Woodland Hills is one of the busiest corners of the West Valley. Warner Center draws office traffic all day, Ventura Boulevard fills up every evening, and Topanga Canyon Boulevard carries drivers between the 101 and the coast. When someone is hurt here, the injury is rarely the hard part to explain. The hard part is proving what happened and making sure the medical record reflects it.
Manoukian Law Firm is a personal injury practice based about fifteen minutes north, at 9520 Topanga Canyon Blvd in Chatsworth. Attorney Vaheh Manoukian handles each case personally, from the first phone call through settlement or trial. If you cannot come to the office, he will meet you by phone or video, at your home, or at the hospital.
What to do after an injury in Woodland Hills
- Call 911 and ask for medical attention, even if you feel able to walk away. Head injuries in particular can present hours or days later.
- Get the responding agency and the report number before you leave the scene.
- Photograph the vehicles, the roadway, the lighting, and any hazard on the ground, plus the surrounding storefronts that may have cameras.
- Collect names and phone numbers for witnesses. Video from a nearby business is often overwritten within days.
- See a doctor within a few days and describe every symptom, not only the worst one.
- Report the crash to the DMV on form SR-1 within ten days if anyone was injured or property damage exceeded $1,000, as Vehicle Code 16000 requires.
- Speak with an attorney before giving a recorded statement to any insurer.
Injury cases we handle in Woodland Hills
Most of the calls that come in from this part of the Valley involve vehicles. Collisions on the 101 near De Soto and Winnetka, left-turn crashes on Ventura Boulevard, and rear-end impacts in the parking structures around Topanga are common. We handle car accident claims of every size, along with truck accident cases involving commercial carriers running the 101 corridor, where federal safety regulations and driver logs often decide the case.
Riders face a different set of problems. Lane splitting is lawful in California under Vehicle Code 21658.1, yet insurers still try to blame the rider first. We handle motorcycle accident claims with that assumption in mind, and we handle bicycle accident cases where the three-foot passing rule in Vehicle Code 21760 is often the central fact.
People on foot get hurt where the blocks are long and the crossings are wide. Drivers must yield in marked and unmarked crosswalks under Vehicle Code 21950, which matters in pedestrian accident cases near the mall entrances and along Oxnard Street. Trips on broken pavement and raised slabs fall under sidewalk accident law, and claims against a city or county carry a six-month written claim deadline under Government Code 911.2.
We also represent people injured indoors and on private property: slip and fall claims in stores and garages, apartment complex injuries involving stairs, lighting and security, and dog bite claims, where Civil Code 3342 makes the owner strictly liable when the bitten person was lawfully present. Rides booked through an app raise their own coverage questions, and rideshare accident claims turn on which period the driver was in under Public Utilities Code 5433.
Where Woodland Hills cases are handled
Police reports for surface streets in Woodland Hills generally come from the LAPD Topanga Division. Collisions on the 101 itself are usually worked by the California Highway Patrol, which means the report comes from a different agency than the one that responded to your neighbor’s crash two blocks away. We request both when it is unclear who took the report.
Emergency care in this area usually means West Hills Hospital and Medical Center or Providence Cedars-Sinai Tarzana Medical Center, and many people follow up with urgent care on Ventura Boulevard before seeing a specialist. Keep every discharge sheet. The gap between the emergency room visit and the first follow-up is one of the first things an insurer looks at.
If a lawsuit becomes necessary, Woodland Hills injury cases are generally filed in the Los Angeles Superior Court and heard in the court’s Northwest district at the Van Nuys Courthouse, though some matters are assigned to the North Valley district in Chatsworth. Assignments change, so we confirm the correct filing location for each case rather than assuming.
Why work with Manoukian Law Firm
Vaheh Manoukian earned his J.D. at the USC Gould School of Law, where he worked in the Mediation Clinic and was published in the USC Business Law Digest, and his B.A. at UCLA. He was admitted to the State Bar of California in 2021, Bar number 333026, and belongs to the Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles, Consumer Attorneys of California, and the San Fernando Valley Bar Association. He was named a Super Lawyers Rising Star in 2026 and the firm holds a 5.0 rating on Google.
What that means day to day is simple. The attorney you hire is the attorney who reviews your records, prepares your case, and calls you back. Every file is built as though it will be tried, because cases that are ready for trial are taken seriously. Consultations are free, the fee is contingent, and there is no fee unless the firm recovers for you. The office answers calls 24 hours a day, in English, Spanish and Armenian. You can read more about Vaheh Manoukian or reach the office through the contact page.
Frequently asked questions
How long do I have to file a claim in California?
Two years from the date of injury for most personal injury claims, under Code of Civil Procedure 335.1. If a government entity is responsible, such as a city or a transit agency, a written claim is generally due within six months under Government Code 911.2, and a shorter lawsuit deadline follows a rejection.
The other driver says I was partly at fault. Is my claim over?
No. California follows pure comparative negligence, established in Li v. Yellow Cab in 1975. Your recovery is reduced by your share of fault rather than barred. Disputes about percentages are common and they are worth documenting early.
Do I have to come to the Chatsworth office?
No. The office is a short drive from Woodland Hills, but many clients handle everything by phone or video. If your injuries make travel difficult, the attorney will come to you at home or in the hospital.
What can be recovered in a Woodland Hills injury case?
Medical expenses, in the amounts actually paid or owed under Howell v. Hamilton Meats, along with lost income, the cost of future care, and non-economic losses such as pain and the disruption to your daily life. What a case is worth depends on the evidence, and no honest attorney will quote you a figure before seeing the records.
If you were hurt in Woodland Hills, call (818) 818-5031 for a free consultation. The firm answers 24/7, you will speak with the attorney who would handle your case, and there is no fee unless we recover for you.
