Joshua Bonnici represents injured cyclists, crash victims and California policyholders whose long-term disability benefits have been denied. He founded Bonnici Law Group in San Diego and has practiced personal injury and disability law exclusively since being admitted to the California bar in 2011.
He is also the reason the firm markets itself as lawyers who ride. Josh races bikes, sponsors local clubs, and rides the same roads where his clients get hurt.
Call +1 (619) 259-5199 for a free consultation.
What Kinds of Cases Does Joshua Bonnici Handle?
Three areas, in this order. Bicycle accident claims across San Diego County. Long-term disability claims against insurance carriers, which he takes statewide across California. And general personal injury, including car, motorcycle and pedestrian crashes.
Across fifteen years of practice he has obtained recoveries ranging from $350,000 to $1.2 million in bicycle, car, pedestrian and long-term disability cases.
There is also a list of things he does not do, and he is direct about it. Birth injuries, medical malpractice, workers' compensation, construction accidents, nursing home cases, mass torts, product liability and sexual abuse claims get referred out, along with employment questions that surface inside a disability claim. A firm that takes everything tends to be thin everywhere.
Why Bicycles and Disability?
Both answers are personal, and they are connected.
When Josh was a teenager, his father was catastrophically injured in a bicycle accident and left permanently disabled. For close to twenty years, the family's income came from a long-term disability policy his father's employer had purchased about a year before it happened.
He watched what that policy meant, and he understood early what would have happened if the carrier had decided differently. That is why the disability side of the practice exists.
The bicycle side grew out of the same event and out of his own riding. He has said he takes cases where a police report blames the cyclist and the cyclist did nothing wrong, because those are the ones nobody else wants.
What Is His Background and Education?
Josh has lived in San Diego since he was five years old, close to forty years. The office sits downtown near Petco Park.
He earned a bachelor's degree in political science from the University of California, San Diego, taking advanced law coursework before law school, and later completed a micro-MBA at UCSD. He received his law degree from Thomas Jefferson School of Law, where he worked as a professor's assistant, coached an alternative dispute resolution team and taught in a volunteer program for students at Toussaint Academy, a San Diego school serving homeless teenagers.
He worked for a San Diego plaintiff's personal injury firm during and after law school before opening his own practice.
Where Is He Admitted, and What Organizations Does He Belong To?
Josh is admitted to practice in all California state courts and in all federal district courts in California.
His professional service includes:
- Board of Representatives, California Lawyers Association
- Past chair, Solo and Small Firm Section, California Lawyers Association
- Member, Consumer Attorneys of San Diego
- Member, San Diego County Bar Association
He also returns to Thomas Jefferson School of Law each spring to teach the solo practice course, covering how to start and run a law firm.
He leads a team of award-winning California personal injury and disability lawyers.
What Has He Done on a Bike?
Enough that "a lawyer who rides" is a description rather than a slogan. Josh competes on the track, on gravel and on mountain bike courses around the country, and rides the same San Diego roads where his clients get hurt. Weekday training rides and race weekends put him on the same intersections, bike lanes and coastal routes that show up in his case files.
He is the title sponsor of the San Diego Bicycle Club, the oldest cycling club in Southern California, and served several years on the board of directors of the San Diego Mountain Bike Association. He is an ambassador for Specialized Bicycles and Ari Bicycles, sponsors PRT in Chula Vista, Quick and Dirty mountain bike racing and Gravelstoke San Diego, and supports Bike the Bay and Ride Anywhere Day. You can usually find him riding at the San Diego Velodrome or at Fiesta Island.
This matters in a case more than it sounds like it should. Josh reads Strava, Garmin Connect and TrainingPeaks files, knows what a frame looks like after a right hook versus a rear-end impact, and can explain to an adjuster why a rider was in the middle of the lane. Our bicycle accident representation is built around that.
What Should Clients Expect From Him?
Direct access and fast answers. Clients get staff phone numbers and email addresses, and calls are returned quickly. Josh's stated promise is that a question gets a full answer as soon as possible, usually within 24 hours.
He works cases on contingency, with no fee unless there is a recovery, and consultations are free. His approach with opposing adjusters is deliberately low temperature. He has said adjusters regularly thank him for not yelling at them, and that he gets further by building rapport than by posturing.
The office staff is bilingual, which matters in a county this close to the border.
For clients on the disability side, he often records an under-oath video statement and submits it with the appeal, so the carrier hears from its own insured rather than only reading a physician's summary. More about how we handle long-term disability claims is on that page.
Questions About Working With Joshua Bonnici
Will Josh personally handle my case, or will it be passed to someone else?
He stays on the case. Bonnici Law Group is a small team by design, and Josh is the attorney who evaluates a case, works it and resolves it. That is the tradeoff a small firm offers against a volume practice: fewer cases, and the same person on the file from start to finish.
Does he handle disability claims outside San Diego?
Yes. Long-term disability work is taken throughout California, because those claims are built on policy language, medical records and a written appeal rather than on courthouse proximity. Injury cases stay anchored in the San Diego region.
What happens on the first call?
You get an assessment, not a pitch. Josh or a member of the team will ask what happened, what has been documented and whether a deadline is already running, then say whether the claim is worth pursuing. If it is not, you will hear that.
Is there a charge to talk to him?
No. Consultations are free, injury and disability cases are handled on contingency, and there is no fee unless there is a recovery.
Talk to Josh
If you were hurt on a bike, hit by a driver, or cut off from disability benefits you paid for, the first conversation costs nothing and usually takes fifteen minutes. Clients keep direct access to Josh for the life of the case, with the rest of the team behind him. Don't hire a lawyer. Hire a team.
You can schedule a consultation with Joshua or call the office directly.
Bonnici Law Group, 1620 5th Avenue, Suite 625, San Diego, CA 92101. Call +1 (619) 259-5199.