Fighting for victims of catastrophic personal injury and sexual assault in the San Francisco Bay Area
Welcome to The Law Office of Scott R. Herndon. As a nationally recognized boutique law firm serving communities throughout California, we have helped our clients and their families survive the devastating effects of serious injuries resulting from the intentional, reckless or negligent actions of others. We also handle high-profile employment law matters. We represent an elite base of clients, who value their dignity and roles in their communities. We handle cases deftly and effectively to ensure that our clients’ lives, reputations, and legacies are protected.
Having taught thousands of students at Stanford University, the University of California, and NYU—many of whom have become Scott’s clients—we understand that our job is not only to fight for financial compensation for the injuries our clients have suffered, but also to ensure that their careers, dignity, and legacies in society are never put in jeopardy by the lawyers who represent them. We have the resources and experience to help you see justice served in your case, and invite you to schedule a free consultation today.
Our Practice Areas
Catastrophic Personal Injuries
In an instant, a traumatic injury can result in death, paralysis, loss of cognitive or brain function, organ control, or disfigurement. And then there is the question of how these injuries will affect your ability to work and support your family in the future.
Sexual Assault
We take pride in representing survivors of sexual abuse and assault. We work tirelessly to protect the dignity of our clients and help them heal from the trauma they have suffered. A survivor of sexual abuse has up to ten years in which to file a claim, or within 3 years of the reasonable discovery of injuries stemming from that claim.
Wrongful Termination
Although California is an “at-will” employment state—meaning that an employer can terminate an employee for any non-discriminatory reason—if you have lost your job, you still might be entitled to compensation and even reinstatement. To fully protect yourself, and your family, you should consider consulting with our wrongful termination lawyers to review the circumstances of your dismissal.
Losing a limb results in mental, emotional, and physical challenges. It is essential that your legal team understands that losing the ability to work, walk, or use one’s hands is not simply a physical injury, but one that that affects every aspect of how we feel about ourselves, and how we function in our social lives. We never lose sight of the complete picture of our clients’ lives.
Survivors of spinal cord injuries are likely to face multiple medical procedures, and lengthy and painful recoveries. Moreover, these injuries can result in the loss of one’s ability to do the things we sometimes take for granted: reaching for a child, walking to the mailbox, or even tying one’s shoes. Your lawyers cannot overlook the sum total of these effects when trying to make you whole as a result of a wrongful injury.
Healing from broken bones can be a long and painful process, long after a cast is removed. Arthritis, loss of function, and disfigurement can affect one’s sense of self and ability to return to the activities we love. When such injuries affect our ability to work, play, and enjoy life, the full scope of bone fractures is cast into relief, and skilled attorneys are required to make us whole.
Tour bus operators and limousines are subject to state and federal laws that require them to ensure passenger safety. They hire, train, and supervise their drivers, and should follow rigorous vehicle maintenance schedules, and comply with regulations on hours of service. But this does not always happen.
A typical fully-loaded commercial truck can weigh as much as twenty-five (25) times more than a personal vehicle. Because of the sheer mass of commercial vehicles, a trucking accident can impact a small car with the force of a military grade explosive device.
It is impossible to overstate the impact of losing a loved one as a result of wrongful death. Such losses change us forever, and surviving such trauma requires strength and resources for therapy and healing.
We take pride in representing plaintiffs who have suffered catastrophic personal injuries and sexual abuse.
Learning about personal injury
The CDC reports hundreds of thousands of deaths from unintentional injury in the U.S. every year, making it the leading cause of fatalities among people ages 1-45 years old. Millions more suffer serious nonfatal injuries, which often require hospitalization for treatment.
The financial implications of a serious injury can be staggering. In 2019 alone, the CDC estimated the total economic cost of injury to be $4.2 trillion, factoring in not only medical expenses but also missed wages and the value of statistical life and quality of life losses.
Many injuries are simply the result of accidents. They can occur due to acts of nature, honest mistakes, or other unavoidable factors. Other accidental injuries are self-inflicted. But many injuries result directly or indirectly from impermissibly negligent, reckless, or intentional behavior. These are the personal injury cases we handle.
No one should be forced to shoulder the financial burden of an injury alone, if someone else’s carelessness is to blame. Our legal system enables us to file civil claims seeking coverage for the tangible and intangible costs of our clients’ injuries.
