California · Birth Injury: What Families Can Check
Birth Injury: What Families Can Check in California
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02 · Where cases are heard
Where would my case be heard?
California birth injury cases are filed in Superior Court in the county where the negligent care occurred. Most families file in the county of the hospital—Los Angeles, San Diego, or Orange County courts handle the highest volume of obstetric malpractice claims in the state. California requires plaintiffs to serve a 90-day pre-lawsuit notice on all healthcare defendants before filing (Cal. Code Civ. Pro. § 364), which effectively extends the time available to prepare expert reports and obtain medical records.
California's statute of limitations for medical malpractice is three years from the date of injury or one year from discovery, whichever is earlier (MICRA, Cal. Code Civ. Pro. § 340.5). Crucially, minors injured at birth receive a tolling benefit: the limitations period does not begin to run until the child's eighth birthday, giving families until age 8 to file. For injuries involving foreign bodies or fraudulent concealment, additional discovery-rule exceptions may apply.
California obstetric malpractice litigation commonly centers on failure to respond to Category II or III fetal heart rate tracings, delayed emergency C-section decisions, and shoulder dystocia mismanagement. Large hospital systems—Kaiser Permanente, Dignity Health, Sutter Health—are frequent defendants.
How this works nationally
For the overall process and updates, read the Birth Injury: What Families Can Check overview. This page covers the local information available for California.
What happens when I check?
You answer a few short questions about what happened. If you send them, your answers are kept on file. If a participating law firm takes these cases, it may contact you. People's Justice is not a law firm.
Live in California? Read what applies in your state.
Register your interest. If a participating law firm takes these cases, it may contact you.
Register your interest