Attorney Michael Rehm - (916) 233-7346
Sacramento personal injury attorney Michael Rehm represents accident and injury victims throughout Sacramento County on a contingency fee basis — no fee without a recovery. His practice covers vehicle accidents, pedestrian and bicycle crashes, wrongful death, premises liability, aviation accidents, clergy and institutional abuse, mass tort litigation, and other areas of personal injury litigation. Consultations are free, and office visits, home visits, and hospital visits are available.
Practice Areas
- Sacramento Car Accident Attorney — vehicle collision liability, insurance disputes, and injury claims; Sacramento ranked second of California's 15 largest cities for total crash victims in 2023 with 4,214 recorded. Speed and alcohol are the dominant causes — Sacramento ranked first of 15 cities in both categories — and the city's High Injury Network identifies Florin Road, Stockton Boulevard, El Camino Avenue, and Marysville Boulevard as the highest-crash corridors.
- Sacramento Truck Accident Attorney — commercial carrier liability, federal FMCSA regulations, and crashes along the I-5, Highway 99, and US-50 freight corridors. Sacramento sits at the intersection of two of California's most active commercial trucking routes, and the Port of West Sacramento adds heavy vehicle traffic on local surface streets.
- Sacramento Motorcycle Accident Attorney — lane-splitting rights, crash causation, and injury claims; Sacramento County is the sixth most fatal county for motorcyclists in California. Lane splitting is legal under Vehicle Code § 21658.1, but collisions frequently involve drivers who fail to check mirrors or change lanes without signaling.
- Sacramento Pedestrian Accident Attorney — 297 pedestrian crash victims in Sacramento in 2023, fourth-highest of California's 15 largest cities; High Injury Network corridors include Florin Road, Stockton Boulevard, and Marysville Boulevard. The Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom metro ranked 20th most dangerous in the country for pedestrians in the Dangerous by Design 2024 report, and the Sacramento City Council declared a pedestrian safety state of emergency in November 2024.
- Sacramento Bicycle Accident Attorney — 237 bicycle crash victims in Sacramento in 2023, third-highest among California's 15 largest cities; Sacramento is one of the state's major cycling cities. The American River Parkway, the city's expanding bike lane network, and high bicycle commuter rates all contribute to crash exposure on both dedicated paths and shared roadways.
- Sacramento Wrongful Death Attorney — CCP § 377.60 claims for surviving family members following fatal accidents; 76 traffic fatalities recorded in Sacramento in 2023. A separate survival action under CCP § 377.30 allows the estate to pursue the damages the decedent could have recovered, and SB 447 expanded that recovery to include pre-death pain and suffering for deaths occurring between January 1, 2022 and January 1, 2026.
- Sacramento Slip and Fall Attorney — premises liability for falls on commercial, residential, and government-owned property throughout Sacramento County. Liability turns on whether the property owner knew or should have known about the dangerous condition and failed to repair it or provide adequate warning.
- Sacramento Premises Liability Attorney — property owner duties and liability for dangerous conditions under Civil Code § 1714. Claims against government-owned property require a tort claim presentation within six months under Government Code § 911.2 — a shorter and less forgiving deadline than the two-year statute that applies to private defendants.
- Sacramento Burn Injury Attorney — serious thermal and chemical injury claims; UC Davis Burn Center in Sacramento is a nationally recognized burn treatment facility. These cases frequently involve extended hospitalization, multiple surgeries, and long-term rehabilitation, and damages calculations require expert testimony on future medical costs and loss of earning capacity.
- Sacramento Brain Injury Attorney — traumatic brain injury and concussion claims; UC Davis Medical Center operates a Level 1 trauma center serving Sacramento County. TBI cases range from concussions with persistent symptoms to severe injuries requiring lifelong care, and damages in these cases typically turn on neuropsychological testing and vocational rehabilitation expert testimony.
- Sacramento Product Liability Attorney — manufacturer and seller liability for defective products under California strict liability law. California strict liability allows injury victims to hold manufacturers responsible without proving negligence when a product is defective in design, manufacture, or warning.
- Sacramento Spinal Cord Injury Attorney — catastrophic injury claims involving paralysis, permanent disability, and long-term care costs. These cases typically involve the highest damages of any personal injury claim, including lifetime medical care, home modification, adaptive equipment, and total loss of future earning capacity.
