Scott Sumner's profile

    Scott Sumner

    Top rated Personal Injury attorney in Walnut Creek, California

    Education Qualification:

    University of San Diego School of Law

    Practice Areas:

    Personal injury,

    Animal bites,

    Brain injury,

    Construction accident,

    Premises liability - plaintiff,

    Trucking accidents,

    Wrongful death

    1299 Newell Hill Place Suite 301Walnut Creek, California, 94596

    First Admitted: 1991, California

    Professional Webpage: https://www.sumnerlawyers.com/attorney/sumner-scott/

    Bar/Professional Activity:
    • California, 1991
    • American Association for Justice
    • Consumer Attorneys of California
    • Alameda-Contra Costa Trial Lawyers’ Association
    Pro bono/Community Service:
    • Public Justice Foundation, Board Member
    • Amicus Committee, 1998 - Present
    Honors/Awards:
    • Peer-rated A/V by Martindale
    • Rated “Superb” on Avvo
    • CAOC Robert E. Cartwright, Sr. Award in Recognition of Excellence in Trail Advocacy and Dedication to Teaching Trial Advocacy to Colleagues and to The Public 2009
    • SFTLA Champion of Justice Award, 2010
    • CAALA Ian Herzog Award Appellate Lawyer of the Year 2010
    • Top 100 Personal Injury Lawyers in Northern California
    • Northern California Super Lawyer
    Educational Background:
    • Magna Cum Laude From UC San Diego, Double Major in Political Science and History, 1987
    Scholarly Lectures/Writings:
    • “Medical Special Damages ‘Incurred” Under California Law: The Collateral Source Rule, Law of Contracts, and the Discount Myth,” California Litigation, Journal of the Litigation Section, State Bar of California, Vol. 21, Number 3, 2008.  Examines private health insurance and medical care under California's statutory framework and the law of contracts, and how those laws are being ignored and misapplied in an attempt by liability insurers and defendants to avoid the proper application of the collateral source rule in personal injury tort cases., Author, “Medical Special Damages ‘Incurred” Under California Law: The Collateral Source Rule, Law of Contracts, and the Discount Myth”, 2008
    • In the past two decades, mediation became not just the norm for cases, but in many (mostly larger) cases, multiple mediation sessions became common. During those years, as well, reimbursement claims from health plans became the norm, rather than the exception; “lien” claimants became increasingly unreasonable and overreaching — usually in conjunction with third party vendors assuming collection responsibilities for health plans and payers; carriers began evaluating cases based on paid medical special damages rather than medical charges; and the cost of both mediators and litigation experts rose at a rate that felt exponential. , Author, Mediation — Managing expectations; coping with liens; handling the math, Consumer Attorneys Of California Forum Magazine, 2018
    • Injured bicyclist's cases present in markedly different ways than strictly motor vehicle cases. Cyclists are usually whisked away by ambulance, and not interviewed by police on-scene, but later, and after a responding officer has already formed their personal impressions and conclusions without input from the injured cyclist.  A “good” police report has nothing to do with the reporting officer’s opinions and conclusions (which are generally inadmissible), and everything to do with the thoroughness of the evidence gathered, documented and preserved, Author, Pedaling through it all, Consumer Attorneys Of California Forum Magazine, 2020
    • Public entities were never supposed to enjoy absolute immunity for dangerous conditions of planned and constructed paved multi-use trails.  The form of “trail immunity” that has grown up as a result of court decisions (mis)interpreting Ca. Gov. Code Section 831.4 is not what the legislature intended. , Author, Derailing trail immunity on the paved, multi-use trail, Plaintiff Magazine (www.plaintiffmagazine.com), 2021
    • "Medi-Cal liens update,",, Plaintiff Magazine, September, 2009
    • "Health Insurance and the Collateral Source Rule in California a Tortured by Myth, Misrepresentation, and Misconception,",, Forum Magazine, May/June, 2009
    • "Reasonable Value of Medical Services a€ the Hanif Issue at Issue,", Article and Seminar Tour for CAOC, 2006
    • "How Can Bill Clinton's Home State Help You With Medi-Cal Liens? (Arkansas Department of Health and Human Services (ADHS), et. al. v. Ahlborn),", Forum Magazine, May, 2006
    • "Tort Reform = Corporate Welfare and Class Warfare,", Forum Magazine, December, 2004
    • "Handling County Hospital Liens",, The Verdict, Summer, 2003
    • "New Ways to Cut Health Insurer Liens",, Forum Magazine, Spring, 2001
    • "Overcoming Inadequate Insurance Coverage Through a Separate Loss of Consortium Claim", The Verdict, Fall, 1997
    Industry Groups:
    • ACCTLA
    • CAOC
    • SFTLA
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