Success in these cases depends on establishing fault. To do so, plaintiffs must prove that the following conditions were present:
- That the defendant had a legal duty of care
- That there was a breach of that duty by the defendant acting negligently or recklessly or by failing to act
- That the defendant’s negligence was the direct or indirect cause of the plaintiff’s injury
- That due to the injury, the plaintiff suffered damages such as medical costs, loss of ability to work, an inability to return to normal life activities, and emotional distress
These elements form the basis of all personal injury lawsuits. At the Law Office of Scott R. Herndon, we provide free consultations to all potential clients during which we evaluate the details of their injury case.
Collecting compensation for your severe or catastrophic injury
A lawyer can never turn back time and erase an injury. Instead, lawyers are empowered to fight to obtain resources for their clients to heal and return to their lives. A plaintiff’s being made whole in this sense comes in the form of financial compensation, sometimes called “damages.” The compensation a plaintiff can collect depends on the details of their case. In general, damages fall into the following categories:
- Economic damages – Economic damages include such items as medical bills, lost income (present and future), and future medical and therapeutic needs.
- Non-economic damages – These include losses and costs such as loss of quality of life, permanent disfigurement, post-traumatic stress disorder, and other forms of pain and suffering.
- Punitive damages – Damages levied against a defendant who committed an act with malice, gross negligence, intentional harm or fraud.
The Law Office of Scott R. Herndon represents clients and families in the San Francisco Bay Area, who have been affected by catastrophic and fatal personal injuries. We retain world-class scientific, medical, and forensic experts to ensure our clients receive the maximum compensation to which they are entitled.
Types of injury cases we handle
Over the course of his legal career, principal attorney Scott Herndon has achieved remarkable success advocating on behalf of clients seriously injured in a wide range of accidents, incidents and other circumstances. Our primary areas are:
- Mass shooting and catastrophic personal injury cases with causalities
- Motor vehicle collisions, involving automobiles, motorcycles, bicycles and pedestrians
- Construction accidents and other worksite mishaps
- Dangerous or defective consumer products
- Sports accidents, such as negligent and reckless injuries to elite athletes, caused by defective team cultures, abusive mentorship and coaching, and other off-field treatment
- Assault, including sexual assault, on behalf of survivors
Our legal team is prepared to devote our full time, energy and resources to your serious injury case. Whether you suffered a catastrophic injury yourself or lost a loved one to a preventable tragedy, you are entitled to compensation when someone else is at fault.
What Our Clients
Say About us
As a nationally recognized boutique law firm, we have secured millions of dollars on behalf of our clients. We have helped our clients cope with life-changing injuries and wrongful death, due to the intentional, reckless, or negligent actions of others. Let us use our intellectual resources to help you get your dignity back.
Our Ethos and Promise to Our Clients
When Scott founded his firm, he had already earned graduate degrees in philosophy, social justice, and literature, and taught at some of the most respected universities in the world, from Stanford University, New York University, to the University of California. He created his firm to provide unrivalled personal attention to his clients, with the academic and argumentative rigor of a published author and professor. He took his years as a defense attorney as a model for how he would represent ordinary people with extraordinary care.
Our ethos is simple: When we commit to your case, we commit to you and your family.
We know that in the face of a catastrophic injury to you or your family, the legal system provides a slow, often undignified, and unimaginably empty response to what your family has endured. We understand that your family deserves respect, assistance, and to be made as whole as quickly and as completely as possible.
We strive to give all of our clients personal, human attention instead of the usual legal advice. In doing so, we strive to give you the space you need, or the partner you can confide in, for the healing process to take shape.
Finally, we understand that you, your family, and your careers depend on your involvement in communities where your dignity and reputation have been earned from a lifetime of living well. We strive to protect that respect every step of the way, working quietly and diligently to ensure your rights are handled appropriately.
While many lawyers advertise that they specialize in litigation or “winning money”, we believe that the nature of the injury is secondary to clients we represent. Because you and your family matter more than your harms.
Read Our Articles
Premises Liability Laws in California
California law empowers injured parties to seek damages if their injuries are caused by a property owner’s negligence in supervising, flagging hazards, or maintaining a premise. Determining negligence, of course, depends on specific circumstances, such as the owner’s knowledge of prior accidents owing to the same condition on the property ...
Fault and Negligence in Wrongful Deaths
If a person dies due to someone else’s negligence or misconduct, that person’s family members or survivors may sue for wrongful death. This kind of lawsuit is brought against an individual who has caused someone’s death and seeks financial compensation for the impact of survivors’ losses. These may include ...