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When we represent clients in personal injury cases there are any number of things that attorneys for insurers can try to use to derail us, to cast doubt on the truthfulness of our clients. Some, although not enormous bombshells in a case, are problematic and come up repeatedly. They are inn...
COVID-19 is wreaking havoc on our world. Even if the virus has spared the lives of our friends and family members, life as we know it will never, ever, be the same. The world is changing—probably forever. Even if taking the health issues aside, for those of us older millennials who were aro...
COVID-19 has changed our day to day reality quickly, including how our cases are handled at this time. I'll share an e-mail, a version of which I wrote to several clients lately, because I think it fairly summarizes the state of things right now. I wrote this a little less than two weeks ag...
In an ideal world, our attorneys love talking with potential new clients every day, meeting face to face with them, and trying to figure out if there is a way that our office can help them under the circumstances they face. As the COVID-19 pandemic and outbreak and public health crisis unfo...
On January 28, 2020, Craig Schauermann, Scott Edwards, Brad Thayer, and I made an important appearance in Olympia. It was for WSAJ's Lobby Day. In short, WSAJ organizes a mad scramble of attorneys who represent injured persons and workers to meet with the Representatives and Senators from...
This is critical - IF YOU DON'T HAVE HEALTH INSURANCE, PLEASE READ THIS! A limited time special enrollment period for qualified individuals who are currently without health insurance has been opened up by the Washington Health Benefit Exchange. This unique special enrollment period began...
It may be readily apparent to everyone all the dangers that may come about with using e-scooters, but then again—maybe not. Please bear with me. Exposure and Vulnerability Some of the most gruesome and awful injuries we see in our personal injury and wrongful death law practice resul...
“Necessity is the mother of invention” is one of my favorite sayings. We don't “need” to do something until we really “need” to figure it out. I've often used it to explain some mild procrastination. Scott Edwards recently mused over how technology might change personal injury law. With...
CLOSURE NOTICE Please be advised our office has CLOSED to the general public, including our current clients, in light of the novel corona virus (COVID-19) outbreak. We are incredibly sorry for any inconvenience this might cause.
Today I'm not working at the office. Instead, I am sitting on hard wooden bleachers at the Clackamas Academy for Industrial Sciences—a middle school in Oregon City Oregon. I'm here watching my oldest son, Caden, compete in his first Robotics team competition. I have been absolutely amazed by the ...
A recent Columbian newspaper article headline read: “21% in ‘17 fatal crashes had THC in system”. It went on to explain that since marijuana has been legalized, the incidence of Washington drivers impaired by marijuana causing fatal crashes has increased significantly. Actually, the numbers pract...
The Washington Court of Appeals recently clarified that insurers cannot exclude diminished value claims when an innocent person has his or her car damaged by an uninsured driver. Pacheco v. Oregon Mutual Ins. Co., 447 P.3d 207 (2019). To help explain what that means, its useful to take a ...
If you drive, you need to carry auto insurance, liability at a bare minimum. It's the smart thing, the responsible thing, and it's the law. But for any driver venturing into Oregon, there's an added incentive to carry insurance: if you're injured in an auto collision in Oregon due to someon...
NOTE: I AM A PERSONAL INJURY LAWYER, I AM NOT A TAX PROFESSIONAL. EVERYTHING I KNOW ABOUT TAX LAW I LEARNED 12 YEARS AGO DURING A SINGLE SEMESTER OF TAX WHILE IN LAW SCHOOL. IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS BEYOND WHAT IS INCLUDED IN THIS POST, I WOULD ENCOURAGE YOU TO CONSULT A LEGAL OR TAX PROFESSIONA...
“To Kill a Mockingbird” is perhaps my favorite book—it certainly holds a place among my top three novels. Authored in 1960 by Harper Lee, it tells the fictional story of Atticus Finch, his six-year old daughter Jean Louise Finch—nicknamed Scout, and her older brother Jeremy—nicknamed Jem. ...
With Valentine's Day approaching fast, I thought it would be wise to remind all of our Washington-driver lovebirds out there about the legal requirement that they save their affections for non-driving situations. Brad Thayer touched on this a while back here as part of his review of interes...
In our business as trial attorneys representing victims of car, truck, motorcycle and bicycle crashes, dog bites, construction site injuries, and families stricken by the wrongful death of a loved one, we are often asked in the discovery part of the litigation process by opposing parties and thei...
We are pleased to announce that, as of January 1, 2020, Ben Melnick has been made a partner. He joined the firm in 2018, and he has proven himself to be a stellar advocate for injured people. We are excited for the future Ben has to offer for the firm, and we are proud to call him our par...
When a person is physically injured and seeking compensation, most folks think primarily about economic damages—or special damages that come with a monetary value already attached to them. Things there is a receipt or other documentation for, such as medical bills, wage loss, prescription ...
I frequently speak with people after an injury, and they tell me they are going to get medical treatment, and that “the other side is going to cover it.” Although that is the way we hope our clients' cases work, the reality is that, with rare exceptions, injured persons bear the up-front co...
To close out 2019, Washington's Supreme Court weighed in on a topic some might consider trivial, but which impacts something many of us do dozens of times each day: using our turn signals while driving. This appellate case stemmed from a 2015 DUI arrest in Kennewick. While officers were ...
In an article entitled “Justice Compromised: Immigration Arrests at Washington State Courthouses”, published by the University of Washington's Center for Human Rights on October 16, 2019, https://jsis.washington.edu/humanrights/2019/10/16/ice-cbp-courthouse-arrests/, U.S. Immigration and Cu...
How much is this going to cost me? Do you offer free legal consultations? I don't have any money for a retainer, will you still represent me? These are questions I am frequently asked during an initial consultation with a potential client. During these meetings those who come to meet with m...
There have been at least two significant developments in Oregon over the last year, endeavoring to enhance the opportunity for equal access to justice for immigrants, and actually for all persons who may have any business in Oregon courts (remember that courts cannot function effectively unle...
As personal injury attorneys, it is easy to think that success for our clients can be measured simply by the dollar amount recovered on a case. As important as that is to most cases, it is by no means the beginning and the end of the analysis. I often tell my clients that all my work can be...
The attorneys at Schauermann Thayer handle personal injury, wrongful death, and insurance actions for clients throughout the Southwest Washington and Portland, Oregon area.
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