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Losing a loved one is absolutely devastating and is never easy. If the death was caused by someone else’s negligence and/or wrongful act, it only serves to compound your grief. It also leaves you with a many unanswered questions. In addition to all the questions surrounding how & why the death occurred and who is responsible, there are also many financial questions that are looming.
Who will pay for the medical costs? What about the funeral? How will I survive with the loss of my loved one’s income? We’re here to help with these questions and to take the burden off of you so you can focus on grieving and on your emotional recovery.
You will have peace of mind that your attorneys truly care about you and your family. Michelle & Court have over 35 years of combined experience and will use all of that experience towards helping you.
We will take the stress of dealing with the insurance companies away from you, and will get you the compensation you deserve. Money that will help to cover lost wages, medical expenses, pain & suffering, etc.
We will personally handle your case every step of the way, including contacting the insurance companies, contacting the at-fault party and/or their attorney, investigation, research, drafting pleadings, conducting depositions, and taking cases through trial when necessary. This process will often be resolved over the course of several months, but can sometimes take years. Throughout this process, we are there for our clients. We care about what our clients are going through and we want them to feel comfortable that they are in the best hands.
We will meet with you, gain an understanding of your individual situation and if we decide to work together, our fee does not get paid until the insurance company pays you.
It is scary to find yourself or your loved one a victim of any type of injury or loss. It is your job to heal. It is our job to deal with everything else.
Answer from April, 2020:
Possibly. The global pandemic of COVID-19 has been, and remains to be, devastating on many different levels. At this time, there are several unanswered questions hovering around just about every aspect of it. While some law firms may try to jump on this and start filing lawsuits right now, we believe this is a mistake for a few reasons.
That said, there very well may be legal actions that can and should be filed soon, and contacting an attorney now is a good idea. There are steps that can be taken at this time that will help in the future should any legal action ultimately be pursued.
Overall, if there was negligence by another party and/or organization that was a contributing factor to your loved one either initially contracting and/or dying from COVID-19, then there may be liability.
A death is wrongful under the law if is “caused by the wrongful act, neglect, or default of another person.” RCW 2.20.010
In other words, the death does not need to be the result of an intentional act. In fact, most wrongful death suits involve negligence rather than something done intentionally. You may also pursue a wrongful death claim for an intentional act, such as murder.
Some of the more common wrongful death actions involve the following:
In Washington State, people with any of the following relationships with the decedent may file a wrongful death claim:
When a loved one dies due to another’s negligence, there are often huge expenses that family members can be held responsible for. It is clearly unjust for you to have pay for these expenses out of your own pocket. Pursuing a wrongful death claim can force the responsible party to pay instead. There are also a number of non-economic damages that can be pursued.
Here is a list of examples of the types of damages that can be recovered:
This varies greatly from case to case and depends on a variety of factors. Among the many factors that will affect the amount that will ultimately be recovered include:
While this can vary from case to case, some of the more common defense we see include:
Despite these available defenses, we will do everything possible to still maximize your recovery.
We’ll keep this answer simple: Yes, you need an attorney if you want to maximize your recovery. It’s just one of those things that is best left to the experts.
This question will get you a very lawyer-like answer: it depends. We need to know a lot more about your injury and get deep into the case before we can fully answer this question.
The word “win” also means different things to different people. For instance, if an insurance adjustor offers you $500 to settle your case and then after we get involved the offer goes up to $20,000, many people would consider that a win. In some cases, we would agree with this. In others, we may believe that more money is deserved and will urge you to keep fighting.
What we can tell you is this. We will put you in the best position to maximize your recovery, whether that is through a settlement or trial.
The two primary types of damages that can be recovered are economic/special damages, and non-economic/general damages.
Economic damages are for out-of-pocket costs that are incurred due to the injury. For example:
General damages are for other harms that you have suffered but are more difficult to calculate, such as:
It’s not uncommon for injury victims to be partially at fault for an accident. This does not mean you are completely responsible and you very well may still be entitled to compensation for your injuries.
Washington State uses a “pure comparative negligence” calculation, where the amount of money you recover gets reduced by the percentage you are considered to be at fault. For example, Let’s say you recover $100,000 but are determined to be 25% at fault, your total recovery would then be $75,000.
