Personal Injury Attorney in Los Angeles
Insurance carriers sort injury firms into two groups: the ones that file and settle, and the ones that actually try cases. Astraea Counsel keeps a deliberately small Los Angeles injury and habitability docket so every case is litigated in the second group — led by Brandon Orewyler, who spent three years inside the Los Angeles Superior Court's Complex Division before litigating at Simpson Thacher, first-chairing a books-and-records trial in the Delaware Court of Chancery, and arguing a unanimous Ninth Circuit reversal.
When injured people call us
- An adjuster has already called, asked you for a recorded statement, and started moving to close your file
- You or your family were seriously hurt by a driver, a property owner, or a business, and the other side's investigation is already further along than yours
- Mold, water intrusion, or unsafe conditions in your home are making your family sick, and the landlord, property manager, or HOA has stopped responding
- The proof of what happened sits on someone else's camera system, server, or vehicle, and nobody has yet demanded that they preserve it
- The defendant is a city, county, school district, hospital, or health care provider — and your deadline is far shorter than the two years most people assume
- You were told the crash was partly your fault, and you assumed that ended it
- You are a firm looking for co-counsel with complex-litigation depth on an injury case
What engagement gets you
- Preservation demands out the door early — to every party, employer, and vendor holding video, telematics, dispatch logs, maintenance records, or inspection histories — because camera systems overwrite on cycles the business sets, and a vehicle's event-data recorder can leave with the car when it is repaired or sent to salvage
- A select docket worked by the principals. We take few injury cases, and the lawyer who assesses your case is the lawyer who would try it. No case manager, no rotating associate, no file you cannot get an attorney on the phone about
- Habitability and toxic-exposure litigation against landlords, HOAs, and property managers, including a pending toxic-mold and habitability action in the Los Angeles Superior Court
- The same discovery machinery we bring to commercial trial work: depositions taken by the principal, document discovery pressed rather than exchanged, and motions filed when the other side stonewalls
- Proof assembled the way it is presented to a jury — treating physicians, retained experts, and testimony about how the injury changed daily life — rather than a form package built from whatever records you sent in
- Co-counsel partnerships with firms that want complex-litigation depth on an injury case, a standing part of the practice
- A candid read at the outset on what your case will take, what the defense will do with it, and whether we are the right firm for it — including when the answer is that we are not
Recognition
- Astraea Counsel ranked in Chambers USA: Spotlight 2026 — Fintech (Los Angeles)
- Lawdragon 500 X — The Next Generation: Crypto Regulation, Disputes, Blockchain (2026), Chanté Eliaszadeh
- 2024 Law360 Distinguished Legal Writing Award, The Burton Awards — Chanté Eliaszadeh, co-author (White & Case)
- Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch in America — Commercial Litigation (2027), Brandon Orewyler
- Summer honors intern, Cyber Unit, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (2018), Chanté Eliaszadeh
- Invited speaker: American Bar Association Business Law Section, Korea Blockchain Week (BIF25), ETHDenver, GRR Live, Blockchain Law for Social Good Conference, Art Basel Miami, and Berkeley Law; keynote, Computational Law & Blockchain Festival
Common Questions
I already gave the insurance company a recorded statement. Did I ruin my case?
Usually not, but it matters. An adjuster takes a recorded statement early, before you know the full extent of your injuries, and it is used later to argue that what you said then is inconsistent with what your doctors find now. You are generally not obligated to give a recorded statement to the other side's carrier, and you are not obligated to accept the first thing an adjuster proposes. If you have already given a statement, tell us early — a statement we know about at the start is a problem we can work with. One we learn about at your deposition is not.
How long do I have, and how long will the case take?
Less time than most people think, and the answer depends entirely on who the defendant is. Most California personal injury claims must be filed within two years of the injury (Code Civ. Proc., § 335.1). But a claim against a public entity — a city, a county, a school district, a transit agency — must be presented to that entity within six months of when the claim accrues (Gov. Code, § 911.2), and missing it can end an otherwise strong case. Claims against health care providers run on their own shorter clock: three years from the injury or one year from when you discovered it, whichever comes first (Code Civ. Proc., § 340.5). If a deadline may already be close, say so when you call and we will look at it first.
What will this cost me?
The initial consultation is free, and we match the fee structure to the case rather than running every matter the same way. We will tell you at that consultation exactly how the economics work, including who bears litigation costs and what happens to them at each outcome, and the same terms go into the engagement letter before any work begins. If a firm will not put the cost side of its fee arrangement in writing before you sign, that tells you something.
What if I was partly at fault?
That does not disqualify you. California allocates fault by percentage rather than treating any fault by the injured person as a bar to recovery, so being partly responsible reduces a claim rather than ending it. This matters because it is exactly what insurers count on people believing — a great many valid claims are never brought because someone was told at the scene that they were partly to blame and assumed that settled the question. If you were told that, it is worth a conversation before you accept it.
Will I actually have to go to court?
Most injury cases resolve before trial, and that is exactly why the trial preparation is the point. A case resolves on the defense's assessment of what happens if it does not, and that assessment is made by people who track which firms try cases and which ones do not. We prepare every case as though it will be tried, and we prepare you with it — you will know what a deposition is, and what to expect in one, well before you sit for it.
What are my rights if mold in my home is making me sick?
California law requires landlords to maintain habitable premises, and homeowners associations owe maintenance duties under their governing documents and can be liable in negligence for failures that cause injury. Depending on the facts, the claims available can include negligence, breach of the implied warranty of habitability, nuisance, and breach of the CC&Rs. These cases turn on documentation — inspection reports, photographs, medical records, and the paper trail of complaints that went unanswered. If you are still in the unit, start photographing and keep every written complaint; if management has been verbal only, put your next complaint in writing.
Why hire a complex-litigation firm for a personal injury case?
Because the conversation changes when the other side believes the case will actually be tried. Your case gets the same litigation machinery as our commercial trial practice, run by a litigator who spent three years in the Los Angeles Superior Court's Complex Division evaluating motions from the other side of the bench, then litigated at Simpson Thacher, first-chaired a books-and-records trial in the Delaware Court of Chancery, and argued an appeal in which the Ninth Circuit unanimously reversed. Those were business disputes rather than injury cases, and each result depended on its own facts — but the discovery depth, the motion practice, and the willingness to try a case transfer directly.
Book a Call With an Attorney
Pick a time that works for you — a 15-minute introductory call, no forms, no waiting.
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Talk to the lawyer who would try your case
Fifteen minutes with a principal, not an intake screener. Bring the incident or police report, the adjuster's name, and any deadline you have been given.
Talk to an AttorneyAttorney advertising. Each case result described on this page was dependent on the facts of that case, and the results will differ if based on different facts. No attorney-client relationship is formed by visiting this page or submitting the contact form.