Irvine · Slip and Fall Guide
In most cities the first question after a fall is who was negligent. In Irvine it is who owns the ground. A large share of what looks public here, from shopping centre walkways to parking structures to landscaped paths between villages, belongs to a private owner or a master association rather than to the city, and the answer decides whether you have two years to act or six months. We compared three slip and fall lawyers in Irvine on State Bar of California licence records, the premises work each firm actually does, published fee terms and verified Google reviews, then set out who each one suits and where each one falls short.
DJA Editorial · Legal Directory Research
Checked against state bar licensee records, court sources and public review platforms ·
The short answer
Three firms, each leading for a different kind of fall. This is a shortlist rather than a ranking, and none of the three has a slip and fall case in its visible review record.
1
Alipour Law Group, APC
Best for a moderate value fall where you want the firm’s owner on your file
2
Callahan & Blaine
Best for a catastrophic fall against a well insured property owner
3
Hodes Milman
Best for a fall inside a hospital, clinic or care facility
At a glance: Slip And Fall Lawyers in Irvine, compared
| Firm |
Best for |
Focus |
Bar record |
Fees |
Rating |
| Alipour Law Group, APC |
Best for a moderate value fall where you want the firm’s owner on your file |
Plaintiff injury across a broad range of case types |
Milad Alipour, California licence 338643, 2021 |
Contingency, free consultation, rate not published |
5.0 · 118 Google |
| Callahan & Blaine |
Best for a catastrophic fall against a well insured property owner |
Catastrophic injury inside a full service litigation firm |
Edward Susolik, California bar 151081 |
Not published on the injury pages |
5.0 · 28 Google |
| Hodes Milman |
Best for a fall inside a hospital, clinic or care facility |
Medical malpractice, elder abuse and catastrophic injury |
Daniel Hodes, California 101773; Jeffrey Milman, 99072 |
Contingency, firm states it advances all costs |
4.8 · 24 Google |
Slip And Fall in Irvine: the local picture
33% to 40%
What representation costs, and what you can negotiate
California does not cap contingency fees in ordinary injury cases. The common structure is about a third if the case settles before a lawsuit and around 40% once one is filed, with case costs deducted separately. None of the three firms here publishes a percentage. Business and Professions Code 6147 requires the written agreement to state the rate and to tell you the rate is negotiable.
6 months
The deadline that kills Irvine sidewalk claims
A fall on private property gives you two years to sue. A fall on something the City of Irvine owns gives you six months to present a written claim on the city’s Claim for Damages form, filed with the City Clerk. The city then has 45 days to respond, and a written rejection starts a fresh six month clock to file suit. Miss the first six months and the case is usually over.
$12,500
When you may not need a lawyer at all
California small claims handles disputes up to $12,500 for an individual, with filing fees of roughly $30 to $100 and no attorneys allowed at the hearing. On a clear liability fall with modest bills, a third of the recovery can cost more than representation adds. If you do file in Superior Court, the fee waiver is Judicial Council form FW-001.
What clients in Irvine say: Read all three Google listings and one absence stands out: not a single visible review describes a fall. The Alipour record is car accident work with one lemon law matter, the Callahan & Blaine reviews are business advice and defence matters written by people who paid hourly, and the Hodes Milman reviews are medical negligence and one serious auto case. What the reviews do agree on is what clients actually value, and it is not courtroom skill. It is being told what is happening: calls returned the same day, treatment arranged early, the named attorney rather than an assistant on the phone. Ask each firm for a premises reference before you sign with any of them.
How we chose these Slip And Fall Lawyers in Irvine
We looked at firms handling slip and fall and premises claims for Irvine residents, then compared them on things you can check yourself: the State Bar of California licensee record for each named attorney, the premises content each firm actually publishes rather than the practice areas it lists, whether it publishes fee terms, the office it staffs in or near Irvine, and the visible client reviews on Google.
The three are a shortlist, not a ranking, and each leads for a different situation. Firm details come from each firm’s own site, cross checked against Google Business Profile listings, State Bar of California licensee records, public attorney directories and press reporting on office moves, plus the statutes and the City of Irvine claim process behind the cost, deadline and small claims figures. Licence numbers and admission dates we could not confirm against the official bar record during this update are flagged on the page rather than filled in, and no verdict or recovery total appears here unless the firm publishes it itself, in which case it is labelled as the firm’s own number.
