Local office in Stockton, CA1212 W Robinhood Dr, Suite 2DDirections

Premises injury in Stockton?Talk to a lawyer for free.

If you were injured in a City park or building, or at RTD's Downtown Transit Center, a written claim is usually due within six months. On private property, such as a store or an apartment complex, you generally have two years to file a lawsuit.

  • No fee unless we winWe only get paid when you get paid.
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Call our Stockton office(209) 348-022624/7 line: (800) 985-9565

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

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Lizeth A. is such a great person and is professional. She answered all my questions and made me feel like I was a part of the family.
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Results that speak.Millions won for injured clients.

We've won over $500 million in verdicts and settlements for our clients.

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 the husband suffered a brachial plexus injury.
  • $2.34MAccident claimA win for a client injured in an accident.
  • $1.5MAuto accidentA win for a client injured in an auto accident.

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

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Here to protect your interests, not the property owner's

Property owners have a team.You should have one too.

Property owners, landlords and businesses usually have an insurer behind them, with adjusters, investigators and lawyers, and they hold most of the evidence: the maintenance records for an apartment stairway, past complaints about a dark parking lot, who was working security the night you were injured. An adjuster may call within days, and what you say can shape the rest of your claim.

Before you sign anything, ask yourself:

  1. Who controlled the spot where you were injured: the owner, a business renting the space or a property manager?
  2. Did they know about the hazard, or would a reasonable check have found it in time?
  3. Will the settlement cover your treatment and lost income months from now, not just today?

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.

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Our office in Stockton

Local premises liability lawyers,right here in Stockton.

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

Our office is on West Robinhood Drive in north Stockton, about half a mile from Sherwood Mall. Come in, or we'll come to you anywhere in San Joaquin County.

Nearby officesModestoSan JoseFresno

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

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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 fell in a commercial establishment due to a wet floor that had no warning signs. I didn't know what to do or if I even had a case, but I decided to contact Valero on the recommendation of a family member, and it was the best decision.
Mia G.Google review
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I fell and couldn't get up! Luckily Valero Law Group had my back, and I'd highly recommend this firm to anyone!
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Very nice and excellent work.
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What you can recover afteran injury on someone's property.

In California, whoever owns, rents or controls a property has to use reasonable care to find hazards and fix them or warn about them. One that didn't can be held responsible for what your injury cost you.

Economic damages

The costs you can add up

  • Emergency care, surgery and hospital bills
  • Physical therapy and rehabilitation
  • Lost wages and lost earning capacity
  • Medical care you'll need in the future

Non-economic damages

The harm that has no receipt

  • Pain and physical suffering
  • Scarring and disfigurement
  • Loss of companionship
  • Lost enjoyment of life
  • 1968The year a visitor's status stopped deciding the caseIn Rowland v. Christian, California's Supreme Court held that being a customer, a guest or a trespasser can matter, but that status "is not determinative". What counts is whether the owner acted reasonably (Civil Code §1714).
  • 8.9 millionEmergency room visits for falls in the U.S. in 2023More injuries treated in U.S. emergency rooms come from falls than from any other cause, about three times as many as the next one, according to the CDC.
  • 80%What you keep if you were 20% at faultEven if you share some of the blame, say you were looking at your phone, California's pure comparative fault rule reduces your award by your share instead of erasing it.

After an injury on property in Stockton,what comes next.

Who is responsible, falls and sidewalks, apartments, crime and video, explained.

