California Dog Bite Lawyer and Personal Injury Attorney, Sebastian Gibson

If you’re looking for dog bite lawyers in California or dog bite attorneys in California and haven’t found the attorney in which you can feel confident when retaining a lawyer for your dog bite in California, Sebastian Gibson may be just the personal injury attorney you’ve been looking for.

With over thirty years of experience handling personal injury dog bites, car, motorcycle, truck, bicycle, car and pedestrian accident cases, with law degrees in both California and in Great Britain, and years of international experience in London as well as decades of experience in California, California dog bite lawyer Sebastian Gibson brings a wealth of experience to the table.

California Dog Bite Lawyers at the Law Firm of Sebastian Gibson have been representing dog bite victims and personal injury clients as dog bite attorneys in California for over 25 years. And we still haven't been bitten once. Perhaps its because as dog bite lawyers, we actually like dogs, all types of dogs. It's unfortunate though, that dogs sometimes cause severe injuries and when an injury occurs, the dog bite owner is responsible for not ensuring that their dog doesn't harm others.

Sadly, as a California Dog Bite Attorney, the clients we see most frequently who have been the most seriously mauled by dogs, much as we love our four-footed friends, are children. Children often fail to understand how to approach a dog to avoid scaring the animal. As a consequence, California dog bite lawyers such as Sebastian Gibson often see injuries to the faces of children that routinely need plastic surgery and psychological counseling to get them over the trauma of the dog attack.

In California, however, California dog bite law favors the victim and children who have been attacked by a dog in California and who see California dog bite lawyer Sebastian Gibson can expect to be represented at our fullest extent possible so that their medical bills, pain and suffering, future medical expenses, psychological counseling and any other losses are paid for from the insurance company that insures the dog owner's home.

To assist dog bite victims, California dog bite lawyer Sebastian Gibson provides the following dog bite law analysis. We hope it is useful to you. If, however, you would simply prefer to leave the legal matters to us, we invite you to call California dog bite attorney Sebastian Gibson. Sebastian Gibson will come out to your home or hospital to meet with you to discuss your case and advise you in your matter.

Dog Bites and Dog Attack Statutes

In California, for a dog owner to be liable for the damages suffered by a person bitten by the owner’s dog, there is no requirement that the owner had knowledge of the dangerous propensities of his or her dog, or any requirement of knowledge of any previous bite by the dog.

Under California Civil Code Section 3342, the owner of the dog who bites another person, is liable regardless of the former viciousness of the dog or the owner’s knowledge of such viciousness. Under this statute, the owner is said to be strictly liable or subject to strict liability.

As strange as it may seem, while California Civil Code Section 3342 in effect repudiates the common law requirement of scienter, or knowledge of viciousness, California maintains the common law cause of action based on scienter or knowledge of a domestic animal’s dangerousness. Under this common law cause of action used by attorneys for a dog bite in California, liability is based on the owner’s knowledge of the dog’s prior behavior rather than on the owner’s negligence. The usefulness of this cause of action is to establish liability on someone other than the dog’s owner for a dog bite in California.

Dog Bite Negligence and Negligence Per Se

Yet a further way for a dog bite lawyer to establish liability for a California dog bite, is based on the negligence of the person who causes or allows the dog bite or attack to occur. Negligence can be the result of mishandling, allowing a dog to roam the streets unleashed, or improper tying or chaining (note that it is also a misdemeanor under California Penal Code Section 597t to tie an animal in such a manner that will cause the animal to become entangled or injured or which prevents the animal from access to adequate shelter, food and water).

Our California dog bite lawyers and dog bite attorneys in California have handled injuries and settled numerous cases where there was no dog bite whatsoever, but where the injuries were the result of the negligent handling of an over exhuberant dog.

Dog Vaccinations

A dog owner whose dog has not been vaccinated by the age of four months and whose dog bites someone who then must submit to rabies treatment can also be sued by a dog bite attorney in California for violation of the applicable Health and Safety Code Section 1920 and for the cost of and pain and suffering resulting from this treatment.

Dog Propensities For Dog Bites and Causing Injury

Our law firm has even successfully pursued a claim for significant damages when a non-owner allowed a dog with a propensity to jump on others, knocked down a person and caused serious injury to that person.

Dog Bite and Dog Attack Defenses

There are defenses to dog bite and dog attack liability in California, the most common of which involve the provocation of a dog, the comparative negligence of the dog bite victim and assumption of risk by the victim. Persons who handle dogs as part of their occupation, such as veterinarians, dog groomers and dog handlers are deemed to assume the risk of being bitten while the dog that bites them is in their custody. On the other hand, a dog owner who fails to warn such a person or who misleads such a person about the vicious propensities of the animal may not be similarly protected by this defense.

Dog Bites to Children

A special rule involving minors can negate the defenses allowed to a dog owner such as provocation, comparative negligence or assumption of risk. Minors under the age of five are deemed, as a matter of law, to be incapable of negligent acts. They are therefore incapable either of performing a negligent act toward a dog, or of acting with reasonable care toward a dog.

Dog Bite Defenses

Neither "my dog ate my homework" nor "my dog bit my lawyer" are valid defenses to getting out of school work in California, although children will try to use these excuses without success every year.

Sought out to be a writer for California’s two largest and most prestigious legal newspapers, California dog bite Attorney Sebastian Gibson’s articles have been published in the Los Angeles Daily Journal and the San Francisco Daily Journal. Today over 17,000 people visit this website and his blogs monthly for useful advice and thousands more follow him on Twitter for his humor.

California Dog Bite Attorney, Sebastian Gibson

One of the best attorneys to follow for his humor and wit, one of the funniest California dog bite lawyers and one of the top humorous California dog bite attorneys people follow on Twitter, California dog bite attorney and personal injury lawyer Sebastian Gibson has been called "brilliant," "hilariously funny" and a "legend."

It matters more than you think who you call for your dog bite or other legal matter. When it matters most, call California dog bite lawyer Sebastian Gibson. When it’s time to hire a California personal injury attorney, hire a legend.

You have many dog bite attorneys and lawyers in California to choose from. However, it matters most which California dog bite attorney you call for your injuries. When it matters most, call California dog bite lawyer, Sebatian Gibson.