- Sacramento Uninsured Motorist Attorney — UM/UIM coverage disputes and Insurance Code § 11580.2 claims; these cases are among the most lucrative cases in personal injury litigation. UM/UIM arbitration is governed by the California Arbitration Act, and discovery disputes are resolved by the Superior Court rather than the arbitrator under Insurance Code § 11580.2(f)(2).
- Sacramento Aviation Accident Attorney — general aviation, commercial airline, and air medical transport crash claims at SMF, Executive Airport, Mather, and McClellan. Aviation accidents are subject to federal preemption and FAA regulatory standards, and the liability analysis differs significantly from ground-based personal injury litigation.
- Sacramento Clergy and Institutional Abuse Attorney — Diocese of Sacramento cases and AB 218 lookback window claims for survivors of institutional sexual abuse. AB 218 opened a three-year lookback window for survivors whose claims were previously time-barred; the Diocese of Sacramento has been a named defendant in multiple institutional abuse proceedings.
- Sacramento Wildfire Litigation Attorney — utility-caused wildfire injury and property damage claims, including Caldor Fire litigation, for Sacramento area residents. PG&E's liability for Northern California wildfires has been established through criminal proceedings and civil settlements, and inverse condemnation provides an additional theory of recovery against public utilities.
- Sacramento Mass Tort Attorney — AFFF firefighting foam, Roundup, rideshare assault, pharmaceutical, and other mass tort litigation with local Sacramento County data angles. Sacramento has specific connections to several major mass tort litigations, including AFFF/PFAS contamination at McClellan and Mather Air Force Bases and Roundup exposure throughout the Central Valley agricultural region.
How Personal Injury Claims Work in California
California personal injury claims are governed by a negligence standard. Under California Civil Jury Instruction 400, a plaintiff must establish four elements: the defendant owed a duty of care, the defendant breached that duty, the breach caused the plaintiff's injury, and the plaintiff suffered compensable damages as a result. Most personal injury cases — vehicle accidents, slip and falls, premises liability — turn on whether the defendant acted as a reasonably careful person would have under the same circumstances.
California follows pure comparative fault. Under Civil Code § 1431.2, a plaintiff's recovery is reduced in proportion to their share of fault for the accident. A plaintiff who is 30% at fault recovers 70% of their total damages. There is no minimum fault threshold — even a plaintiff who bears significant responsibility for an accident can recover a proportionate share of damages. In practice, comparative fault is the primary tool insurance companies use to reduce the value of claims, and it needs to be identified and addressed from the beginning of any case.
The statute of limitations for personal injury and wrongful death in California is two years from the date of injury. California Code of Civil Procedure § 335.1. Missing that deadline eliminates the right to recover, with very limited exceptions. Cases involving government entities operate on a shorter and less forgiving timeline — a government tort claim must be presented to the relevant entity within six months of the incident under Government Code § 911.2. The six-month government claim deadline runs independently of the two-year statute of limitations. Missing it is almost always fatal to the claim, regardless of how strong the underlying case is.
What You Can Recover
California law divides personal injury damages into two categories.
Economic damages are quantifiable financial losses: medical expenses already incurred, the projected cost of future medical care, lost wages, diminished earning capacity, and property damage. These losses have a number attached, though calculating future medical costs and long-term earnings losses typically requires expert testimony and is a point of significant dispute with insurance carriers.
Noneconomic damages compensate for losses that cannot be precisely quantified: physical pain, mental suffering, emotional distress, loss of enjoyment of life, and disfigurement. California imposes no statutory cap on noneconomic damages in most personal injury cases. The exception is medical malpractice, which is subject to the limits under MICRA.
In wrongful death cases, the surviving spouse, children, or — if there are no surviving spouse or children — the decedent's parents or other statutory heirs may bring a claim under Code of Civil Procedure § 377.60. Recoverable losses include the financial support the decedent would have provided, the loss of companionship and household services, and funeral and burial costs. A separate survival action under CCP § 377.30 allows the estate to recover the damages the decedent could have pursued had they survived.
For deaths occurring between January 1, 2022 and January 1, 2026, SB 447 amended CCP § 377.34 to allow survival actions to include pre-death pain, suffering, and disfigurement — losses that were historically excluded from California survival claims. This expansion applies to deaths within that date window; deaths occurring after January 1, 2026 are not covered by the SB 447 amendment.
