Catastrophic Injury matters in Irvine
Irvine is one of California's largest planned communities, organized around villages like Woodbridge, Northwood, and Turtle Rock and anchored by sprawling corporate campuses, the Irvine Spectrum, UC Irvine, and the office parks near the John Wayne Airport business district. The city is wrapped by the I-405 and I-5, joined by the SR-133 and SR-261 toll corridors — fast-moving roads where commuter and commercial collisions turn catastrophic in an instant. The seriously injured are brought to the Level I trauma center at UCI Medical Center in nearby Orange.
MMG Law Firm represents catastrophically injured people across Irvine and the surrounding Orange County communities, with cases heard in the Orange County Superior Court.
Why these cases stand apart
Catastrophic injuries are permanent, and the costs accumulate across a lifetime:
- Traumatic brain injury (TBI) with lasting cognitive and emotional effects
- Spinal-cord injury and paralysis requiring home modification and lifelong care
- Severe burns from vehicle, electrical, or commercial fires
- Amputations needing prosthetics replaced repeatedly over decades
- Polytrauma with multiple fractures and repeat reconstructive surgery
The life-care plan in a corporate-campus city
Irvine's economy is built on large employers, tech and biotech firms, and commercial fleets — so a catastrophic claim here often runs against well-resourced companies and their insurers. Those insurers are skilled at pushing an early, undervalued settlement before the injured person reaches maximum medical improvement. We answer with a life-care plan: a physician-, vocational-, and economist-supported projection of every future surgery, therapy, mobility device, medication, and lost year of earning capacity. In a high-income city, getting the economic and vocational proof right is essential to documenting the true lifetime cost.
Deadlines that control your case
- Two years to file most personal-injury lawsuits in California (Code of Civil Procedure §335.1)
- Six months to file a government claim if a public entity is involved — a City of Irvine vehicle, an OCTA bus, or a county road (Government Code §911.2)
- Toll-road and multi-vehicle crashes can involve several defendants with separate requirements
What to do after a catastrophic injury in Irvine
- Keep complete trauma-center and follow-up records
- Decline recorded statements and early settlement offers
- Identify every responsible party, including employers and fleets
- Preserve scene, vehicle, and equipment evidence quickly
- Call us for a free consultation before you sign anything
We assist clients in English, Armenian, and Russian, and you pay nothing unless we recover for you.
Our attorney
How Mihran M. Ghazaryan helps with catastrophic injury
A catastrophic injury is measured over a lifetime, and Mihran M. Ghazaryan builds it that way. He assembles the life-care plan and the medical and economic experts who can prove the true future cost, refuses the quick lowball offer insurers use to close out large exposure early, and prepares the case for the long horizon it requires — so the recovery reflects the care you'll actually need.
Types of catastrophic injuries we handle
Traumatic brain injury (TBI)
From concussion with lasting cognitive effects to severe TBI. We pair imaging and neuropsychological testing with day-in-the-life evidence so the invisible effects are made concrete.
Spinal-cord injury and paralysis
Paraplegia and quadriplegia carry lifelong attendant-care and accessibility costs. A life-care plan quantifies them so the demand reflects the real future.
Amputation, severe burns, and disfigurement
Permanent loss and scarring support significant non-economic damages alongside future surgical and prosthetic costs.
Multiple fractures and polytrauma
Injuries needing several surgeries, hardware, and extended rehabilitation, where future-treatment proof drives the value.
Damages
What compensation can cover
Every catastrophic injury claim is different, but California law allows injured plaintiffs to seek several categories of damages. We build each one with documentation — medical records, wage statements, expert opinions — so nothing is left on the table.
Medical expenses
Emergency care, hospitalization, surgery, rehabilitation, and the future treatment your providers say you'll need.
Lost wages
Income you lost while recovering — and, where the injury affects your ability to work, diminished future earning capacity.
Pain and suffering
Compensation for physical pain, emotional distress, and the ways the injury has changed how you live day to day.
Property damage
Repair or replacement of your vehicle and other property damaged in the incident.
Out-of-pocket costs
Transportation to appointments, medical equipment, household help, and the other expenses an injury forces on you.
How we work
- 1
Free, no-pressure consultation
We listen first. We answer your questions. There is no fee for the initial conversation — and you decide whether to engage us at the end of it.
- 2
Investigation and evidence preservation
Police reports, scene photos, witness statements, vehicle data, surveillance video, medical records. The earlier we collect, the harder it is for the other side to reshape the story later.
- 3
Treatment, demand, and negotiation
We coordinate with your providers, document the full extent of damages — medical, lost income, pain — and present a demand backed by evidence. We push back firmly when an insurer lowballs.
- 4
Litigation when necessary
Most matters settle. When an insurer refuses to be reasonable, we file. Preparing every case as if it will be tried is what makes the settlement number move.
What to do right away
- Follow every treatment recommendation and keep all specialist appointments — gaps in care get used against you.
- Keep a journal of pain, limitations, and how daily life has changed.
- Preserve everything: medical records, bills, the device or vehicle involved, and the scene if possible.
- Designate one family member to track providers and expenses while you focus on recovery.
- Do not accept an early settlement before the full extent of future care is known.
- Do not give a recorded statement to the insurer before speaking with a lawyer.
The information on this website is for general information purposes only. Nothing on this site should be taken as legal advice for any individual case or situation. This information is not intended to create, and receipt or viewing does not constitute, an attorney-client relationship.
Deadlines that matter
Most California personal-injury claims must be filed within two years of the injury (Code of Civil Procedure §335.1). Miss the window and the court will almost always dismiss the case, no matter how strong it is.
Claims against government entities are much shorter — generally a written claim within six months (Government Code §911.2). Crashes involving city vehicles, public buses, or dangerous public-road conditions can fall under this rule.
Exceptions exist in both directions — discovery rules, minors, continuing violations, out-of-state defendants — so don't assume your deadline has passed or that you have time to spare. Call (818) 539-7969 and we'll tell you exactly where you stand.