Uber again puts profits over people

Company won lower UIM liability limits and now wants a 25% cap (after costs) in contingency fees

2025 November

California consumers are under attack by Uber. Once again, Uber has put its profits over people.

First, if you are injured in a crash caused by an uninsured motorist while a passenger in an Uber car, Uber no longer must carry insurance coverage on its vehicles for $1 million in damages. Instead, the minimum limits they are required to carry is merely $60,000 per person and $300,000 per accident. For seriously injured consumers, that’s a big problem. Anyone with a broken bone, need for surgery, or any other kind of significant injury may not be able to obtain compensation to cover all their medical expenses and other harms.

Second, on October 3, 2025, Uber filed papers with the California Secretary of State to put a fee cap initiative on the ballot.

This deceptive initiative is written to make it sound like consumers will put more money in their pocket, but the reality is that it will make it much more difficult for motor-vehicle victims to hire attorneys and be left at the mercy of dealing with insurance companies themselves. Under Uber’s measure, fees could be driven so low that injured people would be left without representation to stand up and fight back against giant corporations and their teams of well-paid lawyers. Injured Uber customers would be unable to hold the company accountable for causing harm. Injured Californians would be unable to obtain justice for the harm caused by others.

Fee cap of 25% of the recovery after costs

What does the initiative do? Under the Uber initiative, there is a fee cap of 25% of the recovery after costs to cover all medical bills and liens incurred by the car crash victim and for attorneys’ fees. The costs to prosecute the case come off the top before the 75% is calculated.

An example. Your client is injured in a car crash and has back/neck pain and undergoes conservative treatment. The person who caused this harm – let’s say an Uber driver with your client as a passenger – offers to resolve the case for $100,000. There are $10,000 in case costs (filing fees, service of process, depositions, mediation costs, etc.), and another $15,000 in medical bills (emergency room visit, follow-up care with primary physician, chiropractic care, physical therapy, acupuncture, pain medication or other conservative treatment). What would happen? Well, the $10,000 comes right off the top – and 25% of $90,000 equals $22,500. This amount is available to cover the $15,000 in medical care and liens, leaving $7,500 for attorney fees. Effectively, the attorney fees in this hypothetical are 7.5% of the $100,000 settlement. This is just an example and, as we all know, the medical costs and case costs could be even higher!

Make no mistake, the goal of this initiative is to prevent injured victims from having the ability to obtain compensation for the harm done to them.

Currently, Uber has time to amend their proposed initiative until November 10, 2025, to make changes before it goes to the Attorney General for title and summary. The California Attorney General has 65 days from October 3, 2025 to prepare and issue a title and summary for the proposition to go on the ballot. This is the information that the public will see on the ballots mailed to their homes and in the room when they cast their ballot.

Once the title and summary are done, Uber can begin gathering signatures. Because this is a proposed amendment to the California Constitution, they will need close to 1 million signatures to qualify for the ballot.

Fighting this initiative

CAALA is actively working with all the stakeholders on ways to attack and counter this deceptive initiative. In fact, by the time this column is published, you will be aware of what our opposition plan is – whether that is simply attacking this initiative, putting our own initiative(s) on the ballot, and/or other possible ways to counter this attack. CAALA will be hosting a Zoom town hall webinar in early November and more throughout the year to share what we have done and what is coming up next.

However, no matter what our course of action, we will need your support to defeat this initiative. If you want to help right now, reach out to CAALA leadership and/or donate to the Initiative Defense Fund. (https://www.caoc.org/?pg=protecttheballotbox)

The DTLA sex-abuse lawsuit

There is another kind of attack on our profession. On October 2, 2025, the Los Angeles Times reported that DTLA Law Group paid individuals to sue the County of Los Angeles as part of the biggest sex-abuse case ever. If true, the alleged misconduct undermines the integrity of our justice system and the survivors who depend on it. As if speaking directly to this kind of misconduct, the Uber initiative specifically references “billboard attorneys” and personal-injury attorneys “gaming the system.”

Former CAALA President and current President of the Consumer Attorneys of California (CAOC) Geoff Wells has already called on the State Bar to investigate DTLA Law Group to the fullest extent of its authority, and for an audit of the sex abuse settlement against the County of Los Angeles. CAALA joined in calling for that investigation.

In the coming months, we must stand united to protect the rights of injured Californians and defend the integrity of our justice system from corporate attacks disguised as “reform.” Uber’s initiative is not about fairness – it’s about power and profit. Together, we can ensure that consumers, not corporations, have access to justice and accountability in California.