Van Law Firm | Washington Personal Injury Attorney

Yes. It is the client’s decision as to which attorney will represent him. You can contact your attorney at any time and let him know that you will be changing to another attorney.

Yes. Our regular office hours are 8-5 Monday - Friday, but we have staff and attorneys available evenings and weekends if you need to make an appointment for a meeting or telephone consultation off-hours.

To work more efficiently towards successfully resolving our clients’ claims, it is not our practice to provide daily or weekly updates to our clients. We have found that such updates are time consuming as many people are not available to answer calls when we call. Taking the time to attempt to make these updates prevents us from doing the actual work necessary to resolve your case. Generally, we will only contact you when we have information that we need to share with you or if you have information that we need to obtain. We will reach out to you once a month to see how you are doing, check on the status of your treatment, or to provide you with new information on your case. If you ever have any questions regarding your case, you are welcome to contact us via telephone, email or text message.

After you contact Van Law Firm, you will be given the opportunity to discuss the facts of your case. If it is determined that you have a claim and your case is the type of case that we accept, you can decide if you would like to retain our services. If your case is a case type that we do not currently accept, we can offer you a referral to another law firm.

When you come in to sign an agreement to retain our firm please bring your driver’s license or other ID card, your insurance card or insurance information and the names of any of your treating doctors or medical facilities. Please bring all facts that may be important to your claim, such as the date the accident occurred and information about the other driver. You will need to complete and sign paperwork while you are here, so the better prepared you are with information, the smoother that process will be.

Consultations are ALWAYS free at Van Law Firm. Call our office nearest you for more information.

Accident claims are typically handled through your insurance company, so suing an individual is uncommon. If you are sued, your insurance company will provide you with an attorney to defend your claim. It is important if you receive notice that you are being sued that you notify your insurance immediately. You also can consult an attorney on your own for assistance. If you are found to be responsible for the accident, the damages award to the plaintiff won’t be coming out of your pocket. Your insurer will compensate the plaintiff for his injuries.

As our client, you always will have the final say as to whether or not you want to file a lawsuit in your case. Your attorney will always be available to advise you about the progress of your case and to provide recommendations on how to proceed. Remember, over 90% of all cases will settle before trial. Enlisting the advice of an experienced attorney will ensure that you receive the compensation that you deserve.

Costs and expenses are advanced by the attorney to prosecute the claim and are deducted from the recovery you receive after the attorney’s fee is deducted. Costs include, but are not limited to things such as: general office expenses for photocopies, postage, courier fees, investigation expenses, medical consultation fees, photography and video fees, evidence storage fees, filing fees, service of process fees, bond fees, witness fees, expert fees, records fees, legal research, court reporter fees, courtroom presentation and technician fees, travel expenses, arbitration fees, mediation fees and jury fees. Expenses for your medical treatment may be paid through your health insurance. Alternatively, your doctors may treat you on a medical lien, allowing their bills to be paid directly from the proceeds of your settlement or lawsuit.

It is understandable that you want your case to settle as quickly as possible after opening your claim; however, it is important to be patient and understand that the process takes time. It is not advisable to enter into any negotiations with insurance until you are done treating your injuries and you have reached the point of maximum medical improvement. This means that your doctors believe that you won’t recover any further. It is important to wait until you are fully healed so that you have the final tally of costs for your medical treatment. The length of time it takes you to reach your point of maximum recovery depends on the type and severity of your injuries - it may be a few weeks to several months. During this time, it is important to keep up with all of your medical appointments to assure that you recover as quickly as possible.

Medical expenses normally make up the largest portion of the economic damages in a car accident claim. These can include the following: ambulance costs, ER visits, Urgent Care or clinic visits, hospital stays, medication costs, medical device costs such as splints, slings, braces, hot and cold packs or orthopedic pillows, office visits, injections, surgeries. Future necessary medical costs for things such as prosthetics and future surgeries may also be recoverable. There are additional damages which may be recovered other than just medical expenses. These fall under the category of general damages and include the following: pain and suffering, lost wages, lost earning capacity, loss of consortium (relationship with spouse), disfigurement, and in some cases emotional damages.

Nevada law allows the victim in an accident or injury case to make a claim to recover lost income and lost wages. The lost wages must be well documented and proven to have been caused by the defendant’s negligence or wrongdoing. A wage loss claim may be made for: regular or overtime pay, commissions or bonuses, vacation or sick days you had to use due to your injury.

Legally, you cannot be fired for or retaliated against for filing a workers’ comp claim and for forcing your employer to use their insurance. The workers’ comp program is designed to protect employees who were injured on the job. However, employers can terminate you during your workers’ comp claim. Most employees are “at-will” meaning that they may be terminated or laid off for any reason or no reason at all. These reasons may include things like: poor performance, discipline problems, company financial problems, or company restructuring. Additionally if you can’t return to work after reaching maximum medical improvement, then you may be terminated.

