Where We Practice

Injury Representation Across California, From Two Offices

Wave Law Firm has two offices in California, one in Los Angeles and one in Santa Cruz. We handle injury cases throughout the state, from the Oregon border to San Diego, including the Central Coast and the Central Valley. When a client cannot come to us, we travel to the client.

Two Offices

Our Offices

These are the two places where the firm keeps an office. Both are staffed by the same lawyers who handle cases anywhere in California.

The Mechanics

How Statewide Representation Actually Works

A California injury case is not filed where the lawyer keeps a desk. It is filed in the superior court of the county where the crash or the injury happened, or where the defendant lives or does business. The facts of the case fix that county, and no office location changes it. Counsel appears in that court, whichever county it turns out to be.

Most of what happens between filing and resolution is written work and scheduling: written discovery, subpoenas for records, motions decided on the papers, and mediation. Remote appearances are common in California courts, and many other pretrial appearances are handled by counsel without the client present at all. Neither of those is a universal rule. Whether a particular proceeding is remote or in person depends on the court and on the type of proceeding. Depositions, mediations, and trial are the points where a client is normally expected to take part, and those are scheduled with the client in mind.

The records that build a case move the same way no matter where they come from. Police and CHP collision reports, emergency department and clinic charts, imaging, billing ledgers, wage and employment records, and lien statements are requested, tracked, and produced through the mail and through electronic systems. A treating provider in Fresno sends records the same way a provider six blocks from our office does. Adjusters, defense counsel, and retained experts are dealt with by phone, email, and video, which is how those relationships run even when everyone is in the same county.

What does not translate to a phone call is sitting across from a client. So we drive or fly instead. We meet people at home, at the hospital or rehabilitation facility, at a family member’s house, or somewhere near where they work. Retainer signings, case reviews, and preparation sessions happen the same way. Meeting in person costs a trip. It does not require a lease.

The Whole State

Regions We Serve

Southern California

Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego, Riverside, San Bernardino, Ventura, and Imperial counties, from the harbor and port traffic in Long Beach out through the Inland Empire. The corridors that generate the most serious cases here are Interstate 5, Interstate 10, Interstate 15 toward the desert, and Pacific Coast Highway along the beach cities.

The Central Coast

Santa Cruz, Monterey, San Benito, San Luis Obispo, and Santa Barbara counties, including the Pajaro Valley, the Salinas Valley, and the coastal towns along Highway 1. Cases here often come off US-101 or the mountain stretch of Highway 17, and our Watsonville page covers the agricultural corridor in detail.

The Central Valley

Sacramento, San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Merced, Madera, Fresno, Kings, Tulare, and Kern counties. The valley carries a mix of farm equipment, long haul freight, and commuter traffic on the same two main north to south routes, and Highway 99 in particular produces severe collisions between Bakersfield and Sacramento. We take valley cases and we come out for them.

The Bay Area

San Francisco, Alameda, Contra Costa, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Marin, Solano, Sonoma, and Napa counties. The East Bay freight corridor on the 880 freeway, the peninsula stretch of US-101, and the Santa Cruz Mountains crossing on Highway 17 account for a large share of the injury cases that come out of this region.

Northern California

Yolo, Placer, Butte, Shasta, Tehama, Humboldt, Mendocino, and the far northern counties. Distances are long here and medical care is often a county or two away from where the collision happened, which makes gathering the records and the billing a larger part of the work. Interstate 5 runs the length of it, and the rural two lane highways off it carry their own risks.

The Direct Answer

Do You Have an Office in My City?

Probably not. There are two offices, one in Los Angeles and one in Santa Cruz, and that is the entire list. If you are in Fresno, Bakersfield, San Diego, Redding, or almost anywhere else in California, the honest answer is that there is no Wave Law Firm address down the street from you.

The question worth asking is whether that changes anything about your case, and it does not. Your case is filed in your county either way. The records come from your providers either way. The adjuster takes the call either way. And when there is a document to sign or a conversation that should happen face to face, we come to you.

We would rather give you the accurate answer up front than a longer list of addresses. Two offices, one statewide practice, and a willingness to travel is what the firm actually is.

Questions

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need to live near Los Angeles or Santa Cruz to hire the firm?

No. Those are the two cities where the firm keeps an office, not the boundaries of the practice. We represent injured people throughout California, including the Central Valley and the Central Coast, and we travel to clients wherever they are in the state.

Which court will my case be filed in?

Generally the superior court of the county where the injury happened, or where the defendant resides or does business. That is determined by the facts, not by where the firm sits, and counsel appears in whichever county the case belongs to.

Will I have to drive to one of your offices?

You are welcome at either office, but it is not expected. Most communication happens by phone, email, and video. When an in person meeting is the right way to handle something, we come to you, at home, at a medical facility, or somewhere convenient to your schedule.

Does my case get less attention because I live far away?

Distance does not change how a case is worked. The same lawyers handle the file, the same records get collected, and the same court gets the filing. If anything, a case in a rural or outlying county needs closer attention to gathering medical records, because treatment is often spread across several providers and counties.