If you have been seriously injured in Laguna Hills, you should not have to navigate your case through layers of case managers. At Kubota & Craig, founding partners Yoshiaki C. Kubota and Cynthia A. Craig personally handle every case the firm accepts, giving clients direct access to the attorneys responsible for their claim. The firm has recovered more than $200 million for injury victims and holds a National Tier 1 ranking in Personal Injury Litigation – Plaintiffs from Best Law Firms®. From an office a short drive up the I-5 in Irvine, the firm represents people hurt across Laguna Hills — on El Toro Road, Paseo de Valencia, Moulton and Alicia Parkways, and the I-5 and SR-73.
Your Case Is Handled by the Lawyers Whose Names Are on the Firm
At many firms, the attorney you sign with is not the person who works your case afterward — the file is handed to a case manager, and you may rarely speak with the lawyer again. Kubota & Craig is built the opposite way. From the first call through the resolution of your claim, Yoshi Kubota and Cynthia Craig are personally responsible for the work: the strategy, the negotiations, and the courtroom if it comes to that. Both founding partners are past presidents of the Orange County Trial Lawyers Association (OCTLA), the county’s trial bar (Yoshi Kubota in 2011, Cynthia Craig in 2021). When the other side knows the lawyers whose names are on the door are prepared to go to trial, it strengthens your position in every negotiation.
Laguna Hills Personal Injury Cases We Handle
We represent people across every major kind of serious-injury case in Laguna Hills:
Why Injured Laguna Hills Clients Choose Kubota & Craig
Yoshiaki C. Kubota (California Bar #175555) has more than 30 years of trial experience, served as president of the Orange County Trial Lawyers Association (OCTLA) in 2011, and has been named to Super Lawyers every year since 2010 and to Best Lawyers in America since 2025. Cynthia A. Craig (California Bar #226318) has more than 20 years representing injured people and is a trial lawyer who has tried dozens of cases to verdict; a past president of OCTLA (2021), she has been recognized by Best Lawyers in America (2022–2026) and Super Lawyers (2024–2026). Both founding partners are personally involved in every case — the attorney you meet is the attorney who handles your claim.
How we work a case is straightforward: we investigate quickly and preserve the evidence that disappears (reports, video, vehicle data, witnesses), we build the full value of the claim with the medical and financial proof, and we negotiate from a position of strength — because insurers know we prepare every case as if it will be tried. That readiness is reflected in results that include a $51.5 million recovery in a fatal highway-collision case.
Results describe the outcomes of specific past cases. Every case is different, and prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.What Kubota & Craig Clients Say
"A friend of mine who was involved in a similar accident as me suggested her representatives Kubota and Craig. After one conversation with Mr. Kubota I knew I had the right fit. I could not have found a better firm nor nicer people. As complicated as it was it could not have been easier. Thank you Cynthia and Yoshi."
Jay J., 5-star Google reviewThese reviews are from Kubota & Craig clients and reflect individual experiences. Every case is different, and these results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
Understanding Injuries in Laguna Hills
The sections below summarize what public records say about injuries in Laguna Hills — three years of state traffic data, the City’s current safety planning and road projects, how policing and collision reports work here, and where a case is filed. They are local context for residents, and they show that the firm knows the ground it works on. They are not a prediction about any particular road or intersection, and they are not how the firm values a case. Every claim turns on its own facts.
What Laguna Hills traffic data shows — and why speed stands out
According to the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS), the overall number of people killed or injured in Laguna Hills traffic was slightly lower in 2023 (132) than in 2021 (143). So the honest read is not that crashes are rapidly rising. Underneath that flat-to-declining total, one category moved sharply the other way: speed-related fatal and injury collisions rose from 12 in 2021 to 18 in 2022 to 22 in 2023 — roughly an 83% increase.
