Alameda County · Areas we serve
Personal injury lawyers serving Berkeley
In a city where so many people get around on foot or by bike, the person hit is rarely the person protected by two tons of steel. The case review is free.
Berkeley moves differently than most East Bay cities. Tens of thousands of students and residents get around on foot, by bike, and by bus, sharing streets with commuters funneling toward the I-80/University Avenue interchange and cut-through traffic on San Pablo, Ashby, and Shattuck. The city has invested in bicycle boulevards and calmer streets, but the collisions we see here still follow a familiar pattern: a driver turning across a crosswalk on Telegraph, a car door opening into a bike lane, a cyclist struck in an intersection the driver 'never saw them' enter.
The physics of those crashes are unforgiving. A pedestrian or cyclist hit by a car almost always takes the full force of the impact, and injuries that sound moderate on a police report — a broken wrist, a concussion — can disrupt a semester, a career, or a lifetime. Insurance companies know juries sympathize with injured walkers and riders, but they also know most people will not push back on a low offer. That is the gap a lawyer closes.
Oguz Injury Lawyers LLP represents injured pedestrians, cyclists, drivers, and passengers throughout the East Bay from our Walnut Creek office, an easy trip from Berkeley through the Caldecott Tunnel. The case review is free, we work in English, Spanish, Turkish, and Mandarin Chinese, and you pay nothing unless we recover for you.
Local information
Courts
Alameda County Superior Court
Injury cases arising in Berkeley are filed in the Alameda County Superior Court, which hears civil matters at courthouses around the county, commonly in Oakland and Hayward. We handle filing, venue, and scheduling — your job is recovering.
Nearby hospitals
- Alta Bates Summit Medical Center, Berkeley
- Highland Hospital, Oakland (county trauma center)
- Kaiser Permanente Oakland Medical Center
Getting your accident report
Most Berkeley crashes are documented by the Berkeley Police Department, and you can request the collision report from the department once it is finalized. Crashes on I-80 along the waterfront are handled by the California Highway Patrol, and incidents on the UC Berkeley campus itself may be documented by the university's police department. If you are unsure who took the report — common in a city with three overlapping agencies — we can identify the right one and request it for you as part of a free case review.
How we can help in Berkeley
Frequently asked questions
I was hit riding my bike in Berkeley. Does it hurt my case that I wasn't in a bike lane?
Not necessarily. Cyclists generally have the right to use the road, and being outside a bike lane is not automatic fault. Even if your position on the road contributed, California's pure comparative negligence rule only reduces your recovery by your share of fault — it does not eliminate the claim. Let the evidence, not the insurer's first framing, decide those percentages.
A car hit me in a crosswalk. Is the driver automatically at fault?
Drivers must yield to pedestrians in crosswalks, and in most crosswalk cases fault rests primarily with the driver — but insurers still look for arguments, like claiming you entered suddenly or against the signal. Photos, witness names, and the police report matter. We can gather all of that; your first job is getting your injuries treated and documented.
How long do I have to bring a claim after a Berkeley injury?
Usually two years from the injury date under Code of Civil Procedure section 335.1. But Berkeley cases involve public entities more often than most — city buses, public property, university-related claims — and government claims generally must be presented within six months. That is a short window, so get an answer about your specific situation early.
I was injured as a passenger in an Uber or Lyft. Who pays?
Rideshare companies carry substantial insurance that applies while a ride is in progress, alongside the drivers' own policies. Which coverage applies depends on what the driver was doing at the moment of the crash, which is exactly the kind of dispute insurers use to slow claims down. As a passenger you are almost never at fault, and you should not be caught in the middle.
What does it cost to talk to you?
Nothing. The case review is free, and we only take cases on a contingency fee — no upfront costs, and no fee unless we win. If your case is not one we can help with, we will tell you that honestly, and you will still leave the call knowing where you stand.
Nearby areas we serve
Injured in Berkeley? Talk to us first.
The case review is free and confidential, and you pay nothing unless we win. Tell us what happened, and we will tell you honestly where you stand.