Selected again to Super Lawyers! My peers selected me again as a Northern California Super Lawyer. Lots of hard work and commitment. https://profiles.superlawyers.com/california/sacramento/lawyer/james-r-lewis/607aab13-5348-42d2-9329-5b5d9ba6f3fb.html

In Sacramento County, Hit and Run accidents accounted for 1015 collisions in 2019.  Here’s some critical advice: First, your uninsured motorist (UM) and collision coverages will cover a hit-and-run accident. Second, take pictures of the damage to your car where the other car hit yours. Physical contact between the fleeing vehicle and yours is required for your UM coverage to apply. Third, file a police report. If the police won’t come to the scene, then go to the local police (within city limits) or local CHP office (in unincorporated areas) and make a counter report about the incident. Four, notify your insurance immediately. I suggest doing it within a day of the collision or at least the next business day.  Lewis Injury, PC is ready to help with a free consultation by telephone (916-378-8878), video conference, or email at james@lewisinjury.com.

Most drivers are worried about drivers without insurance. However, only 16% of drivers are uninsured, which is tied directly to the DMV requirement that registered vehicles have to be insured. However, this same requirement of minimal insurance ($15,000/$30,000 for bodily injury claims per person/per accident) creates an army of “under-insured” drivers.

Those drivers do not have enough to pay their victim’s medical expenses, for their lost wages, or for pain and suffering. Under-Insured Motorist Coverage (UIM), which is an automatic part of Uninsured Motorist Coverage (http://www.insurance.ca.gov/01-consumers/105-type/95-guides/01-auto/auto101.cfm#otherkindsofcoverage) fills that gap between what a negligent driver might have for coverage (likely the minimum) and what your recoverable damages are. For example, if you are injured and incur $17,000 in medical bills and lost wages, but the at-driver has only $15,000 then that driver is under-insured. If you carry more than $15,000 in your own UIM ($25,000, for example) then your insurance should fill that gap up to $10,000 in our example ($25,000 less $15,000 recovered from the at-fault party = $10,000). The cost of UIM coverage is minimal when compared to your liability coverage, and for good drivers UIM coverage is the absolute best way to protect yourself for when you are injured by someone carrying only the minimum amount of auto insurance.  Lewis Injury, PC is ready to help with a free consultation by telephone (916-378-8878), email (james@lewisinjury.com) or video conference.

James R. Lewis was named again to Sacramento Magazine’s Top Lawyers List for 2018.  From the hundreds of personal injury attorneys in the Sacramento area, he was one of just 58 selected as a Top Lawyer.  Professional Research Services surveyed the community to determine the top lawyers in 2018.  Attorneys were nominated by their peers, and then carefully evaluated on the basis of the survey results, license status, and their current standing with the State Bar.  Attorneys who received the highest number of votes in each specialty were selected to the list.  This is the fourth consecutive year that Mr. Lewis was selected as a Top Lawyer!

James R. Lewis received the 2014 Top Attorneys – Northern California’s Outstanding Young Lawyers recognition as published in San Francisco Magazine.

California’s Second District Court of Appeal affirmed a trial court’s denial of an employer’s petition to compel arbitration of a sexual harassment claim, based on….the fact that the employee never signed the new employee handbook which contained a mandatory arbitration clause for all employment matters.  The employer argued that the employee knew the clause existed, and she was in charge of getting all employees (including herself) to sign the employee handbook.  The appellate court again denied the employer’s petition to compel arbitration, stating “the trial court properly inferred from [employee’s] election not to sign the arbitration agreement that she did not intend to be bound by it.”  Further evidence of the old adage, “GET IT IN WRITING”