Drunk Driving Accident Lawyer in Los Angeles
If a drunk driver hit you, a drunk driving accident lawyer in Los Angeles can pursue full compensation for your injuries and, in some DUI cases, punitive damages on top of that. Moe Abdallah Law, P.C. handles the civil claim separately from the criminal case, and you pay nothing unless we win.
If a drunk driver hit you, a drunk driving accident lawyer in Los Angeles can pursue full compensation for your injuries and, in some cases, punitive damages meant to punish the driver for the choice they made. Moe Abdallah Law, P.C. builds that claim against the drunk driver and their insurer. A DUI crash is different from an ordinary wreck because the driver broke the law, and that changes what your case can be worth. We investigate the crash, gather the evidence, take on the insurer, and stand between you and the pressure while you heal. If we don't win money from the drunk driver's side, you owe us no fee.
When and where drunk driving crashes hit Los Angeles
No official source we checked gives a current count of alcohol-involved deaths for the City of Los Angeles alone. The statewide numbers are clear, though. In 2024, 1,311 of the 3,876 people killed on California roads died in crashes where the highest driver blood alcohol level was 0.08 or more. That is about 34 percent, per NHTSA FARS data. Inside the city, fatal crashes lean hard toward the night. Our tally of NHTSA FARS data for 2019 to 2024 shows 71 percent of the city's 1,822 fatal crashes happened after dark. About 48 percent of those with a known hour happened between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m. Speeding played a part in 38 percent. Those counts cover all fatal crashes, not only DUI crashes, and they land on roads you use every day. City freeways led the count: about 83 fatal crashes on US-101, 82 on I-5, 80 on I-110, 64 on I-10 and 36 on I-405. On surface streets, Western Avenue had about 38, Foothill Boulevard about 33 and Figueroa Street about 30. So if a drunk driver hit you on the Hollywood Freeway after a late shift, or on Sunset Boulevard on the way home from Hollywood, your crash fits a pattern the data shows. Where it happened also decides which agency wrote the report. That shapes your first moves, so we start there.
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Getting the LAPD report when the drunk driver was arrested
LAPD handles crashes on surface streets inside the City of Los Angeles. Four Traffic Divisions do the investigating. Central Traffic Division sits at 251 E. 6th St. and covers Central, Hollenbeck, Newton, Northeast and Rampart. South Traffic Division, at 4125 S. Crenshaw Blvd., covers 77th Street, Harbor, Southeast and Southwest. West Traffic Division sits at 4849 Venice Blvd. and covers Hollywood, Olympic, Pacific, West Los Angeles and Wilshire. Valley Traffic Division sits at 7870 Nollan Place in Panorama City and covers the San Fernando Valley areas. Here is the catch for DUI cases. LAPD will not release a report online when the crash involved an arrest, a death or a juvenile. A DUI arrest at the scene usually puts your report in that group. You have to ask by U.S. Mail. Send the Traffic Collision Report Request form with a $19.00 check or money order payable to the LAPD, no cash. Mail it to Records and Identification Division, Document Processing Unit, P.O. Box 30158, Los Angeles, CA 90030. You can check status on the recorded line at (213) 486-8130. If no one was arrested, you can order online through LAPD's portal in English or Spanish, but wait at least 45 days so the report can be reviewed and approved. When you hire us, we request the report for you and chase it until it arrives.
DUI crashes on LA freeways and the CHP offices that write them up
If the drunk driver hit you on a freeway, LAPD did not write the report. The California Highway Patrol, Southern Division, patrols the freeways in Los Angeles. CHP's Central Los Angeles Area, based at 777 W. Washington Blvd., covers I-5, I-10, US-101, I-110, SR-2, the Four-Level Interchange and SR-60 at the East LA Interchange. Call (213) 815-2000. The West Los Angeles Area office at 6300 Bristol Parkway in Culver City covers I-405 and I-10, and its area takes in LAX. Call (424) 577-8700. The West Valley Area office at 5825 De Soto Ave. in Woodland Hills patrols about 400 square miles, including parts of the city. Call (747) 373-3000. The East Los Angeles Area office in Monterey Park covers I-710, I-10, SR-60 and I-5. CHP pages describe their areas only in broad terms. For a crash on I-105, SR-170 or the Valley parts of US-101, I-405 or I-5, check the card the officer gave you or ask which office took the call. CHP can only release reports it investigated. You can pick one up at any CHP office for a fee, or mail a CHP 190 form or a letter with a copy of your driver license to the office that wrote it. CHP also runs an online Crash Report Search. Offices are open weekdays, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Get the report early. It names the officer, the witnesses and what the officer saw at the scene, and it helps us prove the driver was impaired.
