Hillsboro, OR, Car Accident Lawyers
Protect Your Rights After a Car Accident
Hillsboro, OR Car Accident Lawyers
Hillsboro, OR Car Accident LawyersWhen someone hits you with their vehicle, you may suffer injuries like minor cuts and scrapes, or you could suffer catastrophic injuries. The at-fault driver, or their insurance company, should pay for your medical expenses and other damages. Our Hillsboro, OR, car accident attorneys can help you protect your rights and get the compensation you deserve.
After an accident, the at-fault driver's insurance company is usually responsible for paying damages. However, insurance companies will certainly try to avoid paying a claim; and they’re notorious for offering minimal amounts to settle.
If you suffered injuries or lost a loved one in a car accident, contact one of our Hillsboro, OR, car accident lawyers at Strong Law at 206-741-1053 for a free case evaluation and assistance in dealing with insurers.
Our Team Gets Results for Our Clients
Find Out Why So Many People Trust Strong Law
Our Hillsboro, OR, car accident team works hard to get results for our clients. We take the time necessary to investigate your car accident case to the fullest extent. We leave no stone unturned so that we can represent your interests to the best of our ability.
The legal system is complex; and if your car accident case has more than one person at fault, it becomes even more complicated. Count on our experience, our strategic and negotiating skills and our knowledge of the law. We make sure insurance companies and other defendants do not violate your rights. We will make sure that you get all the compensation you deserve. Some of our results include:
- A client was rear-ended while sitting at a stoplight. His neck surgery forced him to stay in a rehabilitation center for two months. We recovered $1.1 million for him.
- A drunk driver crossed the center line, causing a head-on collision with our clients. We recovered $1 million for them.
- A vehicle hit our client as the client was crossing the street. His injuries required surgery on his knee and shoulder and caused him to be out for work for over a year. We recovered $900,000 for him.
- Our client was a passenger in the vehicle driven by an acquaintance. Unbeknownst to our client, the acquaintance was drunk. The driver crashed into a tree, causing our client to suffer neck injuries that required surgery. We recovered $875,000 for our client.
- Three young children were riding in a car that was T-boned while the driver was making a left turn into a parking lot. The three children suffered injuries in the wreck. We recovered $680,000 for the children.
Each matter is unique, and your results may vary.
Proving Liability in a Hillsboro, OR, Car Accident
Our Experienced Attorneys Know How to Show Who Was at Fault
In some cases, it is obvious who was at fault in a car accident. In other cases, your attorney might have to retain private investigators to determine who was at fault in the car accident. While the police report can point to liability, it is not the only tool a car accident lawyer in Hillsboro will use.
To recover damages in a car accident, you must be able to show that the other driver met the four elements to prove liability. Those elements are:
- The driver – also known as the defendant – had a duty of care not to harm you.
- The driver violated that duty.
- The driver’s actions caused your injuries.
- You suffered damages as a result of those actions.
More than one person could meet these elements – and if they do, they are also responsible for your injuries and other damages.
To help prove who shares in the liability for the damages you can collect, our Hillsboro car accident lawyers will investigate the accident scene and use expert witnesses to recreate the accident, when necessary. Our attorneys will also interview first responders, police officers and other witnesses who were at the scene of the accident.
What to Do After a Car Accident in Hillsboro, OR
In many cases, your injuries could prevent you from doing anything after a car accident. However, if you feel that you can move around without causing additional harm to yourself, you should take the following steps after a car wreck:
- Call first responders and check on others involved in the wreck.
- Obtain the other drivers’ contact information, insurance information and registration information.
- Speak to witnesses. First, obtain a good phone number from anyone who witnessed the accident. You can also ask a witness what he or she saw. If you do, be sure to take notes about which witness said what.
- Allow the emergency medical technicians to check you over, even if you believe your injuries are minor. