Local office in Modesto, CA3509 Coffee Rd, Suite D8Directions

Catastrophic injury in Modesto?Talk to a lawyer for free.

After a life-changing injury, a settlement has to pay for the years ahead, not just the bills so far. If you or someone you love is at Memorial or Doctors Medical Center, the county's trauma centers, we'll come to you.

  • No fee unless we winWe only get paid when you get paid.
  • Zero upfront costYour consultation is free, with no obligation.
  • Hablamos españolNative Spanish speakers. No confusion. No delays.
  • Available 24/7We'll meet you at your home or hospital.
Get my free consultation
Call our Modesto office(209) 780-751524/7 line: (800) 985-9565

No attorney's fees unless we recover compensation. Clients may be responsible for case costs. Read the disclaimer

Valero Law Group team members welcoming a visitor at the office
Really glad I was able to find this law firm after a severe car accident. I had a very difficult case, but Valero Law was able to resolve it.
Marîîtza M.Valero Law Group clientGoogle review

Results that speak.Millions won for injured clients.

We've won over $500 million in verdicts and settlements for our clients, including the brachial plexus and spinal injury cases below.

Recognized for excellence

Avvo Rating: Excellent, Top Rated Personal InjuryTop Rated by Super Lawyers
  • $6.25MPersonal injuryA confidential personal injury settlement.
  • $5MAuto accidentFor a husband and wife after a crash left the husband with a brachial plexus injury.
  • $2.1MTruck accidentA settlement for a client with spinal and orthopedic injuries after a crash with a commercial truck.
  • $1.5MAuto accidentFor a client injured in a car accident.

Past results do not guarantee future outcomes, and each case is different.

View all results

Here to protect your future, not the insurer's bottom line

Insurance companies have a team.You should have one too.

A life-changing injury means years of care and lost income, and insurers know what that costs them. After a serious accident on Highway 99, Highway 132 or McHenry Avenue, an adjuster may call within days, and what you say can shape the rest of your claim.

Before you sign anything, ask yourself:

  1. Will the settlement pay for care you'll need 10 or 20 years from now?
  2. Does it count the work you can no longer do, not just the pay you've missed?
  3. Does it account for what Medi-Cal, Medicare or your health plan may claim back from it?

From one of our car accident cases

The insurer's best offer$410,000

What we won for our client$4.4M

A car accident that left our client with a neck injury. Most people would have taken the offer. We won more than ten times as much.

Past results do not guarantee future outcomes, and each case is different.

Get my free case review
The Valero Law Group sign outside our Modesto office at 3509 Coffee Road

Our office in Modesto

Local catastrophic injury lawyers,right here in Modesto.

Not every firm that advertises in Modesto has an office here. We do.

Our office is on Coffee Road in north Modesto, about 6 miles from Riverbank, 9 from Ceres and 18 from Turlock. Wherever you're recovering in Stanislaus County, we'll come to you.

Nearby officesStocktonFresnoSan Jose

Why choose Valero Law Group?

We champion every case,big and small.

Whether your case is worth $5,000 or $5 million, we bring the same skill, attention and determination to every client we represent.

So don't let the size of your case keep you from seeking justice: every injury deserves serious representation. Let us fight for the compensation you're owed while you focus on what matters most, your recovery.

They made me feel like a priority, and they put my needs first as a client.

IsabelValero Law Group client

400+five-star Google reviews

Real reviews fromour clients.

  • Samuel M. smiling in the Valero Law Group office with his $881,000 settlement check
    Samuel M.$881,000
  • Victoria M. smiling in front of the Valero Law Group logo wall with her $625,000 settlement check
    Victoria M.$625,000
  • Karina C. smiling in the Valero Law Group office with her $625,000 settlement check
    Karina C.$625,000
  • Angela M. smiling and pointing to her $625,000 settlement check
    Angela M.$625,000
  • Destiny H. smiling with her $500,000 settlement check
    Destiny H.$500,000
  • Javier P. smiling in the Valero Law Group office with his $375,000 settlement check
    Javier P.$375,000
I was involved in a horrible car accident back in July. The Valero Law Group made my case such a smooth process. They took care of everything for me… I can't thank them enough. I had a great outcome.
Sin C.Google review
Read all 400+ of our reviews
I got hit by a semi-truck on the streets and I was severely injured. Eric Sapir was very helpful and caring.
Victoria M.Google review
Thank you for your help with my case; your service and professionalism were excellent.
Samuel P.Google review

What you can recover aftera catastrophic injury.