Trauma care, the courthouse and your clock after an LA DUI crash
A DUI crash can leave you badly hurt, and many of our clients start at a trauma center. The LA County EMS Agency lists Los Angeles General Medical Center at 1200 North State Street, Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center in Westwood and Cedars-Sinai Medical Center on Beverly Boulevard as Level I trauma centers. Harbor-UCLA Medical Center in Torrance is Level I too. Dignity Health-California Hospital Medical Center, on South Grand Avenue downtown, is a Level II center. In the Valley, Dignity Health-Northridge Hospital Medical Center and Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills are Level II. Children go to Children's Hospital Los Angeles on Sunset Boulevard, a pediatric Level I center. Ask for your ER records and imaging. They tie your injuries to the crash. Your civil case will likely be filed in the Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles. Its Local Rule 2.3 sends unlimited motor vehicle injury cases to the Stanley Mosk Courthouse at 111 North Hill Street, about a mile from our office on West 7th Street, or to the Antelope Valley Courthouse in Lancaster. Stanley Mosk has courtrooms that hear personal injury cases and nothing else. The criminal DUI case runs on its own track. You generally have two years to sue the driver under Code of Civil Procedure 335.1. If the driver is convicted of a felony for the crash, Code of Civil Procedure 340.3 can give you until one year after the criminal judgment, when that is later. Don't wait on the criminal case to call us.
When the drunk driver was on the clock in Los Angeles
Some drunk drivers in LA were working when they crashed. That changes who you can claim against and how fast you must move. If the driver worked for the City of Los Angeles, such as a city employee in a city vehicle, only the Office of the City Clerk can take your claim. File through its online Claim for Damages portal, mail the signed form, or bring it to City Hall, 200 North Spring Street, Room 395. Email and fax claims are not accepted. Call (213) 978-1133. For a county driver, the County's claim form goes to the Board of Supervisors, Attention: Claims, 500 West Temple Street, Room 383. For a Metro bus or train operator, Metro's Claim for Damages form goes to One Gateway Plaza, 99-PL-4. With any public employer, you have six months to present a written claim (Government Code 911.2). If the agency rejects it in writing, a lawsuit generally must follow within six months (Government Code 945.6). If a rideshare or taxi driver was carrying a passenger, the legal limit drops to 0.04 percent blood alcohol under Vehicle Code 23152. Los Angeles World Airports licenses over 2,500 ground transportation companies at LAX, including ride app operators. Private employers can face punitive damages for a worker's drunk driving only in narrow cases, such as when they knew the worker was unfit and kept them on anyway (Civil Code 3294(b)). We look into who employed the driver right away, before records go missing.
Your civil claim is separate from the criminal DUI case
When a drunk driver hurts you, two different cases can run at the same time, and people often confuse them. The criminal case is the state against the driver for breaking the law (People v. the defendant). Driving under the influence is a crime under Vehicle Code section 23152, and driving under the influence and causing bodily injury to someone else is a separate crime under Vehicle Code section 23153. If the driver is convicted, the criminal court can order restitution, which is money paid to you. That sounds helpful, but restitution is usually far less than the full value of a serious injury claim, and it is not designed to cover your pain, your future care, or your lost earning power. Your civil claim is your own lawsuit for compensation, and it is where you recover the real value of what this crash cost you. The criminal case can help, but not always the way people expect. A felony conviction can be offered as evidence in your civil case to prove the facts the conviction rested on (Evidence Code section 1300). A misdemeanor DUI conviction does not get that treatment, and a no-contest plea to a misdemeanor cannot be used against the driver as an admission in a civil suit (Penal Code section 1016). Even without a conviction, we can still prove the driver was negligent with the police report, test results, witnesses, and the crash evidence.
Why DUI cases can include punitive damages
Most car accident cases pay only compensatory damages, meaning money for your losses. A drunk driving case can be different. California allows punitive damages when you prove "malice," "oppression" or "fraud" by clear and convincing evidence, and malice includes despicable conduct carried on with a willful and conscious disregard of the rights or safety of others (Civil Code section 3294). In Taylor v. Superior Court (1979) 24 Cal.3d 890, the California Supreme Court held that a drunk driver's conscious disregard of safety can support punitive damages. That does not make them automatic. Taylor came before the 1987 changes to section 3294 that added the "despicable" element and the clear-and-convincing standard, so each case turns on its own facts. Punitive damages are extra money on top of your compensation, meant to punish the driver and deter others. We look closely at the blood-alcohol evidence, the driving, and the driver's history to decide whether to pursue them. If the drunk driver was on the job, punitive damages against the employer take more: the employer must have known in advance the employee was unfit and kept them on with conscious disregard of others' safety, or authorized or ratified the conduct (Civil Code section 3294(b)).
What to do after a drunk driving crash in Los Angeles
Get medical care right away
Call 911 so officers come and test the driver, and let paramedics check you even if you feel "okay." The shock of a DUI crash can mask pain, and any delay before your first doctor visit gives the insurer a reason to say you weren't hurt.
Make sure the DUI is documented
Get the police report number and note whether officers tested the driver. That evidence of intoxication supports both the criminal case and your civil claim, so preserve everything you can.
Let us deal with the drunk driver's insurer
Skip the recorded statement and any early offer until a lawyer has looked at your DUI crash. An adjuster can turn one loose sentence into a lower number. The consultation is free.
How a DUI driver's insurer tries to shrink your claim, and our answer
Even when their driver was drunk, the at-fault insurer is not on your side. Its job is to pay you as little as it can, and a DUI case does not change that. It will call within days sounding helpful, ask for a recorded statement, request a broad medical authorization, and float a fast, low settlement while you are still hurting. It may claim you were partly at fault, that your injuries were already there, or that the criminal restitution should be enough. We shut those tactics down. We handle every conversation so you never have to, we build the medical and liability evidence into a demand they cannot lowball, and we prepare each case as if it will go to trial. Adjusters treat a DUI victim with a lawyer very differently, because they know we are ready to show a jury what their driver did.
What your drunk driving accident claim can recover
- ✓Medical expenses. Ambulance and ER bills, surgery, scans, prescriptions, and rehab for injuries the drunk driver caused, now and in the years ahead.
- ✓Lost income. Paychecks lost while you recover from the DUI crash, and lower future earnings if your injuries keep you from the work you did before.
- ✓Pain & suffering. The pain, fear, sleepless nights, and lost joy that follow being hit by someone who chose to get behind the wheel drunk.
- ✓Property damage. Fixing or replacing the car the drunk driver wrecked, plus belongings damaged in the crash.
- ✓Future care. Therapy, rehab, and long-term care your doctors expect you to need after the crash.
- ✓Punitive damages. Extra damages that may be available in some DUI cases, when the evidence meets the clear-and-convincing standard, to punish the drunk driver and deter others.
