Areas of Practice
At Heiting & Irwin, we bring much more to the table than our decades of experience and comprehensive legal knowledge. As our clients will attest, our team of dedicated legal advocates offers the necessary substantive experience to get the job done, as well as compassion to fight zealously for our clients.
Nestled serenely along the tree-lined streets of suburban Riverside, our office is a welcoming environment for clients who have endured a range of issues from auto accidents to nursing home neglect. If you or a loved one recently suffered injury and would like to discuss your options under California law, please do not hesitate to contact us right away at 951-682-6400. We look forward to hearing from you and can help with any of the areas of law listed below.
Vehicular Accidents
Our firm is experienced in all types of vehicular accidents including:
- Truck
- Motorcycle
- Automobile
- Bicycle
- Common carriers (bus, plane, train, uber, lyft and taxi)
Regardless of the type of accident, we have the expertise to help our clients maximize their recovery from the other driver(s) responsible for their injuries. We can help you prove that the other driver’s negligence caused your accident and the resulting injuries.
We also help victims of accidents caused by uninsured or underinsured motorists get the compensation they deserve.
Common Carrier Accidents
California is a busy place, and common carrier accidents are—for lack of a better term—too common. Whether you sustained injuries on a public bus, Metrolink or Amtrak train, or while traveling in a taxi cab or rideshare vehicle, you have the right to collect damages from the company that caused your injury. In the case of public transportation, an injury claim may involve the municipal or state government, depending upon the situation. In any event, we are ready to help. Our firm is experience in dealing with all kinds of common carriers including transportation on buses, planes, trains, ubers, lyfts, and taxis.
Catastrophic Injuries
A catastrophic injury can create a major burden for both the victim and his family alike, oftentimes rendering the victim unable to return to work for the foreseeable future. At Heiting & Irwin, we can help victims of the following types of catastrophic injuries:
- Paralysis
- Paraplegia
- Quadriplegia
- Hemiplegia
- Facial paralysis
- Severe burns
- Amputations
- Traumatic brain injuries
- Spinal cord injuries
- Death
When a victim endures a catastrophic injury, his medical expenses will likely be lifelong, requiring round-the-clock nursing care and lengthy rehabilitation. Fortunately, we can rely on our experience and knowledge of medically complex personal injury cases to maximize compensation for our clients and help get them on the road to recovery.
Wrongful Death
In California, surviving family members of someone killed by the negligence of another person or entity may be able to collect compensation through a wrongful death claim. A wrongful death action offers compensation for economic damages, such as loss of financial support and funeral and burial expenses, and for non-economic damages which include loss of love, companionship, comfort, care, assistance, protection, affection, society, and moral support.
Malpractice
Malpractice can take many forms, but is perhaps best known in the medical context. Under California’s laws of medical malpractice, a doctor or healthcare provider can face liability if, in treating the patient, the providers’ were a deviation from accepted standards of medical care, resulting in injury or death.
We also help victims of other types of professional malpractice.
The professionals of Heiting & Irwin understand the complexities of these lawsuits and are ready to assist. In any malpractice case, the use of expert witnesses is usually required to help establish the accepted standard of care for the sub-specialty in question, and whether or not the professional met this standard.
Nursing Home Negligence
Perhaps one of the most deplorable areas of malpractice is nursing home negligence. According to the National Center on Elder Abuse nursing home negligence and more specifically elder abuse mistreatment of the elderly and disabled adult population can take any of the following forms:
- Physical abuse: Engaging in—or threatening to engage in—assaultive contact toward the elderly or disabled victim.
- Emotional abuse: Using verbal or non-verbal acts to inflict emotional harm and mental anguish on the victim.
- Sexual abuse: Engaging in non-consensual sexual contact of any kind, or forcing the victim to view sexual activity.
- Financial exploitation: Gaining the victim’s trust in order to coerce her into making changes to her financial portfolio or estate plan in the perpetrator’s favor.
- Neglect: Failure to tend to the victim’s basic needs for shelter, food, water, and care.
Workers’ Compensation with a State Certified Specialist (Richard H. Irwin)
Workers’ compensation claims are between an employee and his employer and the employer’s insurer, and they involve several requirements. Generally, employees working for covered employers can obtain compensation following a workplace injury, regardless of whether the employee was negligent or at fault for the injuries.
The amount of benefits available to the victim will depend upon the nature of the injury and the victim’s weekly wages at the time the injury occurred, with more severe injuries resulting in higher payouts. In some cases, insurers will wrongfully deny claims or cut them short, which is where we come in.
Product Liability
Consumer product manufacturers, wholesalers, and retailers are under a duty to protect consumers from unreasonably unsafe goods and products. This includes medications, prescriptions, appliances, toys, vehicles, household articles, implants of all types, childrens’ toys, cribs, play things, tools and chemicals, food items, automobiles, or any other type of goods – injures a consumer, the parties in the “chain of commerce” could face liability for exposing consumers to the risk of harm.
In some cases, lawyers will consolidate product liability claims into either one case (known as a class action) or into one court to aid in judicial efficiency (known as multi-district litigation). No matter the scenario, Heiting & Irwin is here to help victims recover from injuries caused by unreasonably dangerous consumer goods.
Premises Liability
The term “premises liability” refers to the liability imposed upon property owners in the event a visitor sustains injury while on site. California law imposes a requirement on shopkeepers and property owners to keep their aisles and walkways, stairs, steps areas clear of hazards (slip hazards, trip hazards and other hazards) both known and reasonably discoverable.
If a property owner is aware of a hazard (or should be aware of it), he or she must remedy the situation as quickly as possible and place clear signage around the hazard to warn consumers to be careful. If a property owner or employee skips these steps and a customer suffers injuries in an accident, such as a slip and fall, the property owner could be liable.
Contact Heiting & Irwin Today
Our practice areas are varied, but our focus is narrow: competent and compassionate client representation with an unmatched dedication to positive and effective resolution. To make an appointment or to get started on your injury case, call Heiting & Irwin today at 951-682-6400.
