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$12,000,000
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Gammill Law’s results include a $21.1 million wrongful death verdict, a $16 million school sexual abuse verdict, and a $12 million whistleblower retaliation verdict.
Reviewed by David Gammill, California trial attorney · Last reviewed: October 21, 2026
If you were injured in Whittier because someone else was careless, California law lets you recover your medical bills, your lost income, and the toll the injury has taken on your life, and it puts a deadline on every one of those claims. Gammill Law Accident & Injury Lawyers is a South Bay trial firm that represents injured people and families in Whittier and across Los Angeles County. The firm has recovered more than $100 million for California clients across verdicts and settlements. Its results include a $21.1 million wrongful death verdict, a $16 million school sexual abuse verdict, and a $12 million whistleblower retaliation verdict; every case is different, and prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
Whittier is a city of its own on the eastern edge of Los Angeles County, with its own police department, one freeway on its western border and one boulevard that explains most of its crash history, and that geography decides who investigates a crash and where a claim goes. The San Gabriel River Freeway, I-605, is a state highway: a crash on it or on its ramps is a Highway Patrol report, and Caltrans is the public entity if the road itself was part of the problem. Whittier Boulevard was State Route 72, a state highway, for most of the last century; in 2025 the California Transportation Commission approved turning the stretch through the city over to the City of Whittier, so for a crash on Whittier Boulevard today the City is the entity for the road, while an older crash may still point to Caltrans, and we sort that out at the first meeting. Beverly Boulevard, Painter Avenue, Lambert Road, Pickering Avenue, Colima Road, Greenleaf Avenue, Philadelphia Street and every other street in the city are City streets: the Whittier Police Department writes the report, and the City of Whittier is the public entity for the street, its signals and its sidewalks. By the state crash database, which counts every crash any agency reports inside the city, the freeway is a smaller share of the picture here than in most cities: of the 2,274 crashes reported in Whittier in 2024 and 2025, the 605 accounted for 308, and the Highway Patrol handled about one crash in five. Whittier Boulevard alone had 307, nearly three times the next busiest street, Beverly Boulevard at 107, followed by Painter at 81, Lambert at 74, Pickering at 73 and Colima at 69. Over the seven years from 2019 through 2025, 38 people were killed in crashes inside the city; 33 of them died on City streets rather than the freeway, and 11 died on Whittier Boulevard, more than on any other road. That does not make the boulevard responsible for any crash. It does decide which agency holds your report.
The City’s own numbers describe the streets. According to the City of Whittier’s Local Roadway Safety Plan, adopted in 2023 and covering 2017 through 2021, there were 3,550 collisions on City streets in those five years, including 19 that killed someone and 87 that caused a severe injury. About three collisions in four happened at or near an intersection, and intersections were involved in 31 percent of the fatal and severe-injury crashes, against 24 percent statewide. The signalized intersections with the most collisions were Colima Road at Whittier Boulevard, 56, and Painter Avenue at Whittier Boulevard, 46, followed by Whittier Boulevard at Santa Fe Springs Road and at Norwalk Boulevard; among intersections without a signal, Whittier Boulevard at Cole Road had the most, 17. The leading causes were improper turning, 22 percent, unsafe speed, 20 percent, and right-of-way violations, 17 percent, and the plan put aggressive driving behind 29 percent of all collisions. The state database shows the same corridor is still the corridor: in 2024 and 2025 the busiest intersections were Philadelphia Street at Whittier Boulevard, Hadley Street at Pickering Avenue and Norwalk Boulevard at Whittier Boulevard. Crashes after dark were 36 percent of the two-year total but seven of the twelve deaths. Hit-and-run is a larger part of the picture in Whittier than in the county around it: 732 of the crashes reported in 2024 and 2025, 32 percent, were hit-and-runs, against 28 percent across Los Angeles County, and 124 of them were felony hit-and-runs in which someone was hurt or killed; the state’s Office of Traffic Safety ranked Whittier tenth worst of 103 cities its size for injury and fatal hit-and-run crashes in 2023. Under Vehicle Code § 20001 a driver who leaves an injury crash commits a crime, which changes both the police investigation and the insurance picture.
The people most at risk are often not in cars. By the state database, half of the twelve people killed in Whittier crashes in 2024 and 2025 were walking or riding a bicycle, four pedestrians and two cyclists, and pedestrians and cyclists were 27 of the 75 people killed or seriously hurt. The City’s plan counted 113 pedestrian collisions in 2017 through 2021, seven of them fatal, and 119 bicycle collisions, three of them fatal. Pedestrians have the right of way in a marked or unmarked crosswalk under Vehicle Code § 21950, and the driver must slow and use due care either way. Riders are the other group the numbers single out: the Office of Traffic Safety ranked Whittier twentieth of 103 cities its size for motorcyclists killed or injured in 2023, and our Whittier motorcycle accident page covers that record in detail.
Injuries that do not start with a vehicle follow their own paths. A fall on a broken City sidewalk or in a City park is a claim against the City of Whittier, with the six-month claim rule below; a fall, a fire or an assault in a restaurant, a store, an apartment building, a shopping center or a parking structure is a claim against the owner or operator; a death at the hands of a police officer is a state wrongful death claim and a federal civil rights claim together. Each of those is covered on its own page below.
Most California injury claims must be filed within two years. Our plain-English guide to CCP § 335.1, California’s two-year statute of limitations, covers the rule and its narrow exceptions. Courts rarely excuse a missed deadline.
Government cases move much faster. If a public entity may share responsibility, a written claim must be presented to that entity within six months, before any lawsuit can be filed, under Government Code § 911.2. In Whittier that means Caltrans for the 605 and its ramps, the City of Whittier for a City street, a signal, a sidewalk, a City vehicle or a Whittier police officer, and for Whittier Boulevard either one, depending on when the crash happened; a claim about the road itself goes to the entity that owned the road that day, and we present it to both when the answer is in doubt. Once an entity rejects the claim, Government Code § 945.6 gives six months from the rejection notice to file suit. Our guide to the California government claim deadline walks through the sequence, and we identify the correct entity and file on time.
Where the case is heard. The Los Angeles Superior Court’s own filing locator assigns a Whittier injury lawsuit to the Norwalk Courthouse. Whittier has a courthouse of its own, but it hears family law and restraining-order matters, not injury cases; the court assigns the courthouse by where the injury happened, and we confirm it at the first meeting.
California requires drivers to carry only minimum liability coverage of $30,000 per injured person, $60,000 per accident, and $15,000 for property damage (Vehicle Code § 16451, for policies issued or renewed on or after January 1, 2025). A serious injury passes that limit before the first week in the hospital ends, so an injury case is in part a search for coverage: the at-fault driver’s policy, an employer’s commercial policy if the driver was working, a rideshare company’s policy if the driver was on the app, a rental company’s coverage if the car was a rental, the vehicle owner’s policy if the car was borrowed, and your own uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage, which follows you as a person and pays when the other driver has too little insurance or none at all. Whittier adds one wrinkle: when nearly one crash in three is a hit-and-run, the driver is often never identified at all. In a hit-and-run, your own uninsured motorist coverage is usually the policy that pays, on strict reporting conditions that your lawyer should handle from the first week.
Car accidents. Whittier Boulevard from Colima to Norwalk, Painter and Pickering through Uptown, and the 605 are where Whittier’s crashes concentrate, and the evidence that proves fault disappears in the first weeks. Our Whittier car accident page covers the city’s own crash numbers, how those cases are built and how the coverage layers stack.
Motorcycle accidents. A rider has every right a driver has on Whittier Boulevard or on the 605, and the law does not turn a missing helmet or a lane split into fault. Our Whittier motorcycle accident page covers the city’s own rider numbers and the assumptions riders have to beat.
Pedestrian and bicycle accidents. Whittier’s own numbers make people on foot and on bicycles half of the city’s recent crash deaths. Drivers owe a duty of care to every pedestrian, in a crosswalk or out of one, and a cyclist has the same rights on the road as a driver. Our pedestrian accident page explains the right-of-way rules insurers argue about and where the money comes from when the driver’s policy is small.
Truck accidents. The 605 and Whittier Boulevard carry commercial trucks through the city every hour of the day. A crash with a truck or a delivery van is decided by the carrier’s records and by who else stands behind the driver. Our truck accident page explains the rulebook.
Brain injuries. A brain injury hides from scans and from adjusters while its costs compound for years. Our brain injury page covers how those cases are proven and why they must be built for the future.
Premises liability. A fall, a fire or an assault on someone else’s property turns on what the owner knew and what it did about it. Our premises liability page covers notice, negligent security, and the six-month rule for public sidewalks and parks.
Wrongful death. When an injury is fatal, California law gives specified family members a wrongful death claim and gives the estate a separate survival claim, each with its own deadline. Our wrongful death page explains who can file and what the claim covers.
Police misconduct. An injury or a death at the hands of an officer is a civil rights case with its own rules, deadlines and defendants. Whittier runs its own police department, so the claim runs against the City of Whittier. Our civil rights page covers claims against a city for its police department.
Economic damages are the losses with a receipt: medical bills, future care, lost wages, and lost earning capacity. Non-economic damages are the losses without one: pain, disability, disfigurement, and the loss of the life you had. Where the conduct that caused the injury was malicious, oppressive, or fraudulent, such as a drunk driver, Civil Code § 3294 allows punitive damages on clear and convincing proof; they are never guaranteed, and we evaluate them case by case. Partial fault does not bar your claim. California follows a pure comparative negligence rule: your recovery is reduced by your percentage of fault, never eliminated by it. Insurers exaggerate your share for exactly that reason, and we push back with evidence.
Our office is on Del Amo Boulevard in Torrance, and our attorneys bring more than 40 years of combined legal experience to every case we take. We prepare every case for trial from the first meeting, because insurers price a claim differently when the lawyer across the table will finish the fight in front of a jury.
The firm has recovered more than $100 million for California clients across verdicts and settlements. Separately, its trial results include a $21.1 million wrongful death verdict against the State of California over a highway crash cushion, tried to a jury after a $10,000 pre-trial offer, and a $16 million school sexual abuse verdict, each a real jury verdict in a specific case; outcomes always depend on the facts. See our case results.
We work on a contingency fee: nothing upfront, no hourly bills, and a fee only out of the recovery, under a written contingency fee agreement that complies with California law.
Injured and unable to travel? We meet clients at the hospital, at home, or wherever recovery requires, and an initial consultation can be held by Zoom video. Call 310-750-4149 any time, including nights, weekends, and holidays.
Start with trial experience, because insurers settle fairly only with lawyers they expect to see in a courtroom. David Gammill has tried over 100 cases to verdict, first as a prosecutor during seven years as a Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney and then as a trial lawyer for injured people. Every case is different, and past results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Then ask two practical questions: has this lawyer taken a case like mine to a jury, and who will handle my file day to day?
Two years from the injury for most claims, under CCP § 335.1. If a public entity may be responsible, a written claim is due to that entity within six months under Gov. Code § 911.2: Caltrans for the 605, the City of Whittier for a City street, sidewalk, signal, vehicle or police officer, and for Whittier Boulevard the entity that owned the road on the day of the crash. Courts rarely excuse a missed deadline.
The driver who hit you is responsible for the crash; the road is a separate question that only matters if something about the road, a signal, a sight line or a crosswalk contributed. Whittier Boulevard was a state highway for decades, and in 2025 the state approved handing the stretch through the city to the City of Whittier. For a recent crash that usually makes the City the entity, with a six-month claim deadline; for an older one it may be Caltrans. Whittier police write the report either way on the boulevard. If the driver fled, your own auto policy’s uninsured motorist coverage may pay, and a prompt police report is usually a condition of that claim.
In the Los Angeles Superior Court at the Norwalk Courthouse, the courthouse its filing locator assigns to Whittier injury cases. The Whittier Courthouse handles family law and restraining orders, not injury lawsuits. The court assigns the courthouse by where the injury happened, and we confirm it at the first meeting.
Nothing upfront and nothing out of pocket. Our fee is a percentage of the recovery, collected only if we win, and the consultation is free. The written contingency fee agreement linked above sets out the arrangement in detail.
Our office is in Torrance, and we represent injured people in Whittier, from Uptown and the Whittier College neighborhoods to Friendly Hills, East Whittier and the Whittier Boulevard corridor, across the cities around it, from La Habra, La Mirada and Santa Fe Springs to Pico Rivera, Montebello, Norwalk, Lakewood and Downey, and the unincorporated Hacienda Heights and South Whittier areas, throughout the City of Los Angeles, and throughout the South Bay, including Torrance, Gardena, Inglewood, Carson, Hawthorne, Lawndale, El Segundo, Hermosa Beach, Manhattan Beach, Redondo Beach, Lomita, and the Palos Verdes Peninsula. See every South Bay city we serve, or the other California communities we serve.
Your free case review includes a real evaluation with an experienced attorney, a clear explanation of your options, and an honest assessment of what your claim is worth. No obligation, and everything you share is confidential.
Get your free case evaluation or call 310-750-4149 now. There are no upfront legal fees; a fee is collected only if we win.
This page is attorney advertising and general information, not legal advice for any specific situation. Deadlines and outcomes are fact-specific; consult a licensed California attorney about your own circumstances. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
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Left with few options
Stuck with bills you can’t pay
Anxious to put your injury behind you
Serving the South Bay and all of California.
My name is David Gammill. I am a California trial lawyer and the founder of Gammill Law Accident & Injury Lawyers. Our firm has recovered more than $100 million for California clients. Our results include a $21.1 million wrongful death verdict, a $16 million school sexual abuse verdict, and a $12 million whistleblower retaliation verdict. I learned to try cases in front of juries early in my career as a Deputy District Attorney, and trying cases remains the backbone of my practice.
