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School Injury Attorney Los Angeles

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As parents, we assume that when we send our kids to school, they learn important skills and will be kept safe throughout the day. In addition, we also believe our children will be provided with a safe environment in the schools they attend. However, all too often our trust in our local school system is broken when our child suffers a severe injury due to negligent actions of school supervisors, teachers, physical education caches, staff, and security. Schools carry a duty to provide their students with a safe and hazard free environment. School districts have a legal duty to provide a safe environment for students and to protect them while on school property, when transporting them to and from school and in various other circumstances where the school has assumed responsibility for the students. Failure to meet this standard can result in a negligence claim against a school district if a child is injured or killed while in its care. Similarly, school districts also have a legal obligation to act with care with regard to non-students who may be impacted by the actions of school district employees acting within the scope of their employment.

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If your child has been injured in your local school district or at a private school contact our California School Injury Attorneys at 1-424-256-9055.

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California School District Negligence Attorney

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In California alone, there are almost 1000 different school districts, in which each is responsible for the care of hundreds or thousands of students on an everyday basis. The largest of all is the Los Angeles Unified School District, which boasts more than 600,000 students who are spread out among over 900 different schools and approximately 200 charter schools.

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CALIFORNIA SCHOOL DISTRICTS

 

California is different from many states since it separates its districts into the following types:

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1. Unified districts (includes high school and elementary schools);

2. Elementary districts (includes schools instructing children from kindergarten up to 8th grade); and

3. High School districts (includes one or more high schools in the same area).

 

A few of the districts include the name “Joint” or “Union,” which refers to the formation of the school district. It can be difficult to closely supervise the large number of students that attend school within any given California school district. However, this is the job of every school district, and the failure to monitor the safety of its students could lead to negligence claims.

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SCHOOL DISTRICT NEGLIGENCE

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School districts and their employees, including teachers and other staff, have a legal duty of care to protect students from harm, injuries, or death that could occur while they are at school, when they are participating in school-sponsored activities or while the students are being transported by the school district. If a student’s injuries resulted because faculty or other school employees failed to protect or properly care for students or because the school district did not provide a safe environment, the school district could be held accountable. In addition, if an independent contractor hired by the school district acts negligently, the school district can also be held liable for resulting injuries or deaths. Injuries do not have to solely be physical, but could also refer to the brutal bullying verbal (or cyber) attacks made by one student, or even teacher, against another student on school property or at a school sponsored event.

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Types of Student Injury Accidents and Personal Injury Claims

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Some of the leading causes of injuries in schools are as follows:

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• Defective Doors

• Falling Objects

• Lack of Security

• School Fights:  Assault and battery in school

• School Bus Accidents and other public transportation accidents

• Playground Injuries

• School Shootings: Firearm and Gun Offenses in Schools

• Teacher Sexual misconduct:  Including Sexual Harassment

• Cafeteria Food Poisoning

• Toxic Exposure of Chemicals

• Lack of supervision

• Sexual Assault and Rape in Schools

• Hazardous waste

• Bullying and Hazing

• Lead in Schools

• School construction site injuries

• School Crossing Injuries

• Slip and Fall accidents

• Physical Education Injuries: Coaching Negligence

• School Science lab accidents and explosions

• Sport Injuries

• Bleacher collapse

• Defective and unmaintained desks

• Faulty Electric hazards

 

Common Injuries associated with school accidents are as follows:

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• Brain Damage: Traumatic Brain Injury

• Spinal Cord Injury

• Paralysis

• Fractured Bones

• Torn Ligament

• Knee Injuries

• Severe Neck Injuries

• Facial lacerations

• Broken Nose

• Emotional Trauma

• Electrocutions

• Burn Injuries

• Infectious diseases

• Lead Poisoning

• School Suicides

• Student Fatalities: Wrongful Death of a Student

 

Proving School Liability in Court

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Recovery for a personal injury claim in California will likely be based due to negligence.  Accordingly, negligence requires the demonstration of the following four elements below:

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1. A Duty of Care is owed to the plaintiff under the circumstances;

2. The responsible party breach their duty of care to the injured party (plaintiff);

3. The defendant was the actual and proximate cause of the plaintiff’s damages and;

4. The plaintiff actually suffered some harm (psychological or physical) as a result of the defendant’s negligence.

Thus a plaintiff will have to prove the school has a duty of care to protect the student; the school failed or breached its duty leading to the students injuries.

