Westminster has a rich history and tradition. Founded in 1870 by Rev. Lemuel Webber as a Presbyterian temperance colony, its name is taken from the Westminster Assembly of 1643, which laid out the basic tenets of the Presbyterian faith. For several years of its early history, faith based farmers refused to grow grapes because they associated grapes with alcohol.

A large number of Vietnamese refugees came to the city in the 1970s, settling largely in an area now officially named Little Saigon, and the city is unofficially known as the "capital" of overseas Vietnamese. This diverse city of 89,700 won the All-America City Award in 1996.

As a busy Orange County city, Westminster has its share of collisions, accidents and personal injury cases.
Personal Injury Accidents
Westminster Personal Injury accidents require determining legal responsibility for the accident or injury. Often called "liability", the process can be complicated, but often rests on whether someone was careless or "negligent." It's easy enough to say that the person or business that caused an accident must pay for your injuries. But before you get to that point, you must determine who was legally at fault.

Determining Legal Liability in Westminster personal injury accidents

Most injury accidents happen because someone was careless. Was that person you or someone else? The basic rule is: If one person involved in an accident was less careful than another, the less careful one must pay for at least a portion of the damages suffered by the more careful one.

Legal liability for almost all Westminster personal injury accidents are determined by this rule of carelessness, and by one or more of the following simple propositions:

  • If the injured person was where he or she was not supposed to be, or somewhere he or she should have expected the kind of activity which caused the accident, the person who caused the accident might not be liable because that person had no "duty" to be careful toward the injured person.
  • If the injured person was also careless, his or her compensation may be reduced by the extent such carelessness was also responsible for the accident. This is known as comparative negligence.
  • If a negligent person causes an accident while working for someone else, the employer may also be legally responsible for the accident.
  • If an accident is caused on property that is dangerous because it is poorly built or maintained, the owner of the property is liable for being careless in maintaining the property, regardless of whether he or she actually created the dangerous condition.
  • If an accident is caused by a defective product, the manufacturer and seller of the product are both liable even if the injured person doesn't know which one was careless in creating or allowing the defect, or exactly how the defect happened
  • When More Than One Person Is at Fault

Sound confusing? Handling such issues yourself could result in losing all your claims, or worse, being victimized by other parties blaming you.

The Westminster personal injury lawyers of BISNAR | CHASE have represented over 6,000 clients with a 97.8% success rate since 1978. We stand ready to assist you with your case. Visit us for information or a consultation. Contact us today at BestAttorney.com or 800-561-4887.

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