You were hurt because someone else was careless, and now you are dealing with medical bills, missed work, and an insurance company that is in no hurry to make things right. At Galine, Frye, Fitting & Frangos, our San Mateo personal injury lawyers represent people facing serious, life-altering injuries throughout the Peninsula.
In the days and weeks after a serious injury, it is not always clear what comes next. Medical treatment, time away from work, and conversations with insurance adjusters can quickly become overwhelming. You should not have to navigate that process alone. Protecting your right to compensation often requires prompt action and a thorough investigation before important evidence disappears.
Every case is different, but the decisions made early on can have a lasting impact on the outcome of your claim. If someone else's negligence caused your injuries, speaking with our experienced San Mateo personal injury attorneys can help you understand your options, preserve critical evidence, and pursue the compensation you deserve.
How Our San Mateo Personal Injury Attorneys Approach Every Case
We are a selective firm. Rather than taking on high volumes of minor claims, we focus our resources on serious cases where the injuries are catastrophic, and the stakes are too high to leave to chance. That focus means each case gets real attorney attention, not a rotating cast of case managers.
Selectivity also shapes how we build a claim. We work with medical experts, accident reconstructionists, and life-care planners when a case calls for it, because a serious injury claim is only as strong as the evidence behind it.
Types of Personal Injury Cases We Handle in San Mateo
Vehicle and Traffic Accidents
Crashes remain one of the most common ways San Mateo residents get seriously hurt. Our team handles car accident claims, cases involving commercial trucks, and collisions caused by drunk or distracted drivers. We also represent people hurt as pedestrians or cyclists, including bicycle accident cases and crashes at dangerous intersections along El Camino Real and Highway 92. As autonomous vehicle testing has expanded across the Bay Area, we have also taken on self-driving car accident claims, which raise liability questions traditional crashes do not.
Highway 101 and the Hillsdale corridor see heavy commute traffic on weekdays, which raises the risk of rear-end collisions and lane-change crashes during peak hours. Weekend traffic near the Caltrain station and downtown San Mateo brings its own mix of pedestrian and cyclist risk. Knowing which corridors have a documented crash history helps us anticipate how insurance companies will approach a case from the outset.
“I chose to work with Attorney Ilya D. Frangos and Tristan Verburgt specifically because I wanted to avoid the big names you see on every billboard and the repetitive commercials you hear on TV. I was looking for personalized attention for my personal injury case, a real relationship, direct access to my attorney, and someone with local knowledge and a commitment to the community. I truly valued quality over quantity, and that is exactly what I found.”
Premises, Workplace, and Property Injuries
Property owners have a legal duty to keep their premises reasonably safe. When they don't, and someone gets hurt, that failure can support a premises liability claim. We handle slip and fall cases, stairway and handrail failures, and injuries caused by inadequate security or maintenance in apartment buildings, stores, and commercial properties.
These cases often turn on a single question: how long did the hazard exist before someone got hurt, and should the owner have caught it during a routine inspection. A spill that sat for ten minutes tells a different legal story than one that sat for hours. We build that timeline through maintenance logs, employee schedules, and witness statements, since it is usually the strongest evidence a case has.
Catastrophic and Life-Altering Injuries
Some injuries change the entire course of a person's life. We represent clients with spinal cord injuries, traumatic brain injuries, and other catastrophic harm that requires lifelong care. Lifetime medical costs for a serious spinal cord or brain injury regularly reach into the millions of dollars, which means these claims require detailed economic modeling and expert life-care planning, not a quick settlement based on early medical bills. When negligence causes a death, we also represent families in wrongful death claims, and we handle cases involving injury or neglect in nursing facilities.
How a San Mateo Personal Injury Attorney Proves Your Case
Establishing Negligence and Liability
To recover compensation under California law, we generally have to show four things: the other party owed you a duty of care, they breached that duty, the breach caused your injury, and the injury resulted in real damages. Each element has to be proven with evidence, not just asserted. That's why an early investigation matters so much. Witness accounts fade, security footage gets overwritten, and physical evidence disappears if no one moves quickly to preserve it.
Documenting the Full Value of Your Claim
Insurance companies undervalue claims that arrive without strong documentation. We build a case file that includes medical records, employment and wage records, and, in serious injury cases, input from life-care planners who can project future treatment costs. A claim that reflects the true, long-term impact of an injury is far harder for an insurer to dismiss with a lowball offer.
Obtained on behalf of a client after sustaining serious injuries from a vehicle collision in a parking lot.
Compensation Available in a San Mateo Personal Injury Claim
Depending on the severity of your injury, compensation may include current and future medical expenses, lost wages, and reduced earning capacity if you cannot return to the same work. It can also include pain and suffering tied to the physical and emotional impact of the injury. For catastrophic cases involving paralysis, brain injury, or permanent disability, the value of a claim often depends on projecting decades of care, not just the treatment you have already received.
We have represented clients dealing with fractures, spinal cord damage, and traumatic brain injuries after accidents across San Mateo County. The physical recovery is only part of the picture. The financial recovery has to reflect what the injury actually costs over the years ahead.
What Determines a Claim's Value
There is no fixed formula for a personal injury settlement. A few factors carry the most weight: the severity and permanence of the injury, total medical costs and expected future treatment, how much income you lost or will lose, and how clearly liability can be established. A case with disputed fault and modest injuries settles very differently than one with clear liability and a documented catastrophic injury. Part of our job is building a claim file strong enough that an insurer cannot credibly argue for a lower number.
California Personal Injury Laws Our Attorneys Apply
California generally gives injured people two years from the date of the injury to file a personal injury lawsuit1. That deadline runs faster than most people expect once you account for the time it takes to reach a fair settlement, so early legal guidance matters.
