Car Accident Lawyers in Van Nuys, Los Angeles

Roughly 110,000 people live in Van Nuys, and a great many more pass through it every day. Two of the busiest freeways in North America — the 405 and the 101 — cross the Valley within minutes of the neighborhood, and beneath them runs a grid of unusually wide surface streets: Van Nuys Boulevard, Sepulveda, Victory, Sherman Way, Roscoe, Vanowen. Wide, fast, heavily signalized boulevards are efficient for traffic and unforgiving in a collision, which is a large part of why the Valley produces the crash volume it does.

The claim starts before you feel injured

The most common mistake in Valley crash claims is waiting. People go home, take ibuprofen, plan to see a doctor if it does not improve, and return to work Monday. Two weeks later the neck pain is worse and the medical record now contains a gap that an adjuster will use for the life of the claim to argue that something else caused the injury.

• Seek evaluation within a day or two even for stiffness and headaches.
• Photograph both vehicles, the intersection, signal placement and any obstructed sightlines.
• Note the LAPD Valley Bureau or CHP report number before leaving the scene.
• Ask nearby businesses about camera footage immediately — most systems overwrite within days.
• File the DMV SR-1 within 10 days if anyone was hurt or damage exceeds $1,000.

Thirty thousand dollars does not go far

California raised its liability minimums to 30/60/15 on January 1, 2025 — $30,000 per injured person, $60,000 per accident, $15,000 for property damage — after nearly six decades at 15/30/5. It was a real improvement and it is still a small number in Los Angeles. An ambulance run, an emergency department workup and an MRI can approach that ceiling before anyone discusses physical therapy, injections or time away from work.

When the at-fault driver carries only the minimum, the case becomes an exercise in finding other coverage: underinsured motorist benefits on your own policy, medical payments coverage, an employer’s commercial policy if the driver was on the clock, or a rideshare or delivery platform’s tiered coverage, which varies sharply depending on whether the app was off, waiting for a request, or on an active trip. Van Nuys Boulevard and the surrounding commercial corridors carry a heavy share of delivery and box-truck traffic, so commercial coverage comes up here more than people expect.

Pure comparative fault on a Valley boulevard

California is a pure comparative negligence state — you recover no matter your percentage of fault, with your award reduced by that percentage. On streets like Sepulveda and Victory, the recurring shared-fault fact patterns are unprotected left turns across multiple lanes, entries from strip-mall driveways, and mid-block lane changes during heavy flow. Insurers will propose a fault split early and casually, often during the first recorded statement request. You are not obligated to give that statement to the other driver’s carrier.

One further rule to be aware of: Proposition 213 prevents a driver who was uninsured at the time of the crash from recovering pain and suffering, even against a clearly at-fault driver. Medical bills and lost wages remain recoverable, and passengers and pedestrians are unaffected. Raise it at the first consultation if it applies to you.

Local court, local counsel

The Los Angeles Superior Court maintains the Van Nuys Courthouse East on Sylmar Avenue, one of the county’s busiest facilities and the district hub for the North Valley. A substantial share of unlimited civil injury litigation remains centralized at the Stanley Mosk Courthouse downtown, so filing location depends on the case; your attorney will sort that out. What matters for you is that attorneys who regularly appear in Valley courtrooms tend to have a better read on local jury attitudes and on which carriers actually litigate here versus settle on the courthouse steps.

Choosing someone, and doing it soon

The Lawyer Atlas is a directory rather than a law firm — we do not offer legal advice or take cases. Use the listings to build a short list, then interview. Free consultations are the norm, so there is no cost to talking with three firms. Ask who will actually work the file, how many matters that person carries, whether the firm has tried a case in Van Nuys or downtown recently, and exactly how the contingency fee and case costs are calculated.

Then watch the calendar. Two years sounds generous while you are still in treatment and an adjuster is answering the phone. It stops being generous the moment it runs out, and no argument about the strength of your case survives a missed deadline.