California injury law, the deadlines that matter
In California, you generally have two years to file a personal-injury or wrongful-death lawsuit (Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 335.1). For an injury claim the two years usually start on the date of the crash. For a wrongful-death claim they usually start on the date of death. If a government vehicle or driver was involved, you must first present a written claim to the public entity within six months (Gov. Code § 911.2), and after a written rejection you generally have six months to sue (Gov. Code § 945.6). If the drunk driver is convicted of a felony for the crash, Code Civ. Proc. § 340.3 can give you a later deadline: one year after the criminal judgment is pronounced, when that is later than the regular deadline. Driving under the influence is a crime under Vehicle Code § 23152, and causing bodily injury while doing it is a separate crime under Vehicle Code § 23153. A felony conviction can be offered as evidence in the civil case (Evid. Code § 1300). A misdemeanor DUI conviction does not get that treatment, and a no-contest plea to a misdemeanor cannot be used against the driver as an admission in a civil suit (Pen. Code § 1016). California allows punitive damages when you prove malice, oppression or fraud by clear and convincing evidence. Malice includes despicable conduct carried on with a willful and conscious disregard of the rights or safety of others (Civil Code § 3294). In Taylor v. Superior Court (1979) 24 Cal.3d 890, the California Supreme Court held that a drunk driver's conscious disregard of safety can support punitive damages, but they are not automatic. California's dram-shop rule is narrow. Under Civil Code § 1714(b)-(c) and Bus. & Prof. Code § 25602(b), bars, stores and social hosts generally are not liable for injuries caused by an adult they served. The main exceptions: anyone who sells alcohol to an obviously intoxicated minor whose drinking then causes injury (Bus. & Prof. Code § 25602.1), and an adult who knowingly gives alcohol at home to someone the adult knows, or should have known, is under 21 (Civil Code § 1714(d)). If the insurer says you share some blame for the DUI crash, California's rule of pure comparative negligence (Li v. Yellow Cab Co. (1975) 13 Cal.3d 804) only trims your award by your share. It does not bar your claim.
Why people hit by drunk drivers in LA call Moe Abdallah Law
Moe handles your DUI case himself
Attorney Moe Abdallah works your case personally, deals with the drunk driver's insurer, and updates you by call and text as the civil claim moves forward.
No fee unless we win
No upfront cost, and no fee at all unless we collect money for you. The consultation is always free.
We prepare to win
We get ready for trial from day one: the DUI evidence, the right experts, and firm negotiation backed by a case we can take to a jury.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nothing upfront. We take DUI injury cases on a contingency fee, meaning our fee is a share of what we recover from the drunk driver's side. No recovery, no fee. The consultation is always free.
Usually two years under California Code of Civil Procedure § 335.1, counted from the date of the crash for an injury claim, or from the date of death for a wrongful-death claim. If a government vehicle or driver was involved, you must first present a written claim to the public entity within six months (Government Code § 911.2), and after a written rejection you generally have six months to sue (Government Code § 945.6). If the driver is convicted of a felony for the crash, Code of Civil Procedure § 340.3 can give you until one year after the criminal judgment, when that is later. Don't wait for the criminal case to finish, since it runs on its own timeline. Call us early so we can preserve scene video, witness names, and test records before they go missing.
The criminal case punishes the driver, and it may order restitution, but restitution is usually far less than the full value of a serious injury and doesn't cover things like your pain or future care. Your civil claim is how you recover the real cost of what happened to you. The two run separately, and a misdemeanor DUI conviction can't simply be used as proof in your civil case, so we build the negligence evidence ourselves.
Sometimes. California allows punitive damages when you prove malice, oppression or fraud by clear and convincing evidence (Civil Code § 3294). In Taylor v. Superior Court (1979) 24 Cal.3d 890, the California Supreme Court held that a drunk driver's conscious disregard of safety can support them, but they are not automatic. These are extra damages on top of your compensation. We review the facts and the DUI evidence to decide whether to pursue them in your case.
Usually no. Under Civil Code § 1714(b)-(c) and Business and Professions Code § 25602(b), bars, stores and social hosts generally are not liable for injuries caused by an adult they served. There are two main exceptions: anyone who sells alcohol to an obviously intoxicated minor whose drinking then causes the injury (Business and Professions Code § 25602.1), and an adult who knowingly gives alcohol at home to someone they know, or should have known, is under 21 (Civil Code § 1714(d)). Most drunk driving claims are against the driver and their insurer. We'll look at the facts to see if an exception applies to your case.
If it was minor with no injuries, you can sometimes handle it yourself. But a DUI crash often means serious injuries and possible punitive damages, and the insurer fights harder because of it. With a lawyer, DUI crash victims usually net more, even after the fee is paid. Not sure? Call and get a straight answer about your DUI crash, free.
No. You don't have to give the drunk driver's insurer a recorded statement, and adjusters use these calls to pick apart your words. Say no, keep it short, and don't discuss the crash or your injuries. Give them our number and we'll speak for you from there.
Usually not while you are still in treatment. Once you accept, you cannot reopen the claim, and a fast offer is almost always less than your injuries are worth, especially when punitive damages may be in play. Send it to us first and we'll review it free before you sign.
