The harm is done. The parties responsible aren’t done fighting you yet.
If a doctor, hospital, or property owner’s negligence caused your injury in California, you can pursue full compensation for your medical bills, lost income, and pain and suffering. Medical malpractice and premises liability run on two different sets of rules, though, with different deadlines and different limits on what you can recover, so which one applies to you changes how your case gets built.
A routine procedure. A wet floor with no warning sign. A property left in a state of dangerous disrepair. In an instant, the people and places you trusted to keep you safe became the source of your suffering. You didn’t cause this, and you shouldn’t have to fight a hospital’s legal team or a property owner’s insurer alone just to be taken seriously.
The Types of Medical & Premises Liability Cases We Handle
At Haffner Law, we step in so you don’t have to face the aftermath alone. We handle the hospitals, the insurers, the property owners, and the legal fight while you focus on one thing: healing.
Medical Malpractice
Pursuing full compensation when a physician, surgeon, or healthcare provider's deviation from the accepted standard of care results in worsened conditions, permanent injury, or wrongful death.
Premises Liability
Holding negligent property owners accountable for the fractures, head trauma, and long-term disabilities caused by dangerous conditions they knew about, or should have known about, and failed to fix.
Two Different Cases, Two Different Rulebooks
A medical malpractice claim turns on whether your provider violated the medical standard of care, the level of skill and caution a reasonably competent provider would have used in the same situation. California caps the non-economic damages you can recover in a medical malpractice case under the state’s MICRA law, though the cap rose substantially after 2023 reforms and continues climbing every year. As of 2026, the cap is $470,000 for cases that don’t involve a death and $650,000 for wrongful death.[1] There’s no cap at all on economic damages like medical bills and lost income.
A premises liability claim turns on whether a property owner knew, or should have known, about a hazard and failed to fix it or warn you. There’s no damages cap here. Your full pain and suffering, along with your economic losses, is recoverable if you can show the owner’s negligence caused your injury.
California’s Comparative Negligence Rule
California follows a pure comparative negligence rule.[2] Even if you were partly at fault, say you didn’t see a wet-floor sign because you were looking at your phone, you can still recover compensation. Your award is simply reduced by your percentage of fault. Insurers use this rule to argue you share more blame than you actually do; fault percentages should be argued and evidenced, not assumed.
The Clock Started the Moment You Were Hurt
Negligent parties don’t sit still. Hospitals amend charts. Property managers patch the hazard and paint over it. Surveillance systems overwrite footage automatically, sometimes within 24 to 48 hours. The people responsible for your injury have every incentive to let the evidence disappear, and without swift legal action, it will.
California’s Deadlines — They’re Not the Same for Both Claims
- Medical Malpractice: One year from when you discover the injury, or three years from the date it occurred, whichever comes first (CCP § 340.5).[3] You must also serve a 90-day notice of intent to sue before filing (CCP § 364).[4]
- Premises Liability: Two years from the date of injury (CCP § 335.1).[5]
- Claims Against a Government Entity: Only six months to file an administrative claim first, for either type of case, if a public hospital, agency, or government-owned property is involved (Gov. Code § 911.2).[6]
We move immediately, securing records, documenting conditions, and identifying every liable party before the evidence disappears.
California Medical & Premises Liability FAQs
Is there a cap on what I can recover?
It depends on which claim you have. Medical malpractice caps non-economic damages at $470,000, or $650,000 for wrongful death, as of 2026, though your full economic damages are uncapped. Premises liability has no cap on any category of damages.
What's the real difference between the two claims?
Medical malpractice requires proving your provider violated the medical standard of care, usually through expert testimony. Premises liability requires proving a property owner knew or should have known about a hazard and failed to address it. Different proof, different experts, different deadlines.
What if I'm not sure which type of claim I have?
That’s common, especially when an injury happens during medical treatment on a property, like a fall in a hospital. We sort out which framework, or both, applies before you have to worry about it.
Speak With a California Medical & Premises Liability Lawyer
The insurer or hospital defense team on the other side is counting on you not to fight back. Haffner Law has spent over 20 years litigating negligence cases against hospitals, property owners, and their insurers under the direction of founding attorney Joshua Haffner, nominated 2012 Trial Lawyer of the Year by the Consumer Attorneys of California.[7] In one representative case, we secured $7,500,000 for a client who suffered a brain injury after a hospital failed to diagnose his condition.[8] Past results don’t guarantee an outcome in any future case, but they show the kind of fight we bring to these claims.
Reach out to Haffner Law today for a case review. We will examine the facts, identify every liable party, and pursue the full compensation you deserve. Call (213) 514-5681, or visit one of our California office locations. You pay nothing unless we win.
Sources
- California Civil Code § 3333.2 — MICRA Cap on Non-Economic Damages, as Amended by AB 35
- California Civil Code § 1714 — General Duty of Care Underlying California's Comparative Negligence Rule
- California Code of Civil Procedure § 340.5 — One-Year Discovery or Three-Year Occurrence Statute of Limitations for Medical Malpractice
- California Code of Civil Procedure § 364 — 90-Day Pre-Suit Notice of Intent to Sue a Healthcare Provider
- California Code of Civil Procedure § 335.1 — Two-Year Statute of Limitations for Personal Injury
- California Government Code § 911.2 — Six-Month Claim Deadline Against a Public Entity
- Joshua Haffner Attorney Profile, Including Credentials
- Haffner Law Representative Cases — $7,500,000 Medical Malpractice Result
