In most Arizona personal injury cases, you have two years from the date of injury to file a lawsuit.

This deadline comes from A.R.S. § 12-542. A few exceptions can change the clock: if the injured person is a minor, the two-year period generally doesn't start until they turn 18. If an injury wasn't immediately obvious, the clock may start when it was reasonably discoverable instead.

Claims against a government entity — a city, county, or state agency — run on a much shorter timeline: a formal notice of claim is typically due within 180 days, and any lawsuit within one year, under A.R.S. § 12-821.01 and § 12-821. Missing a deadline usually bars recovery permanently, so it's worth confirming your specific timeline early.

Yes — Arizona follows "pure comparative negligence," so you can still recover damages even if you were partly at fault, but your award is reduced by your percentage of fault.

Under A.R.S. § 12-2505, if a jury values your damages at $100,000 and finds you 20% at fault, your recoverable award drops to $80,000. Because it's a pure system, you can still recover something even if you were found more than 50% responsible — unlike states that cut off recovery past that threshold.

Insurance adjusters routinely dispute fault percentages specifically because it directly lowers what they owe, which is one reason fault allocation is so often contested in negotiations.

There's no fixed formula — value depends on your medical bills, lost income, the severity and permanency of your injury, pain and suffering, and the available insurance coverage.

Arizona places no cap on personal injury damages, a protection under Article 2, Section 31 of the Arizona Constitution, so both economic losses (bills, wages) and non-economic losses (pain and suffering) can be pursued in full.

Attorneys often estimate non-economic damages with tools like the multiplier method, but comparative fault, policy limits, and the strength of your liability evidence all shape what a case is actually worth. A case review with an attorney is the only way to get a realistic number for your situation.

Prioritize safety, call police to create an official report, get medical care even if you feel fine, and document the scene before discussing fault with anyone.

Move to safety if you can, exchange insurance information with the other driver, and photograph vehicle damage, road conditions, and any visible injuries. Get names and numbers for witnesses while they're still at the scene.

Injuries like whiplash or a concussion can take days to show symptoms, so a prompt medical evaluation protects both your health and your claim. Avoid statements that could be read as admitting fault, and talk to an attorney before giving a recorded statement to any insurer.

Liability can extend well beyond the driver to the trucking company, a cargo loading company, a maintenance provider, or a parts manufacturer, depending on what caused the crash.

A trucking company can be liable for negligent hiring, ignoring federal hours-of-service rules, or poor vehicle maintenance. A separate cargo company may be liable if freight was overloaded or improperly secured, and a manufacturer may be liable for a defective part.

Black box (ECM) data and driver logs can be lost or overwritten within weeks of a crash, which is why early investigation matters — missing one liable party can mean missing a major source of compensation.

Under A.R.S. § 12-612, only a surviving spouse, children, parents or guardians, or the personal representative of the estate may bring a wrongful death claim — and only one lawsuit can be filed per death.

Immediate family members generally have priority to bring the claim. Compensation recovered benefits the surviving family directly, rather than becoming a general estate asset, unless there are no qualifying survivors.

A wrongful death claim must generally be filed within two years of the death. Because only one action is allowed, families should coordinate quickly with an attorney to decide who will bring the claim.

You generally must show the property owner knew, or reasonably should have known, about a dangerous condition and failed to fix or warn about it in a reasonable time.

This is often called actual or constructive notice. Simply falling on someone else's property isn't enough on its own — you have to connect the hazard to the owner's negligence and to your resulting injury.

Arizona's comparative negligence rule applies here too, so if you were partly responsible — for example, by ignoring a clearly posted warning sign — your compensation may be reduced accordingly.

Yes. Under A.R.S. § 11-1025, a dog owner can be liable for a bite even if the dog never bit anyone before and the owner wasn't otherwise negligent.

This applies when the bite happens in a public place, or while the victim is lawfully on private property. It's a meaningfully different standard from states that require proving the owner knew the dog was dangerous.

Limited exceptions exist, including when the injured person was trespassing or provoked the dog, so the specific facts still matter to how a claim plays out.

Medical malpractice claims generally follow the same two-year statute of limitations as other injury claims, under A.R.S. § 12-542, though the clock may start at discovery rather than the date of treatment.

Malpractice cases carry an added procedural step: Arizona law under A.R.S. § 12-2603 generally requires a preliminary expert opinion affidavit early in the case, certifying that a qualified expert believes the standard of care was breached.

That added complexity is why malpractice claims typically need legal review well before any deadline is close — building the required expert opinion takes time.

No. Most Arizona personal injury attorneys, including Silkman Law Firm, work on contingency — you pay nothing upfront, and there's no fee unless they recover money for you.

This is typically spelled out in a signed fee agreement before work begins, and it aligns the attorney's interests with yours: they're paid a percentage of what's recovered, not an hourly rate regardless of outcome.

It's still worth asking how case expenses — filing fees, expert witness costs — are handled, since those are usually separate from the attorney's fee itself.

Consider the full extent of your damages before accepting — medical expenses, future treatment, and lost income — since accepting a settlement generally closes the claim for good.

Insurance companies often make offers before an injured person fully understands the extent of their damages. Once a settlement is accepted, it typically prevents you from seeking additional compensation later, even if your condition worsens or new costs arise.

Understanding your legal options before agreeing to any offer helps you make an informed decision rather than a rushed one.

Yes. Arizona's comparative negligence rule under A.R.S. § 12-2505 allows you to recover compensation even if you share some responsibility for the accident.

The amount recovered is reduced by the percentage of fault assigned to you, rather than barring the claim outright. Insurance companies frequently dispute fault percentages because it directly affects what they owe.

Documenting how the accident happened is important even when some shared fault is likely, since fault percentages are often contested.

You may have additional options through your own policy, including uninsured motorist (UM) or underinsured motorist (UIM) coverage.

UM/UIM coverage is designed to fill the gap between what the at-fault driver's insurer pays and the full value of your losses, when the at-fault party carries too little insurance or none at all.

Whether this coverage applies, and how much is available, depends on the specific terms of your own policy and the facts of the accident.

Evidence that may help establish liability and damages includes accident reports, medical records, photos or video, witness information, and documentation of lost wages.

• Police accident reports
• Medical records and treatment documentation
• Photos or videos from the accident scene
• Witness statements and contact information
• Insurance communications
• Documentation of lost wages or missed work
• Records showing how injuries affect daily activities

Preserving this evidence as soon as possible matters — some of it, such as surveillance footage or vehicle data, can be lost or overwritten within weeks of the accident.

In most Arizona personal injury cases, the statute of limitations is two years from the date of the injury, under A.R.S. § 12-542.

Different deadlines can apply depending on who is responsible — for example, a shorter notice period for claims against a government entity, or a later start date if the injury was not immediately discoverable.

Because missing the applicable deadline generally bars the claim permanently, it is important to confirm the specific timeline that applies to your situation as early as possible.