Sacramento Crash Data
Sacramento's crash numbers are not typical of a large California city. The California Office of Traffic Safety evaluated the state's 15 largest cities using 2023 data and ranked Sacramento first — worst overall — in the composite ranking across all crash categories combined. The specific OTS rankings for Sacramento city:
- Speed-related crash victims: 745 — #1 of 15 cities
- Alcohol-involved crash victims: 454 — #1 of 15 cities
- Total fatal and injury victims: 4,214 — #2 of 15 cities
- Hit-and-run crashes: 581 — #3 of 15 cities
- Bicycle accident victims: 237 — #3 of 15 cities
- Pedestrian accident victims: 297 — #4 of 15 cities
The City of Sacramento adopted Vision Zero in 2017 with a commitment to eliminate traffic fatalities. Since that commitment, more than 265 pedestrians and cyclists have been killed on Sacramento streets through September 2024, according to UC Berkeley TIMS data. The city's own crash data shows fatal and serious injury collisions — KSI crashes — increased more than 50% between 2017 and 2021. Sacramento averages more than five KSI crashes per week and has one of the highest per-capita traffic fatality rates among major California cities, exceeding those of Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Oakland.
The Sacramento High Injury Network identifies 70% of the city's fatal crashes as occurring on a small fraction of the street network. The five highest-priority corridors designated by the city are Marysville Boulevard, El Camino Avenue, Broadway/Stockton Boulevard, South Stockton Boulevard, and Florin Road. The three most dangerous intersections by KSI history are Stockton Boulevard at Broadway, Stockton Boulevard at Lemon Hill Avenue, and Stockton Boulevard at 47th Avenue.
In 2023, Sacramento recorded 55 to 57 traffic fatalities — an all-time high — with 5,070 injuries across 3,564 crashes. Forty percent of those fatal crashes involved pedestrians. Current crash data is maintained at the Vision Zero Sacramento dashboard.
Filing a Personal Injury Lawsuit in Sacramento County
Personal injury lawsuits in Sacramento are filed in Sacramento County Superior Court. Most proceedings are held at the Gordon D. Schaber Courthouse, 720 Ninth Street, Sacramento, CA 95814.
In fiscal year 2023–24, 2,232 motor vehicle personal injury cases were filed in Sacramento County Superior Court, according to the California Judicial Council Court Statistics Report. The large majority of filed cases settle before trial — the Judicial Council's data consistently shows that fewer than 5% of filed motor vehicle cases reach a jury. That statistic does not mean the path from filing to settlement is easy or fast. Cases that settle often do so after depositions, expert designations, motions, and mandatory settlement conferences. The litigation process is what creates the pressure that produces settlements.
Cases that do not resolve in pretrial litigation proceed under Sacramento County Superior Court Local Rule 2.49 to judicial arbitration if the claimed damages fall within the arbitration threshold, or to jury trial at the Gordon D. Schaber Courthouse if they exceed it. Every case is different. The outcome depends on the evidence, the specific facts, and how the case is prepared and presented — not on what the aggregate statistics show for Sacramento County Superior Court as a whole.
Sacramento and Attorney Michael Rehm
Attorney Michael Rehm was born and raised in Sacramento, California. His parents were born and raised in Sacramento. His grandparents were born and raised in Sacramento. He continues to live in Sacramento, although his practice is Statewide. Both sides of his family have been in the Sacramento Area for over 100 years. Both his grandfathers, his father and himself are graduates of Christian Brothers High School, along with numerous Uncles, Great Uncles, and Cousins. His great, great uncle sold copies of the Sacramento Bee on the corner of 10th and K when he was only 7 years old. His Grandpa Bob Rehm was an All-City Baseball player for Christian Brothers High School and played in the Pacific Coast League for the Oakland Oaks. Michael Rehm played football and basketball at Christian Brothers High School, and played pick-up basketball at California Middle School, almost daily, from 6th grade to Adulthood. Attorney Rehm is from the Land Park neighborhood of Sacramento and is a graduate of Holy Spirit Elementary School. He graduated law school from the University of the Pacific-McGeorge School of Law.
If you are looking for local representation in Sacramento, it would be difficult to find an attorney with more local history and connections than Michael Rehm.