Medical expenses normally make up the largest portion of the economic damages in a car accident claim. Even without an injury that is considered “major” these expenses can become quite costly. Sprains and strains may require months of chiropractic and physical therapy appointments. It is important to consider all medical costs when considering your actual medical expenses. These can include the following: ambulance costs, ER visits, Urgent Care or clinic visits, hospital stays, medication costs, medical device costs such as splints, slings, braces, hot and cold packs or orthopedic pillows, office visits, injections, surgeries. Future necessary medical costs may also be recoverable. There are additional damages which may be recovered other than just medical expenses. Therefore, even if your injury is not what you consider to be “major” the amount of monetary damages can grow quickly. If you have any injuries at all, it is wise to consult an attorney who can advise you on your case.

Nevada follows the “partial comparative negligence” approach for fault. This means that if you are more than 50% at fault for your accident, you cannot recover any damages. However, if you are 50% or less at fault, you can still recover damages, but your damages will be reduced by your percentage of fault. For example, if you are 20% at fault for the accident, you will only be able to recover 80% of the damages. Washington follows the “pure comparative fault” approach. This means that no percentage of fault bars a plaintiff from recovering damages. As long as the plaintiff is less than 100% at fault, he can recover damages reduced by his fault percentage. For example, if a Washington plaintiff is 99% at fault, he could still recover for 1% of the damages.

Right after a crash, your emotions may be high and you may feel overwhelmed. If you follow the steps below, you will be set up for your own recovery as well as for negotiations with the insurance company, settlement of your claim and litigation if necessary. Immediately after the crash Check on yourself: Make sure you are ok. If you have neck or back injuries, don’t move and wait for emergency services. Check on your passengers: After ensuring that you are ok, make sure your passengers are ok. If they are very injured, do not move them and wait for emergency services. Get to Safety: If you and your passengers are ok to move, get out of the road and move to a safe place such as a sidewalk. Call 911:This will summon emergency services and police in order to get medical care and reporting underway. Consider calling tow services if needed. Document the crash: Take photos or videos. Exchange information with the other party. Record any observations that you see.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, only 4% - 5% of personal injury cases in the U.S. ever go to trial. This means that 95% - 96% of cases settle before they ever get to trial. It is impossible for an attorney to predict whether a particular case will go to trial. The decision to go to trial is usually made after attempts to negotiate and settle the claim fail. There are alternative methods to resolve disputes besides going to trial, such as mediation and arbitration. Every situation is different and many factors can influence the decision to file a lawsuit. Just a few of these factors are: the extent of your injuries, the amount of your medical expenses, whether you incurred lost wages or other damages, and whether the opposing party accepted liability for the accident. Your attorney will advise you on your options as your case progresses.

Filing an insurance claim is different from filing a lawsuit with the court. A claim is a request to an insurance company for them to provide coverage or compensation for the accident. A lawsuit is a process whereby a court determines the outcome of the legal dispute that arises from the accident. A personal injury lawsuit in Nevada against a third party for a motor vehicle collision must be filed no later than TWO YEARS from the date of the crash. A personal injury lawsuit against a third party for a motor vehicle crash in Washington must be filed no later than THREE YEARS from the date of the accident. While there is no time limit for submitting a claim to your insurance company as imposed by Nevada or Washington law, your insurance company may have a deadline written into your policy. Always check your specific policy for these deadlines.

An attorney will help you to file your claim with your insurance company and your lawsuit against a negligent party. Your attorney will build your case and negotiate on your behalf so that you can continue with your life and focus on recovering from your injuries. Having an attorney to represent you saves you time and energy, allowing you to relax and to get your life back to normal after your injury.

The decision to accept or reject an offer always belongs to the client. Your attorney is available to give you legal information or advice. Our attorneys are experienced at negotiations and will work to ensure that you receive the compensation that you deserve. We are very knowledgeable about how to handle discussions with insurance companies and other attorneys and we will always zealously advocate for you and advise you on decisions regarding your case. However, the final decision is always yours.

Attorney fees are paid on a contingency basis. This means that the fees are deducted from all gross amounts recovered from any source in your case including but not limited to: any recovery from third parties, uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage or bad faith. Costs and expenses are advanced by the attorney to prosecute the claim and are deducted from the recovery after the attorney’s fee. Costs include, but are not limited to: general office expenses such as photocopies, postage, courier fees, investigation expenses, medical consultation fees, photography and video fees, evidence storage fees, filing fees, service of process fees, bond fees, witness fees, expert fees, records fees, legal research, court reporter fees, courtroom presentation and technician fees, travel expenses, arbitration fees, mediation fees and jury fees.

Van Law Firm primarily handles personal injury cases including motor vehicle accidents and premises cases such as slip and falls.