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  • Owner, tenant or property manager
    The owner isn't the only one who can be responsible: a business renting the space, a property manager or a company that runs the building can be too, because control alone is enough. And no owner has to guarantee your safety: it answers for injuries its carelessness caused, not for every injury on its property. Dog bites follow their own rule: the dog's owner answers for them, and a landlord only if it knew the dog was dangerous and could have stepped in (see our dog bite page).
  • Spills and falling goods in stores
    A store must make reasonable inspections of the areas open to customers. If a spill sat long enough that a reasonable check would have found it, the law treats the store as if it knew, and if its own employee caused the hazard, by mopping without a sign, say, the store is treated as knowing from the start. Merchandise that falls from a shelf, or a display that tips over, is judged the same way.
  • Tripped on a Stockton sidewalk?
    Take photos of the raised or broken slab with a shoe or a coin beside it for scale, and look for a street tree whose roots may have lifted it. Stockton's Municipal Code makes the owner of the lot next to a sidewalk keep it in repair, and the City repairs damage caused by City trees. Either way, if you fall, the claim usually goes to the City, not the owner: see the sidewalk question below.
  • Apartments: stairs, balconies and your unit
    Before you move in, a landlord has to check the rental for hazards, common areas included. After that, it stays responsible for keeping the shared spaces it controls, such as stairways and walkways, reasonably safe; inside your own unit, it generally answers only for a hazard it actually knew about and had the right and ability to fix. In buildings with three or more units, state law requires inspections every six years of wood-supported balconies, decks and outside stairways more than six feet up. If one gave way, ask when it was last inspected.
  • Crime in a parking lot, bar or apartment complex
    If you were attacked on someone's property, the question is whether the business or landlord could reasonably have seen it coming. If so, it had to take reasonable steps to protect the people there, and the more foreseeable the crime, the more it had to do. A duty to hire guards arises only when the risk was heightened, for example by earlier similar incidents at that spot.
  • Ask for the video right away
    No law we found sets how long a store or other private business has to keep its security video, so the request should go out in writing right away. RTD has cameras at its transit centers, including the Downtown Transit Center at 421 East Weber Avenue, and generally records over its video after 7 days unless asked to hold it. Routine video from City and County buildings can be erased after a year, but once it's evidence in a filed claim it must be kept. We can send the requests for you.
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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.
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Organizations we support

Sponsor of the 2024 Share the Road Scholarship

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

Common questionsabout injuries on property in Stockton.

How long do I have after an injury on property in Stockton?
If a private owner, landlord or business is responsible, a lawsuit generally has to be filed within two years. If it was property of the City of Stockton or your own city, San Joaquin County, RTD or a school district, a written claim is usually due within six months, and if it's rejected, a lawsuit usually has to follow within six months of the notice. Call us early so no deadline slips by.
Who is responsible if I trip on a broken sidewalk in Stockton?
The claim usually goes to the City, not the owner next door. Stockton's code, like state law, makes that owner keep the sidewalk in repair, but no Stockton rule we found makes it liable to someone who falls, unless it caused the problem, for example by altering the sidewalk or letting its own tree's roots lift it. The City can be responsible if it created the hazard, or knew or should have known about it in time to fix it. Small height differences are often treated as trivial: the size of the lip, the lighting and what was around it all matter. A written claim to the City has to come first, within the deadline above.
I was injured in a City park or building. Where does the claim go?
To the Stockton City Clerk, 501 W. Weber Avenue, Building 1, 1st Floor, on the City's Claim for Damages form, in person or by mail. For a County building or park, it goes to the San Joaquin County Clerk of the Board of Supervisors, 44 N. San Joaquin Street, Suite 627. An agency can be responsible if its own employee created the hazard, or if it knew or should have known about it in time to fix it or warn people. We can prepare and file the claim for you.
I slipped and fell. Is that a premises case?
It can be. If a spill, a loose stair tread, a missing handrail or a dark stairway made you fall, and the owner knew about it or should have found it, and didn't fix it or warn you, that's a premises claim. Photograph the spill or the step before it's cleaned up or repaired, get the names of anyone who saw you fall, and ask that an incident report be made and note its number. See a doctor the same day, and keep the shoes and clothes you wore. Our California slip and fall page covers falls in more detail.
When is an owner not responsible to someone who was trespassing?
When that person was injured while committing a serious crime there. Under Civil Code §847, an owner isn't liable for an injury that happens during or after one of 25 listed felonies, such as burglary, robbery or arson, once the injured person is convicted, though an owner who acted willfully or wantonly still can be. Short of that, being there without permission doesn't by itself end a claim.
I fell at the Downtown Transit Center or on an RTD bus. What now?
RTD is a public agency, so a written claim usually has to reach it within six months, before any lawsuit. On a bus, RTD owes its passengers “the utmost care and diligence”, a higher standard than ordinary care, so a fall on board can be its responsibility even when there was no crash. Ask for the video right away: RTD generally keeps it only 7 days unless asked to hold it. We can send the request and prepare the claim for you.
Do you have an office in Stockton?
Yes. Our office is at 1212 W Robinhood Dr, Suite 2D, Stockton, CA 95207. 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 premises liability 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

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Have a question about a potential case?Talk to a Stockton premises liability 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.

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