It can try, and you can still recover. California applies pure comparative negligence (Li v. Yellow Cab Co. (1975) 13 Cal.3d 804), so any share of fault put on you lowers your award by that percentage. It doesn't wipe it out. Adjusters often inflate the victim's share even when their own driver was drunk, and we answer with the evidence.
Yes. The shock of being hit can hide pain for hours, and whiplash or a concussion may not show up for days. Insurers often cite a delay in treatment as their reason to deny a claim, so get examined and save every record. Then call us.
It depends on your injuries and whether the criminal case affects the timing. A minor-injury claim can wrap up in a few months. A serious-injury claim takes longer, since we hold off on settling until your doctors know how you will recover. You'll hear from us at each stage, so you're never guessing where things stand.
Yes, Se Habla Español. You can talk through your DUI crash claim in Spanish or English, whichever is easier for you.
If LAPD arrested the driver, you can't get the report online. Reports that involve an arrest, a death or a juvenile go out by mail only. Send LAPD's Traffic Collision Report Request form with a $19.00 check or money order, no cash, to Records and Identification Division, Document Processing Unit, P.O. Box 30158, Los Angeles, CA 90030. The status line is (213) 486-8130. If no one was arrested, order online after at least 45 days. We can request it for you.
In most cases, the Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles. Its Local Rule 2.3 sends unlimited motor vehicle injury cases to the Stanley Mosk Courthouse at 111 North Hill Street downtown, or to the Antelope Valley Courthouse in Lancaster. At Stanley Mosk, several courtrooms are set aside for personal injury cases alone. Your civil case is separate from the criminal DUI case, which runs on its own schedule. Don't wait for the criminal case to end before you call us about your civil claim.
The California Highway Patrol, not LAPD. CHP patrols the freeways in Los Angeles through area offices such as Central Los Angeles on West Washington Boulevard, West Los Angeles in Culver City and West Valley in Woodland Hills. CHP only releases reports it wrote. Get yours at any CHP office for a fee, mail a CHP 190 form or a letter with a copy of your license to the office that wrote it, or use CHP's online Crash Report Search.
Other ways we help
Drunk-Driving Crashes lawyer by area
We represent drunk-driving crashes victims across Los Angeles County:
Los Angeles crash data: DUI crash statistics, Los Angeles
Authoritative resources: California Courts, self-help for injury claims · Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 335.1, 2-year deadline · California DMV · California Office of Traffic Safety, crash data
Sources & local resources
- Obtain A Traffic Collision Report · Los Angeles Police Department
- Frequently Asked Questions · California Highway Patrol
- (590) Central Los Angeles · California Highway Patrol
- FARS Encyclopedia: States, Alcohol · NHTSA, U.S. Department of Transportation
- 9-1-1 Receiving Hospital Directory, Reference No. 501 · LA County EMS Agency, Department of Health Services
- Local Rules, Chapter 2 (Rules 2.2 and 2.3, filing locations) · Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles
- Claim for Damage · Office of the Los Angeles City Clerk
- Code of Civil Procedure § 340.3 · California Legislative Information
Talk to Moe Abdallah directly
When you call Moe Abdallah Law, you work directly with your attorney and get straight answers, not a call center. Moe takes on the insurance companies and fights for the maximum, and he keeps you updated at every step. The consultation is free and you pay nothing unless he wins.
Real recoveries for real Angelenos
Real recoveries from an attorney who takes your case personally and fights for the maximum.
Rear-ended by a driver who fled, and other firms turned her down. Moe opened an uninsured-motorist claim, proved she could not have been at fault, and secured the full policy limit.
Broke his sternum and had no insurance of his own, and his prior attorney ignored him. Moe took his calls day and night and recovered a settlement that covered his hospital bills and future treatment.
Cut off on the freeway and left with back and neck pain over four months of treatment. Moe secured the full policy limit for his pain and suffering, and his totaled car was reimbursed.
Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Every case is different and depends on its own facts.
Talk to a lawyer today, free
Tell us what happened. We respond fast, usually within the hour, and there's no fee unless we win. Available 24/7 · Se Habla Español.
Call (323) 716-1992