A claim for a life-changing injury reaches past today's bills, to the care, equipment and income you'll need for as long as the injury lasts.

Economic damages

The costs you can add up

  • Surgery, hospital and trauma care
  • Rehabilitation, therapy and medical equipment
  • Home changes and in-home care
  • Lost wages and lost earning capacity

Non-economic damages

The harm that has no receipt

  • Pain and physical suffering
  • Disfigurement and physical impairment
  • Loss of companionship
  • Lost enjoyment of life
  • $6.4MEstimated lifetime cost of a high‑neck (C1–C4) spinal cord injuryFor someone injured at 25, in 2025 dollars and before lost wages, according to the National Spinal Cord Injury Statistical Center. Costs vary with the injury and the person.
  • No capOn pain and suffering after an accidentThere's no formula: a jury decides a reasonable amount from the evidence. California's cap applies only to medical negligence claims against doctors and hospitals (Civil Code §3333.2).
  • 37%of spinal cord injuries since 2015 came from vehicle crashesCrashes are the leading cause, ahead of falls, among people treated at the national spinal cord injury centers (NSCISC).

After a serious injury in Modesto,what comes next.

Trauma care, future costs, rehabilitation and the rules for children, explained.

Valero Law Group attorneys meeting around a conference table
  • Where serious injuries are treated
    Paramedics take patients who meet trauma criteria, such as new paralysis, an amputation above the wrist or ankle, or a crushed limb, straight to one of the county's two trauma centers: Memorial Medical Center or Doctors Medical Center, both Level II and both in Modesto. Children 14 and under usually go to a pediatric trauma center outside the county, such as UC Davis in Sacramento or Valley Children's in Madera, when the trip takes an hour or less.
  • Plan for future care
    A claim can include the reasonable cost of care you're reasonably certain to need in the future, not only what you've already been billed. In serious cases, that care is often laid out in a life-care plan: a medical expert's estimate of the care, equipment and help someone will need, and what it will cost.
  • What you could have earned
    Lost earning capacity is the gap between what you could have earned without the injury and what you can earn with it. No work history is needed, so it can apply to a child or a student. If you can no longer cook, clean or care for your family as before, that loss has a value too.
  • If Medi-Cal or Medicare paid
    Medi-Cal has a right to be repaid from the part of a settlement that covers medical costs, and a settlement isn't final until it has had the chance to claim its share. Medicare's payments are "conditional" and must be paid back too. Part of our job is to find out who has a claim, and how much, before you sign.
  • Rehabilitation near Modesto
    Encompass Health Rehabilitation Hospital of Modesto, on Mable Avenue, is the only hospital in Stanislaus County with licensed inpatient rehabilitation beds, for spinal cord injury, brain injury and other conditions. California's Department of Rehabilitation, which helps people with disabilities find work and live independently, has a Modesto office at 1209 Woodrow Avenue.
  • If the injured person is a child
    For a child, the two years to file usually don't start until their 18th birthday (CCP §352), but that pause doesn't apply to a case against a public agency, which needs a written claim within six months. If that time has passed, the agency generally must allow a late claim for someone who was a child the whole time, if it's asked for within a year of the injury. A judge must approve a child's settlement and decides where the money goes, for example a blocked account or a special needs trust.
A man and a boy in traditional Colombian hats and jerseys holding Valero Law Group signs at a community event

Al Barro Foundation: supporting over 400 orphans in Mexico

From the community, for the community.

Hablamos español.

We're a Hispanic-focused firm with native Spanish-speaking attorneys. We understand your family's needs, walk you through every step in your language, and fight to get you every dollar you deserve.