Those 22 speed-related collisions placed Laguna Hills 20 of 93 in its OTS comparison group for 2023. OTS cautions that its rankings are indicators of potential traffic-safety problems, not definitive measures of how dangerous a city is — so this is a signal to look at speed, not a ranking of how dangerous the city is.
| Laguna Hills (OTS) | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|
| People killed or injured | 143 | 134 | 132 |
| Speed-related fatal/injury collisions | 12 | 18 | 22 |
| Pedestrian victims | 7 | 5 | 7 |
| Bicyclist victims | 5 | 7 | 7 |
| Motorcycle victims | 9 | 7 | 3 |
| Nighttime fatal/injury collisions | 13 | 9 | 9 |
| DUI arrests | 31 | 29 | 48 |
When speed is disputed in a serious collision, the proof is usually not the driver’s word. It is event-data-recorder downloads, vehicle telematics, dashcam and surveillance video, impact and reconstruction evidence, roadway speed surveys, and posted limits — records that have to be preserved before they are lost.
Laguna Hills is mapping where serious crashes occur
Laguna Hills is not guessing about its streets — it is studying them. With a $200,000 federal Safe Streets and Roads for All grant (part of a roughly $250,000 planning effort), the City is preparing a Citywide Safety Action Plan built to analyze all transportation crashes over a five-year period. The scope calls for distinguishing collisions by severity, examining pedestrian, bicycle, and motorcycle patterns, looking at factors such as time of day and age, and identifying recurring intersection and midblock clusters. Because that analysis is exactly what determines where the real problem locations are, this page does not get ahead of the City by publishing its own list of problem intersections before that analysis is done. We will update it as Laguna Hills publishes its crash maps and priority locations.
Source: City of Laguna Hills Citywide Safety Action Plan project scope and StoryMap.Why Laguna Hills is redesigning Paseo de Valencia
The City has identified about $5 million in federal funding for a separated (Class IV) bikeway along Paseo de Valencia between Alicia Parkway and Cabot Road, and Cabot Road between Paseo de Valencia and El Paseo. The City’s own stated reasons are unusually useful for an injury page: improving student drop-off and pick-up near Valencia Elementary, improving pedestrian access across Paseo de Valencia, reducing vehicle speeds, and improving bicycle connectivity. Notably, the City itself states that speeding beyond the posted 45 mph limit — and beyond the 25 mph school-zone limit when children are present — is common on Paseo de Valencia. The City has also noted requests from residents near Alisal and Sunburst for better crossing access, because pedestrians may otherwise have to travel toward Alicia Parkway or La Paz Road to cross.
As posted, the City’s tentative schedule placed design work in 2026 and construction in 2027; schedules like this can shift. For an injured pedestrian, cyclist, or driver, the point is that a case can turn on the crossing location, sight distance, traffic control, school-zone conditions, and roadway configuration as they existed on the day of the crash — not as they look after a redesign.
Source: City of Laguna Hills Mobility Element update.Laguna Hills is modernizing about 30 traffic signals
Along a roughly four-mile corridor (the Paseo de Valencia–Moulton Parkway confluence project), the City is upgrading about 30 signalized intersections — roughly 18 primary signals plus 12 timing-only signals — with a tentative design and services budget of about $450,000. The work can include replacing older video detection with radar, fiber-optic communications, intersection CCTV cameras, new controllers, emergency-vehicle preemption, and battery backups. Two more synchronization efforts are underway: a regional Alicia Parkway project and an Avenida de la Carlota project entirely within the city.
Why this matters to a case: modern signal systems create engineering records that can settle a disputed intersection collision — signal-timing and phasing plans, controller logs, detector configuration, maintenance history, and synchronization plans. One caution about the cameras: intersection CCTV is often a live traffic-management tool rather than an archival recorder, so if a crash happens at an equipped intersection, the questions to run down quickly are whether footage was actually recorded, how long it is kept, and who controls it.
Source: City of Laguna Hills Capital Improvement Projects and signal-synchronization project documents.Recent pedestrian and accessibility improvements
The City recently completed a Community Development Block Grant project that replaced or improved 42 access ramps in the area bounded by Paseo de Valencia, La Paz Road, and Cabot Road, and it has an ongoing citywide program replacing sidewalk panels, curb and gutter, and curb ramps identified by staff. There are also current intersection changes — a refuge project at Mandeville and Moulton Parkway, and a reconfiguration of the northbound right-turn arrangement at Alicia Parkway and Paseo de Valencia. (That the City is upgrading these features does not mean the prior condition was defective.) If a sidewalk or curb condition contributes to an injury, the useful evidence is specific: photographs before any repair, City maintenance and inspection records, prior service requests and work orders, and who actually owns or controls that stretch.