1. Alipour Law Group, APC
Best for a moderate value fall where you want the firm’s owner on your file
★★★★★ 5.0 / 5 · Google · 118 reviews
The smallest practice here and the only one whose founder is also an engineer. Matt Milad Alipour built medical devices in Orange County before law school, passed the February 2021 California bar on his first attempt, and now runs a plaintiff injury practice from MacArthur Boulevard. His slip and fall page is unusually procedural for a firm this size, working through the six month government claim route, the four elements of a premises claim and the pure comparative fault rule. If you want an Irvine slip and fall lawyer who takes the call himself rather than routing you to an intake desk, that is the shape of this one.
Identity and footprint
Office19800 MacArthur Blvd, Suite 300, Irvine, CA 92612
Building noteThe office sits in the Newport Gateway campus, the same two-tower complex at 19800 and 19900 MacArthur that Callahan & Blaine moved into in January 2026. Two of the three firms on this page are now neighbours.
Phone(949) 997-9999 in the site header and on the State Bar record. The footer prints (949) 997-9000, and the call link on the slip and fall page dials the 9000 number while displaying 9999.
Fax(949) 997-0090
HoursThe Google listing shows open 24 hours, seven days a week
AttorneysMatt Milad Alipour as founder. Kiana Behzadi-Nejad appears in the site menu, though the entry has no page behind it.
LanguagesRuns a separate Iranian and Persian lawyer page, so Farsi is available
Also servesAliso Viejo, Costa Mesa, Laguna Niguel, Mission Viejo, San Clemente and Tustin
Practice and scope
Core workPlaintiff personal injury, alongside lemon law and workers compensation
Premises workSeparate slip and fall and premises liability pages, plus a hotel, resort and vacation injuries page, which is the closest thing on this list to a resort fall page
Injury rangeBicycle, car, motorcycle, pedestrian, truck, rideshare, Turo, e-bike and e-scooter, dog bite, brain injury, medical device, medical malpractice and wrongful death
Where the depth sitsThe bicycle and motorcycle sections each run to fifteen or more sub-pages. The slip and fall section has none.
What the page coversThe six month administrative claim against a public body and the 45 day response window, the four elements of a premises claim, the defences an owner will raise, and California’s pure comparative fault rule
Content checkThe page states that over 800,000 people in California are hospitalized for slip and fall each year. The widely cited figure of roughly 800,000 fall hospitalizations a year is a national number rather than a California one.
Credentials and licensing
State Bar of CaliforniaMilad Alipour, licence number 338643, status Active, registered at the Irvine office with the same phone and fax as the site
AdmissionAdmitted in 2021, after passing the February 2021 California bar examination on the first attempt
Law schoolJ.D., Western State College of Law, 2020, as a Dean Fellow, with Witkin Awards for top student in medical malpractice and in professional responsibility
UndergraduateB.S. in biomedical engineering, University of California, Irvine, 2012
Before lawSenior manufacturing engineer at Orange County medical device companies, working on balloon catheters, stents and aortic aneurysm delivery systems
Directory listingsHolds a Distinguished Justice Advocates listing and a Legal Ambassadors listing, both badged on the slip and fall page
RecognitionCarries a Super Lawyers profile for the Irvine area. Inclusion in a list is not a rating of skill.
Years in practiceCalled to the California bar in 2021, which is the shortest record on this page by a wide margin. Weigh that against dealing with the owner rather than a coordinator.
Fees and consultation
StructureContingency. The site advertises a free consultation and a free case evaluation but prints no percentage.
Your legal rightBusiness and Professions Code 6147 requires the contingency agreement to be in writing, to state the rate, and to tell you in plain terms that the rate is not set by law and is negotiable
What clients say
✓ The owner is named in nearly every review
✓ Arranged treatment during the case
✓ Fast, consistent communication
✓ 118 reviews, the largest base here
· Visible reviews are car accident and lemon law
This is the deepest review record on the page and the most personal one. Reviewers name Matt Alipour directly, describe a rental car and vehicle replacement arranged in the first days, and in one case an acupuncturist lined up when shoulder treatment stalled. What is not visible is a fall. The readable set is car accident work plus one lemon law matter, so ask for premises references specifically. No critical review appeared in the readable set.
