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Helping Clients Navigate Injury Claims

We’re ready to help with a variety of case-types, here’s just a small example of how we can help:

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Large Firm Results & Representation with Small Firm Personalized Attention & Care

Michael is determined to provide each of his clients with personal, one-on-one legal attention. With the Beliz Law Firm, you’re not a number. Each case is important to us, and we promise to treat our clients with respect. We firmly believe in providing you with a voice in your time of need. At the same time, our Long Beach Injury Lawyers focus on maximizing the value of your case - we’re ready to handle tough negotiations with the insurance company. Finally, we won’t hesitate to take your case to trial if that’s what’s needed.

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I would highly recommend The Beliz Law Firm and should I need legal counsel or a personal injury lawyer in the future, Michael Beliz has become my new go-to guy.

- M.M.
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Long Beach Personal Injury Lawyer Michael Beliz

Small Firm Attention, Big Firm Results

Michael A. Beliz, Esq., established The Beliz Law Firm in the spring of 2011. Michael has been a practicing attorney since 2006 and worked for two of the most prominent plaintiff’s personal injury law firms in Southern California. He has extensive experience with personal injury claims and has worked on and handled hundreds of cases as an attorney in all types of accident and injury cases, including car accidents, pedestrian accidents and dog bites, and successfully recovered millions of dollars for his clients.

At the University of San Diego School of Law, Michael was a multiple-year recipient of the Delroy Richardson Endowed Law Scholarship and attained the high pass in Negotiation. In addition, he was a semi-finalist in the ATLA Intramural Mock Trial Competition. Prior to graduating from law school, Michael earned a master’s degree in economics from the University of California, Santa Barbara and his undergraduate degree from California State University, Long Beach where he was a member of the Omicron Delta Epsilon, the International Honor Society for Economics. Michael A. Beliz is admitted to the State Bar of California and United States District Court, Central District of California.

What to Expect from Our Long Beach Personal Injury Lawyer

At the Beliz Law Firm, we understand the wide range of emotions you experience after suffering injuries in an accident. It can be a scary time fueled by emotions of stress, anxiety, and anger. You may have many questions but no answers. Long Beach injury attorney Michael Beliz provides you with personal, one-on-one attention so you get the answers you need during the most difficult time in your life. At the Beliz Law Firm, each case is important to us, and we treat every client with the compassion and respect they deserve.

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Client Testimonials

  • "I was referred to the Beliz Law Firm by a family friend and was not disappointed. I was a passenger in a vehicle that was hit by a drunk driver and when I needed the services of an attorney, Michael Beliz came to my work to discuss my options. He is very friendly and explains everything in effectively and in detail. He recommended a great chiropractor whom I then sought treatment from and who helped me recover from my injuries. Michael created an excellent report used in my case which allowed me to receive the maximum return in my settlement. I have already referred a family friend and recommended another long time friend to seek his services. God forbid I ever get in another serious accident, but if I do I will for sure contact Michael again to seek his help. He’s a great guy who does great work!"

    Y.R.

  • Long beach personal injury lawyer Michael Beliz represented my personal injury case this year and I’m glad I found them. In summation Michael Beliz came across as intelligent, effective, friendly, and genuine. An excellent people person and well versed attorney is a hard combination to find. Michael walked us through everything; spoke to me like a person and not a case number. He just pretty much made the whole ordeal so much easier. Michael was extremely helpful, patient and responsive with my family and me the entire time. Michael regularly checked in on me during my recovery and kept me up to date on the status of the case and conversations with the other parties’ insurance company. My case wasn’t large but he treated me as if I was one of his only cases. I would highly recommend the Beliz firm to family and friends as the highest recommendation I could offer.”

    M.G.

  • "No one wants to involve an attorney in an auto claim, but sometimes you have no choice. Michael made an unpleasant situation so much easier. He really took the time to understand everything that was going on and always gave me prompt and personal attention. He was involved immediately and took over all the interactions with the insurance companies. He became the only one I had to deal with and there were never any games with him, only sound advice. My only mistake was not calling Michael sooner. I now recommend an attorney anytime an injury is involved in an auto accident, if only so they can deal with the insurance companies’ games, and you would be hard pressed to find someone better than Michael Beliz."

    T.V.

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Personal Injury Frequently Asked Questions

When Should I Speak with a Long Beach Personal Injury Lawyer?

How Do I Know If I Have a Valid Personal Injury Claim?

How Long Do I Have to File a Personal Injury Lawsuit in California?

