California Personal Injury Lawyers

Personal injury lawyers practice a form of civil law rather than criminal law. In California, as in many other states, the rules regarding the two types of law are a little different. California civil law stems from an well-established legal term know as tort, which is the wrongdoing of one individual or company to another.

A tort is addressed by the civil courts in California the same way that a crime is addressed by the criminal courts. The primary difference lies in the punishment. For criminal law, it usually means fines or a prison sentence, administered by society as a whole for a perceived wrongdoing against the community. With civil law of the sort personal injury lawyers practice, it usually means financial restitution paid to the victim by the at-fault party, such as in a car accident or a case of faulty product manufacturing.

California Personal Injury Lawyers Work With Tort Legislation

Another important difference between civil law and criminal law is the burden of proof. While crimes must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt, torts need only be proven by a preponderance of evidence. It becomes easier for a California personal injury lawyer to prove, say, negligence in a car accident that caused extreme injury than it would for a California criminal attorney to prove guilt in the same act. Some acts may be both torts and crimes, but the law applies differently to each term. David Allen & Associates Law has attorneys in Stockton, CA and Sacramento, CA who can provide counsel on California personal injury laws.