Source: City of Laguna Hills Capital Improvement Projects.How the former Laguna Hills Mall site is changing pedestrian and bicycle travel
The Village at Laguna Hills — the former Laguna Hills Mall property — was approved in 2022, and a revised development program is moving through City review in 2026. The City’s 2026 environmental documents describe new on-site and adjoining pedestrian connections, extended bicycle routes, added Class III bicycle facilities, Complete Streets concepts on internal roadways, and a multimodal trail along Calle de la Louisa. The City’s 2026 analysis also estimates the modified project would generate about 3,746 fewer trips than the previously approved version — a comparison between two development plans, not a prediction that overall Laguna Hills traffic will drop. As internal roads and pedestrian and bicycle connections change, the evidence in an accident can depend on the exact configuration in place on the incident date.
Source: City of Laguna Hills Village at Laguna Hills project documents and 2026 CEQA compliance memorandum.Who provides police services in Laguna Hills — and how to get a report
Laguna Hills does not have its own municipal police department. The City contracts with the Orange County Sheriff’s Department (OCSD) for law enforcement, including traffic enforcement and collision investigation. If a deputy prepares a traffic collision report, the person involved receives a case number; the report goes to the Traffic Investigation Office in Aliso Viejo, and after investigator approval it becomes available through the Sheriff’s Records Division — typically about 10 to 14 working days after the incident. A crash on a freeway or state route such as the I-5 or SR-73 may be investigated by another agency, such as the California Highway Patrol; the correct agency can be confirmed from the incident or report information.
| Where the crash happened | Report source to investigate |
|---|---|
| Laguna Hills city street | Laguna Hills Police Services / OC Sheriff’s Department |
| Freeway or state route (I-5, SR-73) | Confirm the investigating agency (often CHP) |
| City public-property condition | City of Laguna Hills records |
| Fire or EMS response | The responding emergency provider |
City records that may matter, and if the City may be responsible
Some injuries involve a public agency — a City roadway or sidewalk, a signal, a City facility, or public property. Laguna Hills now accepts claims against the City electronically through a secure process (under a 2025 City Council resolution) as well as on paper; after submission, the claim goes to the City’s claims administrator and a claims examiner contacts the claimant. Laguna Hills also offers an electronic public-records process, and depending on the facts, counsel may seek records such as traffic-engineering and speed studies, signal-timing and maintenance records, sidewalk work orders and service requests, construction plans, and roadway project records. None of those records automatically proves fault. A first question is often simply who owns or controls the road, sidewalk, signal, or property where the injury happened — the City of Laguna Hills, the County of Orange, Caltrans, OCTA, another agency, or a private owner.
Source: City of Laguna Hills claims and public-records pages.Emergency medical resources in Laguna Hills
Unlike some neighboring cities, Laguna Hills has a hospital within its own borders: Saddleback Memorial Medical Center, at 24451 Health Center Road, is on the Orange County EMS hospital list. It is an emergency receiving facility, not a county-designated trauma center, and where a patient is taken depends on the nature and severity of the injury and on EMS protocols at the time — not everyone injured in Laguna Hills is transported there, and where someone is treated does not decide what a claim is worth.
Source: Orange County EMS hospital list.How a Laguna Hills Injury Claim Works
California injury claims run on a few core rules. A person or business is responsible when their negligence causes injury. If you are found partly at fault, California uses comparative negligence, which reduces — but does not erase — your recovery. A successful claim can recover medical costs, lost income and earning capacity, and pain and suffering, and in a wrongful-death case, the losses close family members suffer. Deadlines are strict: most California injury lawsuits must be filed within two years, but a claim against a public entity generally must be presented within six months. California courts divide civil cases into limited civil (generally $35,000 or less) and unlimited civil (generally more than $35,000), and the proper venue can depend on factors including where the injury occurred, where a defendant resides, and the claims involved — which your attorney sorts out for your specific case.
Laguna Hills Personal Injury FAQs
What does Laguna Hills traffic data show about speeding?
