The Beliz Law Firm settled a case for a client that was involved in a dog attack. The client was a 33-year old mother of two. She was retrieving her mail outside her home when a Shar Pei/German Shepherd mix dog got loose from his owner’s house.
The dog ran towards the client and attacked her from behind. The force of the attack put the client on the ground. The dog proceeded to bite and rip the legs of the client. Eventually, the dog owner’s son was able to get the dog off of the client. The client received approximately 14 wounds to her legs.
The client went to urgent care where her legs were treated. There was a 6-centimeter open laceration to her left calf so doctors placed 12 sutures to it. Due to the nature of the client’s injuries, doctors were unable to provide any more services for her pains other than bandage the wounds.
The client retained the Beliz Law Firm. Months after the attack, the client presented to a plastic surgeon to receive an evaluation. The doctor recommended excision and revision procedures, however, there were no guarantee that the procedures would totally eliminate the scarring.
Dog Bite Liability in California
In California, there is a strict liability dog bite statute. There are two elements that need to be met for the dog bite statute: (1) a plaintiff needs to be in a public place or lawfully on private property and (2) the plaintiff needs to be harmed by the dog bite. In this case, the client was on her property when the dog attacked and the dog harmed the client’s legs causing an open laceration and puncture wounds.
Knowing that the dog owner was liable for the injuries, the Beliz Law Firm filed a lawsuit in San Bernardino Superior Court and served a policy limit demand onto the dog owner. Even though there was less than $2,500.00 in medical charges, the client’s claim was settled quickly for the dog owner’s policy limits of $100,000.00.