Why they fit Irvine: The best fit when the fall is real but not catastrophic and what you want is the owner of the firm working the file rather than an intake team, which the reviews are consistent about. Being physically on MacArthur Boulevard also means an Irvine site inspection is a short drive rather than a scheduling exercise. Go in knowing the trade offs. Admitted in 2021, this is by some distance the shortest bar record on the page, the slip and fall section carries no sub-pages while the bicycle section carries fifteen, and not one visible Google review concerns a fall. Ask how many premises cases the firm has taken as far as a filed complaint, and which safety or human factors experts it uses.
2. Callahan & Blaine
Best for a catastrophic fall against a well insured property owner
★★★★★ 5.0 / 5 · Google · 28 reviews
The heavyweight, and newly local. Callahan & Blaine moved its headquarters from Santa Ana to the top two floors of Newport Gateway on MacArthur Boulevard on 1 January 2026, putting around 30 senior litigators inside Irvine. The firm holds the largest jury verdict in Orange County history at $934 million, won in a business case rather than an injury one, and describes itself as the county’s largest catastrophic injury practice. If your fall caused a brain or spinal injury and you want a slip and fall attorney in Irvine that an insurer will price for trial, this is the weight on the page.
Identity and footprint
Office19900 MacArthur Blvd, Suite 1200, Irvine, CA 92612, on the top two floors of Newport Gateway
The moveRelocated on 1 January 2026 from 3 Hutton Centre Drive, Santa Ana, after more than 25 years as the anchor tenant there, into a 45,000 square foot space built with the Irvine Company
Stale recordsIndividual attorney records at the State Bar still carry the Santa Ana address, so a licence lookup today returns Hutton Centre rather than Irvine. That is a records lag, not a second office.
Phone714-241-4444 on the site with a toll free 888-284-0809. Google lists 714-769-8919 for the Irvine listing.
HoursMonday to Friday, 8:30am to 5:30pm, closed at weekends
SizeThe firm states around 30 senior attorneys, each with at least eight years of trial experience, and reports adding seven attorneys in the 18 months to December 2025 )
Named on the slip and fall pageEdward Susolik, CEO, president and senior trial attorney, who leads the complex commercial and insurance practice
Other named attorneysMichael J. Sachs, Brian J. McCormack, Javier H. van Oordt, David J. Darnell and Peter S. Bauman
Practice and scope
Core workComplex business litigation, insurance litigation, employment litigation, professional liability, transactional and corporate law, and catastrophic personal injury
Irvine injury pagesTwenty eight of them, covering slip and fall, premises liability, negligent security, nursing home abuse, dram shop liability, construction accidents and catastrophic injury
Where the practice actually sitsRecent firm news is business and insurance work, including a $60 million award against Farmers Group and an insurance commissioner claim defeated. Injury is one department among six.
Both sides of the aisleThe firm represents corporations and defendants as well as injured people, which is unusual for a slip and fall page and worth knowing before you call
Published resultsThe firm states a $934 million jury verdict in Beckman Coulter v. Flextronics, the largest in Orange County history, a $50 million personal injury settlement, a $58 million insurance bad faith judgment and a $38 million employment settlement. These are the firm’s own figures.
Page qualityThe Irvine page names Irvine Spectrum Center, parking structures and apartment stairways as local hazard clusters, and sets out both the two year deadline and the six month government claim rule. It was reviewed in September 2026.
Credentials and licensing
Edward SusolikState Bar of California number 151081, J.D. from the University of Southern California Gould School of Law
Other attorneys on the State Bar record at this firmJames R. Rouse, admitted 1989; A. Geoffrey Hutchinson, 2000; Scott D. Nelson, 2001; Neelamba Molnar, 2010; Jonathan Hornberger, 2016; Jessica Sauber, 2019, each shown as Active
Insurance practiceThe firm states Susolik chairs its insurance law department and has handled more than 1,500 mediations
Founded1984, in Orange County
Combined experienceThe firm states more than 700 years of combined trial experience across its attorneys. That is a firm figure and cannot be checked independently.