Claims against a government entity work differently. If a dangerous public sidewalk, a transit vehicle, or a government employee caused your injury, California law requires you to file a formal claim within six months of the incident, well before the standard two-year deadline applies2. Missing that shorter window can end an otherwise valid claim before it starts.
California also follows a pure comparative negligence rule. You can still recover compensation even if you share some fault for what happened, though your award is reduced by your percentage of responsibility. Insurance companies routinely try to inflate a claimant's share of blame to reduce what they pay, which is part of why having an attorney negotiate on your behalf makes a measurable difference.
What to Do After a Serious Injury in San Mateo
Get medical care right away, even if your injuries seem minor at first. Some of the most serious injuries, including concussions and internal injuries, do not show clear symptoms immediately. Report the incident to the property owner, employer, or law enforcement, and request a written copy of that report.
Avoid giving a recorded statement to an insurance company before speaking with an attorney. Adjusters are trained to ask questions in a way that shifts blame away from their policyholder and onto you. You are also not required to accept the first settlement offer. Early offers are almost always lower than what a serious claim is actually worth, and once you have legal representation, insurers are required to route communication through your attorney instead of contacting you directly.
Keep records of everything tied to your recovery: medical bills, mileage to appointments, prescriptions, and any income you lost while you were unable to work. These details feel minor in the moment, but they add up, and a well-documented claim is far harder for an insurer to dispute than one built on memory alone.
“I don’t write many reviews, but my experience with Ilya Frangos deserves one. After being rear-ended by a catering truck at a red light, I spoke with two other lawyers first—and both felt transactional, focused only on what my case was “worth.” Ilya was different from the very first call. He was humane, genuine, and actually listened.”
Why San Mateo Residents Choose Galine, Frye, Fitting & Frangos
A Record Recognized by Peers and Clients
Our attorneys have been named Trial Lawyer of the Year, with Chantel L. Fitting recognized in 2016 and Ilya D. Frangos in 2025. The firm has also been named among the Best Attorneys of San Mateo, and we hold one of the highest overall Google ratings of any personal injury firm in the area. Recognition like this matters, reflecting a consistent record of taking hard cases to trial and winning, not just settling quickly to move on to the next file.
Partner-Level Attention on Every Case
Our legal team brings more than 75 years of experience in personal injury settlements and trials. We put that experience to work differently than a high-volume firm would. We do not accept hundreds of cases and hand them off to junior staff once the paperwork is filed. When you work with our office, a partner is involved in your case from the first consultation through resolution. That matters most in the moments that decide a case's outcome: how a demand letter is framed, how a deposition is prepared for, and how a settlement offer is evaluated against what a jury might actually award.
Real Trial Experience, Not Just Settlement Leverage
Insurance companies negotiate differently with a firm they know will go to trial. In one recent case, we represented a client who suffered an injury in a collision on El Camino Real and Highway 92, resulting in partial paralysis. We negotiated a $5,000,000 recovery for that case, a result that reflects the kind of detailed medical and economic case-building a catastrophic injury claim demands. Contingency fee representation means you pay nothing unless we recover compensation, and your first consultation is free and carries no obligation. We also know San Mateo County's civil courts well, and that familiarity matters. Insurance companies track how firms perform in front of local juries, and a firm with a real trial record carries more weight at the negotiating table than one that only threatens to go to court.
You can review our past case results to see how we have handled cases like yours. That track record shapes how we approach negotiation from your very first call with our office.
A Firm Rooted in San Mateo
We are not a billboard law firm that advertises statewide and outsources local cases to whoever picks up the phone. Our office sits in San Mateo, and our attorneys are active in the community we represent. That local presence shows up in small but meaningful ways: familiarity with the hospitals where our clients receive treatment, relationships with local medical experts who can speak credibly about an injury's long-term impact, and a reputation with opposing counsel that often shapes how quickly a case moves toward a fair resolution.
Answers From Our Personal Injury Lawyers
How long do I have to file a personal injury claim in California?
In most cases, California law gives you two years from the date of the injury to file a lawsuit. Claims against a government entity require a formal claim within six months instead. Missing either deadline can permanently bar your right to recover compensation.
How much does it cost to hire a personal injury lawyer in San Mateo?
Nothing upfront. Our firm works on a contingency fee basis, meaning you only pay attorney's fees if we recover compensation for you. Your first consultation is free and carries no financial risk.
What is my personal injury case worth?
There is no fixed formula. Case value depends on the severity and permanence of your injury, your medical costs, lost income, and how clearly liability can be established. A personal injury attorney can give you a realistic estimate after reviewing your medical records and the facts of your case.
What if I was partly at fault for my accident?
California follows a pure comparative negligence rule, so you can still recover compensation even if you share some fault. Your award is simply reduced by your percentage of responsibility, whether that's 10 percent or 60 percent.
Do I need a police report to file a personal injury claim?
A police report isn't strictly required, but it strengthens your claim significantly. It documents the scene, any citations issued, and often includes witness information that gets harder to gather the longer you wait.
How long does a personal injury case take to settle in California?
It depends on the severity of the injury and whether the insurance company disputes liability. Straightforward cases can resolve in a few months, while serious injury claims that require full medical documentation or litigation often take a year or more.
Moving Forward After a Serious Injury
A serious injury changes daily life in ways that are hard to plan around. Medical appointments pile up, work becomes difficult or impossible, and an insurance adjuster is often more focused on closing your file than on covering what you actually lost. You should not have to manage all of that while also trying to prove that someone else's negligence caused your injury.
Our role is to take that burden off your plate. We investigate what happened, gather the evidence that supports your claim, and deal directly with the insurance company so you can focus on getting better.
When you are ready to talk about what happened, reach out to our office, and we will lay out exactly how a personal injury claim would work in your situation.