Personal injury
A bad outcome is not malpractice. A bad outcome that a careful doctor, nurse, or hospital would have prevented is, and California has built a set of rules around these cases that catch families who wait. The consultation is free.
Patrick S. AguirrePersonal injury attorney · Long BeachCallback request
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The claim
Medical malpractice is professional negligence: a health care provider failed to use the skill and care that a reasonably careful provider in the same field would have used in the same circumstances, and that failure caused an injury the patient would not otherwise have suffered. As a general rule those elements are established through the testimony of a qualified medical expert, because the standard of care in a specialty is not something a jury is taken to know and a patient’s own account does not establish it. The rule is not absolute: California recognises a common knowledge exception for the narrow class of cases where the negligence is obvious to a layperson without expert help, such as an instrument left inside a patient. Whichever applies, the office does not file a claim a qualified physician has not reviewed and supported, which is a screening policy rather than a statement of what the law requires in every case.
Two other theories come up often. Failure to obtain informed consent, where a provider did not disclose a risk that a reasonable patient would have wanted to know before agreeing to treatment. And res ipsa loquitur, where an injury of a kind that does not ordinarily occur without negligence, caused by something within the defendant’s exclusive control, permits the jury to infer negligence from the fact of the injury itself. That doctrine and the common knowledge exception overlap, and both are narrow.
Sources: Judicial Council of California Civil Jury Instructions (CACI) 501 and 518 — the standard of care and res ipsa loquitur, with their supporting authorities; Evidence Code 669 — the presumption of negligence from violation of a statute or regulation.
The cases
The caps
Civil Code 3333.2 limits the non-economic damages, meaning pain, suffering, disfigurement, and loss of enjoyment of life, that can be recovered in a medical malpractice case. The limits were raised by the Legislature in 2022, effective 2023, and rise every January. For a case in 2026 the cap is $470,000 for an injury and $650,000 for a wrongful death, increasing by $40,000 and $50,000 respectively each year until they reach $750,000 and $1,000,000, after which they are adjusted for inflation. The statute sets separate caps for health care providers, for health care institutions, and for unaffiliated providers or institutions, so more than one cap can apply in a single case.
Economic damages are not capped: medical bills already incurred, the future care an injury will require, lost income, and lost earning capacity are recoverable in full. That is why a malpractice case is built on the economic record, and why the documentation of future care, through treating physicians and, where warranted, a life-care plan, is the work that determines what the case is worth.
Sources: Civil Code 3333.2(b)–(c) — separate $350,000/$500,000 base caps for providers, institutions, and unaffiliated defendants; Civil Code 3333.2(g) — the annual escalator: injury caps rise $40,000 and death caps $50,000 each 1 January from 2023, so 2026 is $470,000 and $650,000.
Deadlines
Code of Civil Procedure 340.5 requires a malpractice lawsuit to be filed within one year of the date the patient discovered, or reasonably should have discovered, the injury, and never more than three years after the injury itself, whichever comes first. The three-year limit is extended only for fraud, intentional concealment, or a foreign object left in the body.
A minor’s claim must be filed within three years of the wrongful act. A child injured before age six has until the eighth birthday if that gives more time. Birth-injury cases run on this clock.
Code of Civil Procedure 364 requires written notice of the intent to sue at least 90 days before the lawsuit is filed, describing the legal basis and the injuries. Serving the notice in the last 90 days of the limitations period extends the deadline by 90 days.
Care at a county facility such as LA General Medical Center or Harbor-UCLA, or at a public clinic, requires a written government claim within six months under Government Code 911.2 before any lawsuit. Miss it and the case is generally over.
The one-year clock starts when you knew or should have known something went wrong, not when a lawyer confirms it. Write down the date you first suspected a problem and treat it as the start of the year. Sources: Code of Civil Procedure 340.5 — one year from discovery, three years from injury, and the minors’ rules; Code of Civil Procedure 364(a)–(d) — 90 days’ notice before filing, and the 90-day extension; Government Code 911.2(a) — six months to present a claim against a public provider; Government Code 945.6(a) — six months to sue after rejection.