Fees and consultation
StructureInjury work in California is normally contingency, but no fee terms appear on the slip and fall page or elsewhere in the injury section
Hourly workThe firm also bills hourly for business, insurance and defence matters and runs an online payment portal, so confirm in writing which basis applies to your case
ConsultationThe page invites you to submit a potential case through a form rather than advertising a free consultation.
Your legal rightBusiness and Professions Code 6147 requires a written contingency agreement stating the rate and telling you the rate is negotiable
What clients say
✓ Perfect 5.0 across 28 reviews
✓ Partners named and praised individually
· Visible reviews are business and defence work
· One reviewer notes above average rates
· Smallest review base here
Twenty eight reviews is the thinnest record on this page, and what they are about is the striking part. Reviewers describe business advice, a defence in a bad faith matter and a judgment turned around, naming Ed Susolik, Jenna Griffin, Farnaz Salessi, David Palmer and Sharon Yuen. One says plainly that the firm costs more than average and was worth it, which describes a paying client rather than a contingency one. At least one reads as a colleague. No plaintiff fall case is visible.
Why they fit Irvine: The right call when the fall caused a brain injury, a spinal injury or a death and the defendant is a large property owner or a chain with real coverage, because a firm carrying the county’s biggest verdict and around 30 senior litigators changes how an insurer prices a file. The move onto MacArthur Boulevard also makes this genuinely an Irvine firm now rather than a Santa Ana one. The honest caveats are fit and cost. Injury is one department among six, the attorney featured on the slip and fall page runs the insurance and commercial practice rather than a premises practice, the visible reviews are business and defence matters written by hourly clients, and no fee terms appear anywhere in the injury section. Ask who in the injury department would carry the case and whether the firm takes falls below a certain value at all.
3. Hodes Milman
Best for a fall inside a hospital, clinic or care facility
★★★★½ 4.8 / 5 · Google · 24 reviews
The medical negligence house. Dan Hodes and Jeffrey Milman have held California licences since the early 1980s and the firm’s whole shape is built around proving what went wrong in a clinical setting: birth injury, cancer misdiagnosis, surgical error, hospital negligence, elder and nursing home abuse. It publishes no slip and fall page at all. That matters more than it sounds, because a fall from a hospital bed, during a care home transfer or in a clinic corridor is usually not a premises case. For those, Orange County medical negligence lawyers are the right shop, and this is one of them.
Identity and footprint
Current office33302 Valle Road, Suite 250, San Juan Capistrano, CA 92675
Not in Irvine any moreThe site, the contact page and the Google listing all give San Juan Capistrano, roughly 20 miles south of Irvine. The firm still publishes Irvine personal injury and Irvine hospital negligence pages.
Stale recordsState Bar records for both founding partners still give 9210 Irvine Center Drive, Irvine, as do the Martindale, Yelp and BBB profiles. Check the address before you drive anywhere.
Phone(949) 640-8222, consistent across the site, the State Bar records and Google
HoursMonday to Friday, 8:30am to 5:00pm, closed at weekends
Founding partnersDaniel M. Hodes and Jeffrey A. Milman, with associate Jacob Brender named repeatedly in client reviews
ReachThe firm states it acts for clients across California and Arizona
Age of the firmDirectory records give the firm’s establishment as 1996, the site says more than 30 years, and one directory dates Dan Hodes personally to 1981. The three do not line up.
Practice and scope
Core workMedical malpractice above everything else. The homepage title is built around it.
Sub-practicesMisdiagnosis, cancer and breast cancer misdiagnosis, Kaiser malpractice, surgical error, pharmacy error, plastic surgery error, hospital negligence, anesthesia error, birth injury, cerebral palsy, hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy, VA malpractice and medical sexual abuse
Adjacent injury workAuto accidents, product liability, wrongful death, elder abuse and nursing home abuse
No premises pageThe site publishes nothing on slip and fall or premises liability, and the link on this page goes to the medical malpractice homepage rather than to a fall page
Why it still belongs hereA fall in a hospital, a care home or a clinic is usually pleaded as professional negligence or elder abuse rather than premises liability, and that is precisely the work this firm does
Published resultsThe homepage states more than $400 million recovered. An Orange County directory profile carries more than $250 million. Both are the firm’s own figures and they do not agree.
