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A Free Second Read Before You Accept a California Injury Settlement
If you have an injury lawyer and a settlement offer in California, you can have another lawyer review the offer before you accept it.
The review costs you nothing, and it does not commit you to changing lawyers.
It checks what the claim is worth under California's rules on medical bills, how much insurance stands behind each defendant, and what the liens will take.
A signed release cannot be undone, so the time for a second look is before the signature.
The review looks at the same file your lawyer has, with a fresh set of eyes.
Call (888) 713-6653 with questions about an offer before you accept it.
What a Second Lawyer Reads First in a California Settlement Offer
A second opinion is a short, focused review of the file that asks whether the offer fairly reflects what the case could recover.
"Under CCP § 998, turning down a formal offer can shift costs to you if the verdict comes in lower."
- Fault. How the insurer is splitting the blame, and whether the evidence supports that split under California's pure comparative fault rule.
- The medical picture. Whether treatment is finished, whether surgery or long-term care is likely, and whether the offer accounts for it.
- Coverage. The limits on every policy that could pay, including an employer's, a commercial carrier's, an umbrella, and your own underinsured motorist coverage.
- The release. Who it releases, whether it covers claims you have not made yet, and how it handles liens and Medicare.
- The net. What reaches you after fees, costs, and liens.
When an offer falls short, the gap usually shows up in the fault split or the medical picture.
How the Howell Paid-Versus-Billed Rule Shapes a California Offer
California measures past medical damages by what was paid or is still owed, not the hospital's full charges. The California Supreme Court held in Howell v. Hamilton Meats & Provisions that an insured plaintiff recovers "no more than the amounts paid by the plaintiff or his or her insurer for the medical services received or still owing at the time of trial."[1]
Insurers build offers on that rule, so an offer that looks large next to the billed amounts may be modest next to the amounts paid, and the reverse is also true. For a person who treated on a lien rather than through insurance, later decisions treat the bills differently, as our page on medical liens and lien-based bills in California explains.
Future care is where offers fall shortest. A settlement figured on bills to date, before a surgeon has weighed in on what comes next, can leave the most expensive part of the injury unpaid.
The medical record a second lawyer asks for is the one that shows what is still coming.
Proposition 51 and the Offer When Two Defendants Share the Blame
When more than one party caused the injury, Civil Code § 1431.2 makes each defendant responsible for only its own share of your pain and suffering, while each remains liable for all of your economic losses.[2]
That changes how an offer from one defendant should be read. A driver's insurer offering its policy limits may be the full amount available from that driver, while the company that maintained the road, employed the driver, or owned the vehicle may still owe its share. Settling with one party affects the claims against the others, and the release language decides how.
A review asks whether every responsible party has been identified before anyone signs a release that could reach them. From 2027, a public entity found 15 percent or less at fault will owe only its share of economic damages too, which makes that question even more important in cases involving a city or county.
Policy Limits and the Time-Limited Demand Under CCP § 999.1
In a serious injury case, the at-fault driver's policy limit is often the real ceiling. An insurer that unreasonably refuses a reasonable offer to settle within its limits can end up responsible for a verdict above them, which is why a well-built demand for the policy limits matters.
California sets rules for those demands. Under Code of Civil Procedure § 999.1, a time-limited demand must be in writing, labeled as one, and give the insurer at least 30 days to accept, or 33 days if sent by regular mail. It must offer to settle all claims within the limits, including liens, offer a complete release of the insured, and include the date and place of the loss, the claim number if known, a description of the injuries, and reasonable proof such as medical records.[3]
If your case has a demand that missed those requirements, or never made one, the review will say whether that weakened your position and whether it can still be fixed. Our page on underinsured motorist coverage in California explains where the money comes from when the limits run out.
What a CCP § 998 Offer Does to the Risk of Saying No
A formal settlement offer under Code of Civil Procedure § 998 raises the stakes of rejecting it. If a defendant makes one and you do not beat it at trial, you cannot recover your own costs after the offer, you pay the defendant's costs from the date of the offer, and the court can make you pay part of the defendant's expert fees.[4] An offer not accepted within 30 days, or before trial, is treated as withdrawn.
The rule runs both ways. If you make a § 998 offer, the defendant rejects it, and you do better at trial, the court can order the defendant to pay part of your expert costs, and in a personal injury case Civil Code § 3291 adds interest at 10 percent a year on the judgment from the date of your offer.
A § 998 offer in your file is a deadline and a risk calculation at once, and both should be understood before the 30 days run.
The Liens That Come Out Before a California Settlement Reaches You
The settlement number is not what you take home. Hospital liens, health plan reimbursement, Medi-Cal, Medicare, and workers' compensation can each claim part of it, and each has limits on how much.
California caps a hospital lien at half of the recovery after prior liens, caps a health plan's claim at one-third of the recovery when you have a lawyer, and limits Medi-Cal to the medical share of the settlement. Those limits are applied before the money is divided, and negotiation usually reduces the balances further. A review that leaves out the liens has not looked at the number that matters to you.
Asking for the projected net, line by line, is the most useful single request you can make before deciding on an offer.
Who Pays for a Second Opinion When You Already Have a Lawyer
You do not. A conversation with Lawsuit Legal about your offer is free and confidential.
If the review shows the case is in good hands, you keep your lawyer. If you decide to change, California protects you from paying twice. A discharged lawyer is limited to the reasonable value of the work done, paid only if the case recovers, and a fee divided between two firms cannot raise the total you pay, as our page on switching personal injury lawyers in California explains.
The review is a conversation about your file, and the decision about your case stays with you.