California Establish Personal Injury Lawyer Regulations Initiative (2026)
| California Establish Personal Injury Lawyer Regulations Initiative | |
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| Election date |
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| Topic Business regulations and Tort law |
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| Status Cleared for signature gathering |
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| Type Initiated constitutional amendment |
Origin |
The California Establish Personal Injury Lawyer Regulations Initiative (#25-0022) may appear on the ballot in California as an initiated constitutional amendment on November 3, 2026.
The initiative would amend the California Constitution to:
- require car accident victims to receive at least 75% of the total amount of damages recovered;
- establish standards for the recovery of medical expenses based on Medicare, Medi-Cal, and the national health insurance database; and
- prohibit referral agreements between personal injury law firms and medical care providers.[1][2]
Text of measure
Ballot title
The ballot title would have been as follows:[3]
| “ | Limits autombolie accident victims' recovery of medical expenses and fees their attorneys may receive. Initiative constitutional amendment.[4] | ” |
Petition summary
The summary provided for inclusion on signature petition sheets was as follows:[3]
| “ | Automobile accident victims often hire an attorney on a contingency basis, meaning the attorney receives an agreed-upon percentage of the victim’s monetary recovery if the victim wins. This measure would:
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” |
Full text
The full text of the measure is available here.
Sponsors
A More Affordable California, Sponsored by Uber is sponsoring the campaign behind the initiative.[5]
Path to the ballot
Process in California
An initiated constitutional amendment is a citizen-initiated ballot measure that amends a state's constitution. Eighteen (18) states allow citizens to initiate constitutional amendments.
In California, the number of signatures required for an initiated constitutional amendment is equal to 8% of the votes cast in the last gubernatorial election. A simple majority vote is required for voter approval.
The requirements to get initiated constitutional amendments certified for the 2026 ballot:
- Signatures: 874,641 valid signatures are required.
- Deadline: The deadline for signature verification is June 25, 2026. However, the secretary of state suggested deadlines for turning in signatures of January 12, 2026, for initiatives needing a full check of signatures and April 17, 2026, for initiatives needing a random sample of signatures verified.
Stages of this ballot initiative
The following is the timeline of the initiative:[2]
- October 3, 2025: The initiative was filed by John Moffatt.
- December 9, 2025: The initiative was cleared for signature gathering.
See also
View other measures certified for the 2026 ballot across the U.S. and in California.
Explore California's ballot measure history, including citizen-initiated ballot measures.
Understand how measures are placed on the ballot and the rules that apply.
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ California Attorney General's Office, "Full text," accessed October 6, 2025
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 California Secretary of State's Office, "List of petitions," accessed October 6, 2025
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 California Secretary of State, "Initiatives and Referenda Cleared for Circulation," accessed January 24, 2025
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Sacramento Bee, "Uber wants to cap attorney fees after crashes. Trial lawyers, scholars oppose it," December 31, 2025
