Helfer, Cheryl M.

Kent Heeringa is a trial lawyer who spent his entire career dedicated to a single cause - helping injured persons recover compensation for their losses and restore their lives. For over 25 years, he has successfully represented individuals in the Los Angeles area hurt in all types of accidents - from motor vehicle crashes, to defective products, to unsafe premises. In the field of personal injury, Mr. Heeringa has tried cases in the Superior Courts of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernadino Counties.

Mr. Heeringa believes that the best way to represent clients is by one-on-one, hands-on involvement, from first meeting through trial. That way, he knows each client's unique needs and can give his full attention to every aspect of the case.

He was born and raised in Iowa. At the University of San Diego Law School, he was inspired by cases where dangerous and shoddy products seriously hurt consumers and especially children. After reading a heart-wrenching case about an infant severely burned in flammable baby pajamas, Kent decided to dedicate his practice to personal injury and to helping people injured by corporations and manufacturers that put profit above safety. He believes that personal injury lawyers make significant contributions to social change. A jury verdict is an effective way to compel manufacturers to improve product safety, corporations to alter unsafe practices and businesses to better their treatment of employees.

Since day one, he has focused on personal injury cases. Fresh out of law school, Kent was hired by a top-notch personal injury firm. Mentored by excellent trial lawyers, he learned the nuts and bolts of personal injury trial work. He then went into sole practice. In addition to jury trials, he has done over a 1,000 depositions and hundreds of arbitrations and mediations. As an LA Superior court appointed arbitrator, he decided dozens of personal injury arbitrations.

Mr. Heeringa handles all types of motor vehicle crashes (including accidents involving cars, trucks, buses, motorcycles, bikes and pedestrians). He handles slip/trip and falls of all kinds and in any location, from retail stores to apartment houses to parking lots to sidewalks. The unsafe product cases Kent has dealt with include defective exercise equipment, toys, bikes, chairs, garage doors, walkers, lawn mowers, blow dryers, medical equipment, and propane tanks.

His cases involved all types of serious injuries (and wrongful death cases), including spine and brain injuries, burns, scars, broken bones, and paralysis. He deals with complex medical injuries and medical and professional experts.

He represents clients with difficult cases. His first and his most recent trial wins are good examples. The first trial involved an elderly woman who was hit by her own car. The woman's car got trapped by an automatic garage gate that closed too soon. She then got out of her car to go to the key card reader behind her and activated the gate. But, in her confusion, she left her engine running with the emergency brake off and transmission in reverse. The gate, however, kept the car from moving. But, when the gate opened, her unoccupied car was released, traveled backward suddenly and pinned the woman against the key card reader. The jury found that the defective gate was the cause of her fractured pelvis.

His most recent trial involved a 75 year old man who broke his hip when he tripped and fell over a cement wheel stop at night in a hotel parking lot. Although his client had known that stops were in the parking lot and had walked through the lot on many occasions, Kent proved that inadequate lighting and improper placement of the stop were a cause of the fall, and the jury found that the hotel was responsible for his injuries.