RecognitionDisplays Best Law Firms regional tier one, Super Lawyers, Million Dollar Advocates and Litigator Awards badges. Inclusion in a list is not a rating of skill.
Credentials and licensing
Daniel Martin HodesState Bar of California number 101773, status Active, registered as Daniel M Hodes APC doing business as Hodes Milman
Jeffrey Alan MilmanState Bar of California number 99072, status Active
SeniorityBoth licence numbers sit in the range issued in the early 1980s, and a public directory describes Hodes as licensed in California since 1981
Super LawyersFour attorneys at the firm have been selected to Super Lawyers or Rising Stars lists
Named in reviewsJacob Brender appears in several client reviews alongside the founders
AccreditationCarries a BBB badge on the site, with a BBB business profile filed under the former Irvine address
Fees and consultation
StructureContingency. The firm’s own FAQ states you pay nothing unless it wins, that it covers all necessary expenses upfront, and that you owe nothing if the case is unsuccessful. That is the only published costs policy among the three firms here.
Why the costs point mattersMedical negligence cases carry heavy outside witness costs, often running into tens of thousands, which is why a firm advertising that it advances them is saying something meaningful
ConsultationFree, and described as confidential
Your legal rightBusiness and Professions Code 6147 requires the written agreement to state the rate and to tell you the rate is negotiable
What clients say
✓ Founders named personally
✓ An associate praised as often as the partners
· Visible cases are medical and auto
· Listing is San Juan Capistrano, not Irvine
· 24 reviews, a small base
Twenty four reviews, and they read exactly like a medical negligence practice. Reviewers describe Dan Hodes walking them through complex issues across long cases, Jeff Milman handling a serious auto matter, and associate Jacob Brender named as often as the partners. One describes settling above expectations after interviewing four Orange County firms. No fall case appears anywhere in the readable set, and the listing itself is the San Juan Capistrano office.
Why they fit Irvine: Worth calling when the fall happened in a medical or care setting: a patient who went down in a hospital corridor, a resident dropped during a transfer, a clinic that discharged someone who could not safely stand. Those are professional negligence and elder abuse cases rather than ordinary premises claims, this firm is built for them, and it publishes the only costs policy of the three. The caveats are location and fit. The office is now in San Juan Capistrano rather than Irvine even though the Irvine pages remain live, there is no slip and fall or premises content on the site at all, the link here lands on a medical malpractice homepage, and the firm’s own recovery total reads as $400 million in one place and $250 million in another. Ask directly whether it takes a straightforward retail or sidewalk fall.
What to check before hiring an Slip And Fall Lawyer in Irvine
✓ Work out who owns the ground before you do anything else
In Irvine this is the whole case. A path that feels public may belong to the Irvine Company, a master association, a shopping centre or an apartment owner rather than to the city, and the owner decides whether your deadline is two years or six months. The city’s GIS maps and the property records will tell you. If there is any chance the city owns it, treat the six month clock as live from day one.
✓ Put the six month date in your calendar today
A claim against the City of Irvine must be presented in writing on the city’s Claim for Damages form within six months of the fall, filed with the City Clerk. The city then has 45 days to respond, and a written rejection starts a fresh six month window to sue. Filing this form does not require a lawyer and you can do it yourself while you are still deciding who to hire.
✓ Look up the licence yourself, it takes two minutes
The State Bar of California runs a free licensee search showing licence number, admission date, current status and any public discipline. Search the individual attorney who will sign your retainer, not the firm name. Only one of the three firms here publishes a licence number on its own site, and two of the three have bar records still showing an old office address.
✓ Get both percentages in writing, and know the rate is negotiable
Business and Professions Code 6147 requires the contingency agreement to be in writing, to state the rate, and to tell you in plain terms that the rate is not set by law and is negotiable. Ask for the pre-suit rate and the post-filing rate, whether it rises again at trial, and whether the fee is calculated before or after case costs come out. That last difference is real money.
✓ Photograph the hazard before it gets repaired
The spill gets mopped, the lip gets ground down, the light gets replaced. Photograph the hazard, a measurement next to it, the lighting, your shoes and your injuries on the day. Report the fall and ask for a written incident report, and ask in writing that security footage be preserved. Most premises cases are won or lost on what existed in the first 48 hours.
