James R. Lewis

Lewis Injury, PC, and its managing shareholder James R. Lewis, represent people who have suffered injuries, and families who have suffered the wrongful death of a family member.  The Firm focuses primarily on advocating for those injured in car accidents, and from animal bites in Northern California in Sacramento, Placer, Solano, Napa, San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Amador, Nevada, Plumas, and El Dorado Counties.

Featured Cases and Matters

A mother and daughter were hit head-on by a drunk driver in Lassen County. The mother sustained multiple fractures to her legs and ankles, and was pinned in the vehicle’s steering wheel and column. The daughter sustained serious low back injuries and struggled with significant Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder stemming from seeing her mother trapped in the vehicle, hearing her mother’s screams of pain, and fearing that she died when she went silent. In 2017, after months of litigation, including discovery into the drunk driver’s personal assets, we recovered $1,000,000.00 in insurance money, and $500,000.00 from the drunk driver personally when he was forced to sell real estate. Other lawyers felt our clients’ claims were worth less than $1,000,000.00 but we persisted and proved that the injuries were permanent, life-altering, and likely to need future medical care.

In 2019, In a suit against a Trucking Company in Sacramento County, James Lewis secured a seven-figure settlement for a client who sustained head and neck injuries requiring a two-level anterior cervical discectomy and fusion surgery after he was slammed by an 18-wheeler on a snowy interstate highway near Truckee. In addition to past income loss and medical expenses, the client’s future medical needs were also recovered.

In 2019, our 85 year-old client was collided into by an on-the-job driver at 60 mph and launched off the road into a ditch. She hit her head on the steering wheel during the traumatic event and had a large knot on her forehead. ER physicians failed to notice the bleeding in her skull and discharged her. With James Lewis’s expertise and knowledge, we had the client evaluated by the best brain injury experts who supported that she sustained damage to her brain. After months of litigation and expert testimony, several expert depositions, the defendant employer was convinced to pay $1,000,000.00.

In 2008, a dynamic real estate agent, was hit head-on by a criminal driving a stolen car. The collision damaged the structure of her knee, which required surgery and months of hard work and rehabilitation. Her real estate business suffered because she could not walk unassisted for months. Despite providing all the necessary information to my client’s auto insurer, it refused to reasonably compensate her. Its offer was a pathetic $53,500.00 despite well-documented lost commissions in excess of $100,000.00, and months of knee pain including surgery. After several more months of litigation against her own insurance company, a one-day binding arbitration was completed. The arbitrator fully endorsed our position and ordered the insurance company to pay over $92,000.00.

In 2016, James R. Lewis won a $388,702.20 jury verdict for a client who was injured when his stopped vehicle was struck from behind by large pick-up. Our client was just 24 when he was struck by a full-sized pick-up. His driver’s seat was dislodged from the tracks, and the seat back collapsed and twisted. He underwent chiropractic treatment, physical therapy, acupuncture, traction, trigger point injection, MRI and epidural steroid injection, none of which resolved his low back pain. Two MRIs revealed a 1-2 mm protrusion at L5-S1. A renowned spine surgeon offered a discectomy and fusion but our client declined because he was fearful of surgery. Before he was hit, our client managed and worked in his family’s hay sales business, but on doctor’s orders following the collision, he was never able to return, and the business eventually closed 16 months after the collision. Our client’s past lost earnings were $26,114. Past stipulated medical expenses were $33,084.29. We also sought compensation for the recommended surgery. We suggested the jury award an additional $325,000 in past and future general damages, given the conservative jury pool and the large economic damages. The insurance company’s in-house lawyer suggested the jury award $13,200 for six months past lost earnings, plus medical expenses of $33,084.29 and award $10,000 total in general damages for a total of $56,284.29. Before trial, we offered to settle the case for $350,000.00. After two weeks of trial, the jury awarded $361,200.29 . Since the verdict was more than we offered to settle for, the insurance company had to pay an additional $27,501.91 (interest and expert costs), for a total recovery of $388,702.20.

In 2020, in the midst of a pandemic, James R. Lewis secured a binding arbitration award for his 50 year-old client who was physically twisted in a roll-over accident caused by reckless driver. The at-fault driver quickly paid its minimal $15,000.00 policy and we proceeded against the client’s under-insured motorist policy. Philadelphia Insurance company disagreed with our position and refused to accept that the client’s injuries were permanent. After months of discovery, binding arbitration was held over two days, involving the client’s friends and family, and her orthopedic physician. The binding arbitration award was for $350,000.00, which was 40% more than insurance ever offered.

Non-Legal Activities

James R. Lewis currently serves as the President of the Board of Directors for Friends of Camp Sacramento, after having served as a Director for the preceding two years.

Closer to home, Mr. Lewis volunteers his time as a recreational soccer coach, and for his daughters’ Girl Scout troops.

Industry Areas

• Personal injury
• Civil litigation
• Jury trial
• Arbitration
• Mediation