Will My Personal Injury Case Go to Trial?

Why Do I Need an Attorney?

How Much Does a Long Beach Personal Injury Attorney Cost?

How Much is My Case Worth?

Can I Still Receive Compensation If I Am Partially at Fault for My Injury?

Who Can Be Liable for My Injuries?

What Should I Expect During the Free Consultation?

Recent Blog Posts

Attorney Portrait

Rideshare Accident Hot Spots: Where Long Beach Uber or Lyft Accidents Happen Most

Aug 25, 2026 | By Michael Beliz | Read Time: 5 minutes

Long Beach Uber or Lyft accidents can occur along crowded entertainment corridors, dense commuter intersections, and freeway access points. Areas such as Downtown Long Beach, Pacific Coast Highway (PCH), Anaheim Street, and the 7th Street corridor are byways that see frequent collisions in Long Beach. The most hazardous times to drive in Long Beach include weekends, late nights, and periods of heavy traffic.  If you were hurt in a rideshare crash as a passenger, pedestrian, or another driver, a Long Beach rideshare accident lawyer from The Beliz Law Firm can evaluate your legal claim and offer options for next steps. Where Do Rideshare Crashes Frequently Happen in Long Beach? Rideshare drivers often pick up and drop off riders in areas with heavy foot traffic, nightlife, and tight curb space. When sudden stops are combined with busy streets, collisions can happen quickly. According to a High-Injury Corridors and Intersections Map from the City of Long Beach, several locations throughout Long Beach have histories of serious collisions. These areas may also present risks for rideshare drivers and passengers who travel through them: Staying alert near these corridors can reduce your risk of a crash. When Are the Most Dangerous Times to Drive in Long Beach? Driving late at night, especially on the weekend, carries a high risk across the city, according to the California Office of Traffic Safety OTS Crash Rankings Results. Long Beach consistently ranks near the top among California cities of similar size for nighttime fatal and injury collisions. These times also overlap with times when Uber and Lyft drivers may be transporting passengers to and from nightlife destinations.  The California Highway Patrol reported that on weekdays, the evening rush-hour peak is a hazardous time to drive in Long Beach. During that time, rideshare drivers are moving throughout the city, transporting people home from work. This can add vehicles making pickups and drop-offs to already congested streets.  The most dangerous hours to be driving in Long Beach include: If possible, avoid driving through nightlife districts during peak late-night hours, and take a low-traffic route home from work during rush hour. Why Do Rideshare Crashes Occur in Long Beach? Rideshare drivers face specific pressures that standard drivers do not experience. Common factors contributing to Long Beach Uber or Lyft accidents include: When these habits combine with congested urban streets, accidents are more likely to occur. Which California Laws Can Affect Your Injury Claim? Several state laws govern how an injury claim is handled in Long Beach. Pure Comparative Fault California follows a pure comparative negligence rule. If you are found partly responsible for an accident, your financial recovery will be reduced by your percentage of fault. For example, if your damages equal $100,000 and you are found 10% at fault, you can still collect $90,000. California’s Statute of Limitations  Under California law, you generally have two years from the date of the collision to file a personal injury lawsuit in court. There are a few exceptions to this rule. Missing this statutory deadline means you may lose your legal right to pursue compensation. What Should I Do After a Long Beach Rideshare Crash? Taking several steps right away helps protect your physical health and your injury claim: Before talking to any insurance adjusters, you should consult a Long Beach rideshare accident lawyer to help guide you through what to do after a crash with Uber or Lyft. Frequently Asked Questions About Long Beach Uber or Lyft Accidents What Should I Do If I Am Injured as an Uber or Lyft Passenger? Get medical care immediately and take screenshots of your trip receipt in the app. Report the crash through the rideshare platform and consult an attorney before giving recorded statements to insurance adjusters. Can I Recover Compensation If the Rideshare Driver Was Not at Fault? Yes, you can file a claim against the at-fault third-party driver’s auto insurance policy. If that driver lacks sufficient coverage, the rideshare company’s underinsured motorist coverage may apply, depending on the circumstances of the trip and the available coverage. How Long Do I Have to File a Rideshare Accident Claim in California? Under California law, you generally have two years from the collision date to file a personal injury lawsuit. Missing this deadline may prevent you from recovering financial compensation in court. Why Should I Work with a Lawyer After a Long Beach Uber or Lyft Accident? Rideshare claims involve multiple layers of insurance and corporate policies that can be difficult to manage on your own. A lawyer handles discussions with insurance adjusters, gathers evidence, and helps ensure your claim is processed fairly. Get Legal Guidance from The Beliz Law Firm After a Rideshare Crash Recovering from a traffic collision is challenging, especially when you are managing medical visits and insurance paperwork. If you were injured in one of the many Long Beach Uber or Lyft accidents that occur each year, you do not have to handle the process on your own. An experienced Long Beach rideshare accident lawyer can explain your rights under California law and work to secure a fair outcome. At The Beliz Law Firm, Michael Beliz works directly with injured individuals across Long Beach and surrounding Southern California communities. Contact The Beliz Law Firm today to schedule a free case review. Legal References Used to Inform This Page To ensure the accuracy and clarity of this page, we referenced official legal and other resources during the content development process:

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Can I Get My Belongings from My Towed Car in Long Beach?

Jul 31, 2026 | By Michael Beliz | Read Time: 4 minutes

A few days after you were involved in a car collision on Long Beach Boulevard, you call the storage yard or drive out to it and are told that nothing will come out of the car until the bill is paid. So you ask the obvious question: can I get my belongings from my towed car? Yes. The tow company’s right to hold your vehicle does not extend to the things inside it, and the tow bill does not have to be paid first. Your property is owed to you upon demand, at no charge, during normal business hours.  If a Long Beach crash has left you without your car and without your personal belongings, contact The Beliz Law Firm. We can help contact the storage yard, confirm which agency authorized the tow, ensure the vehicle is photographed before it is released, and handle the adjuster regarding storage charges while you recover.  What Does the Lien Cover and What Does It Never Touch? When a vehicle is towed at the direction of law enforcement, and the yard has received the notices required by statute, the yard is given a lien on the vehicle itself, meaning a legal claim that allows it to hold the property until the debt is paid. That is why the car cannot be driven off the lot until the bill is settled.  Possession can begin before the car ever leaves the scene, either once it is in transit or once recovery work requested by law enforcement has started. That is why an owner who is still on their feet cannot simply drive away, but can take the car back by paying only the tow charge.  What is rarely explained is that the lien reaches the car, not its contents. The statute never defines which objects are the vehicle and which are merely inside it, which is why the argument happens at all. In practice, the line is drawn by local policy, and Long Beach draws it based on whether the item can be carried out without tools. Items such as clothing, paperwork, and baby seats come out. Batteries, tires, and installed stereo equipment need tools, so they stay with the car.  What Are the Hours, Gate Fees, and the Notice You Can Ask For? Normal business hours for releasing personal property are Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., excluding state holidays. Within that window, the property is handed over at no charge. Outside of it, a gate fee may be charged, capped at one-half of the hourly tow rate. Facilities must also return after-hours messages within six business hours.  A storage facility must be open and accessible during those hours, and every facility that charges for towing or storage must post a Towing and Storage Fees and Access Notice in plain view and provide a copy upon request. Asking for it tends to end disagreements quickly. Some yards’ post retrieval hours are narrower than that window.  The statute is worded carefully here: the property is owed to you upon demand. A demand made only in conversation is hard to prove later, while a short email or voicemail naming the property sought is not. Where these requirements are ignored, the facility can be held civilly liable for up to twice the amount charged, capped at $500 per vehicle.  How Can a Police Hold Change the Answer?  One exception matters, and it arises more often after serious collisions than people expect. If the vehicle has been placed on an investigative hold, nothing may be seen, touched, or removed until the investigating officer authorizes release. Holds follow fatalities, suspected impairment, and any crash where the vehicle itself is being examined.  The hold is lifted by the law enforcement agency that ordered the tow, not by the storage yard, and that agency is named on the notice of stored vehicle you receive. For most Long Beach collisions, it is the Long Beach Police Department, or the California Highway Patrol if the crash happened on the freeway.  Where the car was taken as evidence, the law also provides that no lien attaches to the vehicle at all unless the owner permitted the person accused of the crime to drive it, so an innocent owner should not be absorbing storage charges for someone else’s offense.  When Does Your Right to the Property Run Out?  The right to demand your belongings does not last forever. A storage lien can ripen into a lien sale of the vehicle, and the statute provides that once the vehicle has been disposed of, the lienholder is no longer responsible for any property inside it. Until that day, the yard is what the law calls a depositary for hire and must use at least ordinary care over what is left with it. After that day, there is no custodian left to demand anything from.  Can Your Belonging Be Considered Evidence? The contents of a wrecked car often carry proof that exists nowhere else. A dashcam card holds the seconds before impact. A phone holds the timestamps showing you were not on a call. Bent frames, cracked lenses, and a deformed child seat are physical evidence of forces no repair estimate will convey.  Photograph everything where it sits before it is removed. California does not recognize a separate cause of action for destroyed evidence, so the practical answer is to preserve it now rather than seek a remedy later. On the same visit, and under the same rule that allows you to take your property before paying anything, you are also entitled to inspect the vehicle at no charge. You May Recover Everything But the Car   If your car was towed after a collision, you may be asking, Can I get my belongings from my towed car? In California, yes, and without paying the tow bill first. The storage lien covers the vehicle, not its contents; loose items come out, while bolted equipment stays. A police investigative hold is the one thing that overrides all of it,...