✓ Ask whether the firm has tried a premises case, not just settled one
Property insurers defend falls harder than car insurers defend collisions, because comparative fault and the trivial defect argument give them more to work with. Ask each firm how many premises cases it has taken to a filed complaint, how many to trial, and which safety or human factors witness it would retain on yours. Vague answers to that question tell you something.
Slip And Fall Lawyers in Irvine: frequently asked questions
How much does a slip and fall lawyer cost in Irvine?
Nothing upfront. California injury attorneys work on contingency and the state does not cap the percentage in ordinary injury cases. The common structure is around a third of the recovery if the case settles before a lawsuit and around 40% once one is filed, with case costs deducted separately. None of the three firms on this page publishes its percentage, so ask for both figures and the cost policy in writing. Business and Professions Code 6147 requires the agreement to state the rate and to tell you that the rate is negotiable.
How long do I have to file after a fall in Irvine?
Two years from the date of the fall for most private property claims, under Code of Civil Procedure section 335.1. If you fell on property the City of Irvine owns or controls, that is not your deadline. You must first present a written claim to the city within six months under Government Code section 911.2, and the city has 45 days to respond. A written rejection then gives you six months to file suit. Missing the six month claim deadline usually ends the case however strong it is.
I fell on a walkway that looked public. Who do I claim against?
Find out who owns it before you assume. Irvine is a master planned city, and a great deal of what reads as public space, including shopping centre walkways, parking structures, landscaped paths between villages and many private streets, belongs to the Irvine Company, a master association or an individual owner rather than to the city. Getting this wrong costs you either the six month claim deadline or a defendant who does not own the ground. This is the first question to put to any attorney you call.
What if I was partly at fault for the fall?
You can still recover. California uses pure comparative fault, so your damages are reduced by your percentage of responsibility rather than wiped out, and there is no cut off percentage that bars you. This is why property insurers push so hard on what you were wearing, whether you were looking at your phone and whether the hazard was obvious. Expect that argument, and expect it to be about a percentage rather than about whether you have a case at all.
Is my claim too small to need a lawyer?
Possibly. California small claims handles disputes up to $12,500 for an individual, filing costs roughly $30 to $100, and attorneys are not allowed to represent you at the hearing. On a clear liability fall with modest medical bills, a contingency fee can cost more than representation adds. Most firms will tell you this if you ask directly. If you file in Superior Court instead and cannot afford the fee, the waiver is Judicial Council form FW-001.
What is the trivial defect argument and why do insurers keep raising it?
It is the defence that the hazard was too minor to be legally dangerous, so no reasonable owner had to fix it. On uneven pavement, California courts have often treated height differences of around an inch and a half or less as trivial as a matter of law, though that is a rule of thumb rather than a fixed line. Lighting, debris, weather, whether the defect was jagged and whether anyone had complained before all change the answer, which is why photographs taken on the day matter so much.
DJA Editorial
Legal Directory Research
Compiles Distinguished Justice Advocates city guides from state bar licensee records, statutes and local government sources, and publicly visible client reviews. Firms appear as a shortlist rather than a ranking. Figures a firm publishes about itself are labelled as such, and anything that could not be verified is flagged on the page rather than estimated.
Sources and method
- State Bar of California licensee search: licence numbers, admission dates, registered addresses, current status and public discipline for each named attorney, with anything unconfirmed flagged on the page.
- Firm websites and attorney bios: office addresses, phone numbers, named attorneys, practice scope, published results, consultation policy and fee terms.
- Google Business Profile listings for each firm: ratings, review counts, opening hours and the review text behind the client themes.
- California Code of Civil Procedure section 335.1 and section 116.221: the two year personal injury deadline and the small claims limit for individuals.
- California Government Code sections 911.2, 912.4 and 945.6, with the City of Irvine Claim for Damages process and Irvine Municipal Code Title 2: the six month public entity claim, the 45 day response and the deadline to sue after rejection.
- California Business and Professions Code section 6147: the written contingency agreement, the stated rate and the requirement to disclose that the rate is negotiable.
- Judicial Council of California fee waiver form FW-001 and Superior Court filing fee schedules for Orange County.
- Firm announcements and Orange County trade press on the January 2026 relocation of Callahan & Blaine from Santa Ana to Newport Gateway in Irvine.