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Liability for Failure to Supervise Creating Dangerous Conditions : All too often teachers and staff that are left to supervise students in playgrounds, lunchroom cafeterias and playgrounds do not have the requisite training and have not been given proper instructions. California Code of Regulations, title 5, §§5551 and 5552 states that all staff and administrators must be adequately trained in the duties they are given and must continually retrain in order to perform their jobs well. If failure to do so leads to student injuries then liability of the school districts may be established.

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Criminal Assaults and School District Liability:  A School owes a general duty to supervise children and must take reasonable measures to prevent foreseeable acts of violence in school.  This may include acts of violence by third parties including other students, person from outside the school who infiltrate the campus, teachers and staff.  Acts of violence include assault and battery, firearm offenses, bullying, hazing, sexual assault, and murder.

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School Bus and public Transportation Accidents: School bus accidents lead to more than 8,000 injuries every year, more than 1,500 of those injuries regarded as catastrophic.  Liability for injuries to students may not end when the student is no longer on campus.  If a school has taken on the task of providing transportation then it owes a duty of safety to its occupants.   A school duty of care extends beyond the doors of the bus; the duty remains until the student has been placed in location safe from physical harm.

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List of Largest School Districts in California

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•       Los Angeles Unified School District:  700,00 + students enrolled

•       San Diego School District:  140,000 students enrolled

•       Long Beach Unified School District: 100,000 students enrolled

•       Fresno Unified School District: 80,000 students enrolled

•       Santa Ana Unified School District: 60,000 students enrolled

•       San Fransisco Unified School District: 60,000 students enrolled

•       Oakland Unified School District: 55,000 students enrolled

•       Sacramento Unified School District: 54,000 students enrolled

•       San Bernardino Unified School District: 52,000 students enrolled

•       San Juan Unified School District: 50,000 students enrolled

 

Other Major School Districts in California Include:  Beverly Hills, Irvine, Anaheim, Ontario, San Jose, Richmond, Berkley, Oceanside, Newport Beach, Pomona, Glendale, Burbank, Alameda, Bakersfield, Cucamonga, Chino Valley, Porterville, Simi Valley, Santa Monica, and Culver City.

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We Fight To Recover Your Remedies

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Based on the specifications of your case - the details of the accident, how severe your injury was, it is ultimately going to determine what you could be entitled to sustain based on your case. However, what you can be compensated for if your case prevails can often be put into several different categories.

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The categories of compensation can include:

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Medical bills: Should you win your case, you could be awarded compensation for medical bills you’ve had to pay as a result of your injury. This includes both past and future bills stemming from the injury, and can potentially cover expenses such as transport or in-home rehabilitation services.

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Lost wages: Lost wages can be awarded if your injury has caused significant missed time at work, or has made you unable to perform your job. You could be entitled to even more lost wages if the injury leaves you permanently disabled and unable to find consistent work.

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Pain and suffering: In some cases, the damages endured from physical pain and emotional suffering can be compensated to pay for therapy treatments.

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Punitive damages: Punitive damages are awarded in more extreme cases, wherein the injury was caused by someone’s recklessness. They are awarded to try and dissuade the defendant and others from acting with that level of recklessness again.

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You Don’t Pay Until You Win.

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Contact a Los Angeles School Accident Lawyer to schedule a free, no obligation initial case evaluation at 1-424-256-9055. Our Student Injury Attorneys in Los Angeles will help protect your rights. And remember, You Don’t Pay until You Win, or You Don’t Pay At All!

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Lawyer Referral Service

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If you are in a need a Los Angeles Public School Injury Lawyer to help you get appropriate compensation and medical care you deserve, you should contact an Los Angeles School Injury Lawyer today. Our School Injury Lawyer in Los Angeles will help you overcome your injury or damage.

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If you have any questions about the information provided above, please contact Legal Leaf. Legal Leaf is a Lawyer Referral that can provide you with a Los Angeles Personal Injury Attorney or law firm. If you do have any questions about a School Injury attorney in Los Angeles area please contacts us for a free Lawyer Referral to a Los Angeles Lawyer.

 

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