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How to Find My Towed Car After a Long Beach Car Accident

Jul 30, 2026 | By Michael Beliz | Read Time: 3 minutes

A towed car is rarely lost. It is sitting in a yard that knows exactly where it is. What is missing is the name of whoever ordered it towed. That is the real problem behind how to find my towed car after a collision.  Start with the City of Long Beach lookup at findmytowedcar.org, which searches vehicles held at the City’s Towing Operations and Vehicle Storage Facility. If the search comes back empty, two calls cover most of what is left. Towing Operations keeps a 24-hour recorded line at (562) 570-2828, and the Long Beach Police Department maintains Auto Records at (562) 570-7475 for the status of towed and impounded vehicles. If the crash happened on the 405, the 710, the 605, or the 91, the California Highway Patrol (CHP) probably ordered the tow, and the CHP office covering that stretch of freeway is where to ask. If you were hurt in a Long Beach car accident and are left to track down the car, The Beliz Law Firm can help. Locating the car, identifying which agency ordered the tow, obtaining the traffic collision report that names it, and finding out whether a hold has been placed are all things that can be handled for you. Contact The Beliz Law Firm for a free consultation.  How Does a Car Leave a Crash Scene? After a collision, there are three scenarios for where your car can be towed: The Paper Trail Somebody Is Required to Keep  The system generates more records than most people realize. A tow operator summoned to a collision scene by a law enforcement officer or public agency must have written information in hand before leaving, including the name of that agency and either the log, call, incident, or dispatch number, or the officer’s surname and badge number. That written record is the thread connecting the car to whoever ordered it moved.  When a public agency directs the storage of a vehicle, notice must be mailed or delivered to the registered and legal owners’ address on the vehicle registration within 48 hours, excluding weekends and holidays, stating the storage location, describing the vehicle, and explaining the authority for the removal.  When a vehicle is removed from private property, the towing company must notify local law enforcement within roughly half an hour once the vehicle is in transit. A police record of the tow should therefore exist well before you start looking for it, which means calling the police is worth doing even when a private yard has the car.  Where Does Long Beach Keep Vehicles?  The City’s Towing Operations and Vehicle Storage Facility sits at 3111 E. Willow Street. Vehicles and property are released Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and Saturdays from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., with releases outside those hours available for an added fee.  Expect to be asked for identification and proof that you are the registered or legal owner. Someone else can go in your place with written authorization if you are unable to travel.  What Happens When the Notice Never Comes? The 48-hour notice requirement does not apply to a vehicle removed from private property or taken in for inspection after a hit-and-run. In those two situations, no notice is owed, and the first call must come from you. The hit-and-run exception carries its own limit, which is worth knowing. A vehicle removed for inspection must be released within 48 hours of the removal on the owner’s demand, and weekends and holidays are not counted toward that period.  Getting Back What the Crash Took  The answer to how to find my towed car is less about searching than about identifying who ordered the tow. Start with the City’s online lookup and the Willow Street facility, call Auto Records if the agency is unclear, and remember that a freeway crash was probably a CHP tow. A written record of the tow must exist, and the 48-hour notice does not cover private property removals or hit-and-run inspections, which is why the first call usually has to come from the owner.  At The Beliz Law Firm, we believe a person recovering from a collision should not have to become their own investigator. Michael A. Beliz has represented people hurt in Southern California collisions since 2006 and has practiced in Long Beach since the firm opened in 2011. Clients are kept informed at every stage, and the work of tracking down a vehicle and an agency is handled by the firm rather than by the person recovering.  If your vehicle was towed after a collision and you do not know where it is, contact The Beliz Law Firm for a free consultation with a car accident lawyer in Long Beach. 

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