More than one defendant. Under Civil Code section 1431.2, each defendant can be made to pay all of your economic losses, but non-economic damages are split by each party's share of fault.
Compensation in a Hemet Personal Injury Claim
Type of loss
What it covers
Medical costs
Ambulance rides, ER visits, operations, physical therapy, prescriptions, and treatment still ahead
Income
Paychecks lost during recovery and lower future earnings if you cannot go back to your old job
Property
Repairing or replacing your car, phone, and other items damaged in the incident
Pain and suffering
Lasting pain, worry, visible scarring, and hobbies you have had to give up
Loss of consortium
Harm to a spouse's relationship with the injured person
Wrongful death damages
Lost support, services, and companionship for surviving family
Punitive damages
Reserved for conduct a court finds malicious, oppressive, or fraudulent under Civil Code section 3294
There is no state limit on pain and suffering awards in car crash, premises, and most other injury claims. For bills already incurred, the 2011 Howell v. Hamilton Meats & Provisions, Inc. decision limits recovery to amounts actually paid or still owed, so complete billing records matter.
Michael Cefali has negotiated six-figure settlements for riders, hit-and-run victims, and drivers struck by red-light runners. Examples appear on our case results page. Every case is different, and earlier outcomes do not predict yours.
Deadlines for Hemet Injury Claims
Type of claim
Time limit
Source
Injury suit against a person or business
Within 2 years of the injury
Code of Civil Procedure section 335.1
Family's wrongful death suit
Within 2 years of the death
Code of Civil Procedure section 335.1
Vehicle or property loss with no injury
Three years
Code of Civil Procedure section 338
Government claim (City of Hemet, Riverside County, Caltrans, school districts)
Call 911 and get checked. Ask police to write up the crash, and get a medical exam within hours, because neck, back, and head injuries are often delayed.
Photograph everything. Vehicles, the road, traffic signals, hazards, and your injuries, before anything is moved or repaired.
Collect names and numbers. Get the other driver's license, plate, and insurance details, and contact information for every witness.
Build a paper trail. Hold on to bills, pharmacy receipts, and a log of the workdays you lose.
Go slowly with adjusters. Notify your own insurer, but turn down recorded interviews with the other company and hold off on signing anything until a lawyer has reviewed it.
Talk to a lawyer early. A preservation letter can stop a business from erasing camera footage, which is often gone within days.
When does the time limit run out for a Hemet injury lawsuit?
The general limit is two years from the date you were hurt under Code of Civil Procedure section 335.1, while a property-only claim gets three years. When the City of Hemet, Riverside County, or another public body shares the blame, you first have to file a written claim with that agency inside six months.
Does Cefali & Cefali have an office in Hemet?
Yes. Our Hemet office is at 211 N State Street, Suite 111, Hemet, CA 92543, and serves clients across the San Jacinto Valley, including San Jacinto, Menifee, Winchester, and Valle Vista. Our main office is in San Juan Capistrano, and we also have an office in Pleasant Hill.
Do you handle car accident cases in Hemet and San Jacinto?
Yes. Car crashes are the most common cases we handle in the valley, including collisions on Florida Avenue, Winchester Road, Sanderson Avenue, State Street, and SR-79 through San Jacinto.
Can I still get compensation if I share some blame?
You can. A finding that you share the blame shrinks the award by your percentage instead of erasing it. With $100,000 in damages and 30 percent of the fault, you would still collect $70,000.
The driver who hit me was uninsured. What now?
Turn to the uninsured motorist portion of your own policy. Under Insurance Code section 11580.2, California auto policies include uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage unless you waived it in writing. It also applies in many hit-and-run cases.
Where are Hemet personal injury lawsuits filed?
In Riverside County Superior Court. Since August 1, 2026, unlimited civil cases from Hemet are filed at the Historic Courthouse in Riverside. Our attorneys handle the filing and every court appearance for you.
How much does a Hemet personal injury lawyer cost?
You pay nothing to start. Our fee is a share of the money we collect for you, set out in a written agreement, and if we collect nothing you owe us no fee. The first meeting is free.
What if I fell on a Hemet sidewalk or other public property?
A fall on a city sidewalk, in a county park, or at another public site triggers the six-month government claim deadline in Government Code section 911.2. Late claims are usually barred, so get advice right away.
Talk to a Hemet Personal Injury Lawyer
The sooner a lawyer is involved, the more evidence can be saved and the less room an insurer has to shape the story. If you were hurt in Hemet, San Jacinto, or anywhere in the valley, Cefali & Cefali can take over the claim so your energy goes into healing.
Phone (949) 325-7790 any time, or tell us what happened using our online form. Reviewing your case costs nothing, and a fee is owed only if we recover money for you.
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.