Organizations we support

Sponsor of the 2024 Share the Road Scholarship

Our community outreach
  • Al Barro Foundation
  • EUNIME por Tijuana, A.C.
…they speak excellent Spanish, know how to help, and look out for their clients' best interests.
Yesica H.Google review
Ver esta página en español

Organizations we support

Sponsor of the 2024 Share the Road Scholarship

Our community outreach
  • Al Barro Foundation
  • EUNIME por Tijuana, A.C.

Common questionsafter a catastrophic injury.

What counts as a catastrophic injury?
There's no legal definition. It usually means an injury that changes the rest of someone's life: a spinal cord injury and paralysis, an amputation, severe burns, a crushed limb or a serious brain injury. Serious burns include second- or third-degree burns over more than 15% of the body or on the face, hands or feet. For concussions and other brain injuries, see our Modesto brain injury page.
How long do I have to file a claim?
Most injury lawsuits must be filed within two years of the injury (Code of Civil Procedure §335.1). If a city, county or state vehicle or road was involved, or a StanRTA bus, a written claim is usually due within six months. Call us early so no deadline slips by.
I was paralyzed in an accident. What should my claim cover?
Fewer than 1 in 100 people with a spinal cord injury have fully recovered by the time they leave the hospital (NSCISC), so a claim has to look far ahead: future medical care and equipment, changes to your home, help at home and the work you can no longer do. The estimated lifetime cost of severe paraplegia (paralysis of the lower body) from an injury at 25 is about $3.1 million, before lost wages, and more for tetraplegia (quadriplegia), which affects the arms too.
How is a lifetime of care valued?
From the evidence: what your doctors expect you'll need, often set out by an expert in a life-care plan, at its reasonable cost. Future economic losses, like care and lost earnings, are reduced to their present cash value, because money received now can earn interest. Future pain and suffering isn't reduced that way.
Is there a cap on pain and suffering in California?
Not after a car accident or a fall, but one rule can bar these damages after a vehicle accident: an injured person who was driving without insurance, owned an uninsured vehicle involved in the accident, or was convicted of drunk driving for it, generally can't recover them (Civil Code §3333.4). The cap itself covers only medical negligence (§3333.2).
More than one party caused the accident. Who pays?
Each can be held responsible. For pain and suffering, each party at fault generally pays only its own share, in proportion to its percentage of fault (Civil Code §1431.2). So when the losses are large, finding everyone responsible, and every insurance policy, matters.
Do you have an office in Modesto?
Yes. Our office is at 3509 Coffee Rd, Suite D8, Modesto, CA 95355. Come in if you like, or we'll come to you, at home or in the hospital. Call (800) 985-9565 any time, 24/7.
What does a catastrophic injury lawyer cost?
Nothing upfront. Your consultation is free, and no attorney's fees are owed unless we recover compensation for you. You may be responsible for case-related costs and expenses; we'll explain them before you sign.
Attorney Kyle Valero
Kyle ValeroAttorney, Valero Law Group

Our easy 3-stepcase review process.

We make getting legal help simple.

  1. Free consultationCall us 24/7 or fill out our form. We'll review your case at no cost.
  2. Review your caseOur experienced attorneys investigate and evaluate your case to build the strongest claim possible.
  3. Injury litigationWe fight for maximum compensation, in negotiation or in court.
Start my free case review

Don't wait. There are legal deadlines.

A Valero Law Group team member smiling beside a firm car with the VLG logo on the door

Have a question about a potential case?Talk to a Modesto catastrophic injury lawyer today.

Your consultation is always free, with no obligation. We're happy to answer any questions and walk you through your options. No pressure, just honest answers.

(209) 780-7515

24/7 line: (800) 985-9565

  • Available 24/7, including weekends
  • Hablamos español
  • Free and confidential, no obligation

Get your free case review

Free and confidential. Sending this form does not create an attorney-client relationship.

Thank you. We'll call you shortly.

If it's urgent, call us now at (209) 780-7515. We're available 24/7.

This is a design preview, so nothing was sent.

Catastrophic injury lawyers at our nearest offices

Other cases we handle in Modesto

Modesto Personal Injury Lawyer
(209) 780-7515Free review