California Office of Traffic Safety data shows speed-related fatal and injury collisions in Laguna Hills rose from 12 in 2021 to 18 in 2022 to 22 in 2023, roughly an 83% increase, even though the overall number of people killed or injured was slightly lower in 2023 than in 2021. Those 22 collisions placed Laguna Hills 20 of 93 in its OTS comparison group, but OTS says its rankings indicate potential traffic-safety problems and are not definitive measures of how dangerous a city is.
Is Laguna Hills conducting a new traffic-safety study?
Yes. With a $200,000 federal Safe Streets and Roads for All grant, the City is preparing a Citywide Safety Action Plan designed to analyze all transportation crashes over a five-year period, examine pedestrian, bicycle, and motorcycle patterns, and identify recurring intersection and midblock collision clusters. The plan is meant to determine where the real problem locations are.
Why is Laguna Hills redesigning Paseo de Valencia?
The City has identified about $5 million in federal funding for a separated bikeway along Paseo de Valencia and Cabot Road. Its stated goals include improving student drop-off near Valencia Elementary, improving pedestrian crossing access, reducing vehicle speeds, and improving bicycle connectivity. The City itself notes that speeding beyond the posted 45 mph limit, and beyond the 25 mph school-zone limit when children are present, is common on Paseo de Valencia.
Is Laguna Hills upgrading its traffic signals?
Yes. Along a roughly four-mile corridor, the City is modernizing about 30 signalized intersections with equipment that can include radar detection, fiber-optic communications, CCTV cameras, new controllers, emergency-vehicle preemption, and battery backups. Two more synchronization projects are underway on Alicia Parkway and Avenida de la Carlota. These systems can generate signal-timing and controller records that matter when an intersection collision is disputed.
How do I get a Laguna Hills collision report, and how long does it take?
Because the Orange County Sheriff’s Department provides Laguna Hills police services, a collision report is generally handled through the Sheriff. If a deputy prepares the report, you receive a case number; the report goes to the Traffic Investigation Office in Aliso Viejo, and after investigator approval it becomes available through the Sheriff’s Records Division, typically about 10 to 14 working days after the incident.
Who provides police services in Laguna Hills?
Laguna Hills does not operate its own municipal police department. It contracts with the Orange County Sheriff’s Department for law enforcement, including traffic enforcement and collision investigation, so a Laguna Hills city-street collision report is generally an OCSD record.
Where is a Laguna Hills personal injury lawsuit filed, and does the city still have a courthouse?
Under the Orange County Superior Court’s current court-designation matrix, limited and unlimited civil cases for Laguna Hills are assigned to the Central Justice Center in Santa Ana, with complex civil matters at the Civil Complex Center. Laguna Hills used to have its own courthouse, but the Harbor Justice Center–Laguna Hills on Moulton Parkway closed in 2013, so the closest courthouse is not the one assigned to a civil personal-injury case. Your attorney confirms the correct filing location.
Is there a hospital in Laguna Hills?
Yes. Saddleback Memorial Medical Center, at 24451 Health Center Road, is in Laguna Hills and appears on the Orange County EMS hospital list. It is an emergency receiving facility rather than a county-designated trauma center, and where a patient is taken depends on the injury and EMS protocols at the time.
Sources and Research Methodology
- Traffic-injury figures are from California Office of Traffic Safety rankings for the incorporated City of Laguna Hills, California, 2021–2023, read with the OTS crash-rankings methodology.
- Safety Action Plan, Paseo de Valencia, signal-modernization, curb-ramp, and Village at Laguna Hills details are from the City of Laguna Hills (Citywide Safety Action Plan materials, Mobility Element update, Capital Improvement Projects, and 2026 Village project documents). Project schedules are the City’s posted tentative timelines and can change.
- Police, collision-report, claims, and public-records details are from City of Laguna Hills Police Services and City Clerk resources and the Orange County Sheriff’s Department.
- Court routing follows the Orange County Superior Court’s current court-designation matrix. The hospital reference is from the Orange County EMS hospital list.
- OTS rankings indicate potential safety problems and are not definitive measures of danger. Citywide data should not be read as predicting whether a particular road or intersection is dangerous.
Kubota & Craig, PC — 16530 Bake Parkway, Suite 100, Irvine, CA 92618 · (949) 218-5676. We meet Laguna Hills clients by appointment and, when injuries make travel difficult, we come to you. See all the communities we serve on our Areas We Serve page.