There are few things better than getting out and riding your bike on a nice day.  Maybe you are soaking in the sun or thinking about the things you need to do later in the day.  Maybe you are not paying full attention to the parked car ahead.  As you near it, the car door suddenly swings op...

Being a personal injury attorney, we can often see patterns in how insurance companies adjust and resolve claims. Sometimes, for example, the pendulum swings toward settling claims and saving on defense costs (meaning, the insurance company might be okay paying a little bit more to settle a claim...

Most workers who get jobs through a temporary employment agency are immediately sent out to work in facilities owned and managed by the agency's clients.  For purposes of this post, we'll call the temp agency's client “the factory” (I picked this just because a lot of the temporary workers ...

Some 6,227 people died as pedestrians around the nation after being hit by motor vehicles in 2018. More than in any year since 1990. According to a Wall Street Journal article published Thursday, February 28, 2019, entitled "Pedestrian Deaths Highest Since 1990", pedestrian traffic fatalities ...

Settling quickly without knowing your damages happens far too often. It leaves people feeling taken advantage of, and in most cases, without any options to get the medical treatment needed for injuries. We've already shown you how to deal with “threats” from an adjuster, and explained how diffi...

“Medical payments” insurance coverage is something we encounter fairly often in the premises liability cases that we handle.  Automobile insurance policies will sometimes have a specific coverage called “medical payments coverage”, but most often, in Washington State and Oregon, there is a spec...

My family recently added a new member to our family. Jimmy came to us when he was almost six months old and has almost literally turned our world upside down. Being first time dog owners, we didn't really know what rules and laws applied to him and to us. We guessed many dog owners were equal...

Most of the injury claims we see in our office, and going through the courts, are of the unintentional variety- some form and degree of negligence on the part of the bad actor.  Of course, intentional injuries do occur.  Intentional injuries to the body can involve vehicles, fists, or weapons, ...

Generally, the “American Rule” is that adverse parties involved in litigation in courts in our country each have to bear their own attorney fees. Sometimes, however, there are specific statutes that may vary that general rule – and which do provide for a court to have the authority to award reaso...

Sometimes, as we research the legal issues we encounter, the laws we encounter are fascinating.  A few examples [the following is the furthest thing possible from legal advice and in no way should be construed as such!]: Washington RCW 46.61.665 prohibits “embracing another while driving”.  I...

Each year, Washington lawmakers add to, remove, and alter the laws that affect all of us here in Washington. This year, there were two big changes made to Washington laws that will make our communities safer for all people on the roads; but especially to cyclists and pedestrians The last day...

We are very used to dealing with a world where great efforts are taken to keep our medical information and records private. Injured people who bring personal injury claims are often shocked to find out that this expectation of privacy seems to go out the window when they bring their claim.  Ins...

You may have heard a doctor, attorney, or a medical or legal assistant use the acronym “MMI” before. As in, “I think your condition is at MMI.” But what does that mean? Well, the letters MMI simply stand for “maximum medical improvement”. And, what that phrase means is that to the extent yo...

Anytime there is a motor vehicle collision, you would naturally think it is somebody's fault. Although usually true, that isn't always the case. Typically, a crash is the fault of one or more drivers acting carelessly. Other times, it is due to a defect in the design of the road, or due to th...

 Partners Scott Edwards and Brad Thayer served as attorney raters last month in the Washington State YMCA high school Mock Trial Competition.   The Competition took place in late February at the Clark County Courthouse—home to the Superior and District courts of Clark County.  Many local ju...

Schauermann Thayer attorneys Scott Staples and Ben Melnick recently had the pleasure of spending a few hours with a team of students from a local home school cooperative, advising the group ahead of its upcoming appearance in a mock trial competition being held at the Clark County Courthouse. ...

In short, yes there is a situation where you could end up owing, but it is extremely rare and with appropriate advice from your attorney, it is an outcome that is usually avoidable as your case progresses.. This is a topic I simultaneously love to discuss with clients because it shows they c...

Partner Brad Thayer and other Willamette University College of Law alumni gathered with the law school's Dean, Curtis Bridgeman, earlier this month for Willamette Law's third annual Global Day of Service. The school's Global Day of Service is a day when alumni give back to the community and ...

Often times people who have been injured in the collision call us to tell us that an insurance company has offered them a few hundred dollars to resolve their personal injury claim. They relate to us that the insurance company adjuster has been “really nice” to them and was helping them to “pro...

When a client is hurt badly enough that their medical providers say they cannot work, one of the major stressors in their lives can be whether they are going to have a job to go back to if and when they recover. It's a huge burden and worry for a client and their loved ones. And in many truly...

Sometimes in the course of discussion about the pros and cons of proceeding into litigation a client will ask me, “Will the discovery process invade my right to privacy?” The short answer is – “Yes”. If “right to privacy” means an expectation on your part that you would be able to avoid having...

Federal, state, and local governments, as well as their various agencies and subparts, generate records for countless reasons. The public has a great interest in transparent government. As a result, there are laws on the books for the safekeeping and release of public records. Under federal law...

The short answer is: “Yes, maybe”.  As long as the initial lowball isn't so low it is offensive and would leave you—the injured person—“in the hole” financially speaking, there is a chance that productive back and forth negotiation could occur.  To see an overview of the typical personal injur...

So you've heard that your personal injury case might drag out a long while. You also know it's likely that someday a bunch of insurance adjusters, lawyers, and doctors are going to be asking you a lot of questions about what happened, what hurt, how long it hurt for, and how it impacted your ev...