Arbitration
Many California providers, and Kaiser Permanente in particular, require patients to agree in advance that malpractice disputes will be decided by arbitration rather than in court. Code of Civil Procedure 1295 governs those agreements: the clause must carry a specific notice in bold red type above the signature line, and a patient may rescind it in writing within 30 days of signing. Where a valid agreement exists, the case is heard by an arbitrator rather than a jury, with its own filing procedures and its own schedule.
Arbitration changes the forum, not the claim. The standard of care, the expert requirement, the damage caps, and the deadlines apply exactly as they would in Superior Court, and the notice and limitations periods still run.
What is at stake
The claim covers the economic losses in full and the non-economic losses up to the cap: corrective treatment, the future care the error made necessary, lost income and earning capacity, and the pain, disability, and disfigurement the patient lives with. A family’s wrongful-death claim covers its own losses. A complaint to the Medical Board of California about the provider’s license is a separate process that can discipline the provider but compensates no one; the two can and often should proceed together.
The first weeks
California gives patients the right to inspect and copy their medical records. Request the full chart in writing from every provider involved, including imaging, lab results, nursing notes, and the operative report, before anyone knows a claim is coming.
Dates of visits, who you saw, what you were told, what you were prescribed, and when you first realized something was wrong. Memory of a hospital stay fades fast.
A second opinion from an unaffiliated provider both protects your health and documents the injury independently.
Hospitals sometimes offer to write off a bill or make a goodwill payment in exchange for a release. Do not sign one, and do not give a recorded statement to the provider’s risk manager or insurer.
The office
A malpractice case begins with the records and an independent medical review; the office does not file a claim a qualified physician has not supported. Where the review supports the case, the office serves the 90-day notice, presents any required government claim inside six months, and proceeds in Los Angeles Superior Court or, where a valid agreement requires it, in arbitration. The economic losses are documented through treating physicians and, where the injury is lasting, a life-care plan, because that is the part of the recovery the law does not cap.
The office has represented injured people in Long Beach and across Los Angeles County for nearly three decades. The firm now has offices in Long Beach and Downey, and speaks Spanish.
Frequently asked questions
No. A known risk that was disclosed and that occurred despite proper care is usually not malpractice. A known risk that occurred because the care fell below the standard, or that was never disclosed when it should have been, can be. The distinction is made by an expert reviewing the records, not by the provider who is being asked about it.
One year from when you discovered or should have discovered the injury, and in no event more than three years from the injury, with narrow exceptions. A 90-day notice must be served before filing, and a claim against a county hospital requires a government claim within six months. Because the one-year clock starts at discovery, the safe assumption is that it is already running.
Non-economic damages are capped by Civil Code 3333.2, at $470,000 for an injury and $650,000 for a wrongful death in 2026, rising each year, with separate caps for providers, institutions, and unaffiliated defendants. Economic damages, including all future medical care and lost income, are not capped.
Yes. Kaiser members generally must bring malpractice claims through Kaiser’s arbitration system rather than in court, under an agreement governed by Code of Civil Procedure 1295. The claim, the expert requirement, the caps, and the deadlines are the same; the forum is different.
Selected case results
A selection from 55 documented results
$2,850,000
Premises liability
$320,000
Maricopa County, Arizona
$480,000
Premises liability
$520,000
Maricopa County, Arizona
$360,000
Los Angeles Superior Court
Client experiences
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“Patrick is very reliable, trustworthy, and will definitely be able to help you out. Cost is very reasonable.”
Meet your attorney
A Professional Law Corporation
The future of your case may depend on a successful outcome. It can be stressful to go through the legal process alone—but thankfully, you don’t have to.
The Law Offices of Patrick S. Aguirre will stand up for clients’ interests and rights, providing high-quality representation in personal injury cases and criminal defense matters throughout California from its Long Beach office.
We work with you and for your best interests. Our legal team is compassionate, hard-working, and tenacious—fighting to get the job done right when it matters most. No case is too complicated or insignificant for our full attention. Our clients may move forward into a brighter future free from worry about past mistakes.
We’re the legal team that never gives up. When you need an attorney who will fight for what’s right, turn to us, and we’ll do everything in our power to help. No matter how challenging your situation may seem, there is hope.
“Courage is the most important attribute of a lawyer.”
Robert F. Kennedy
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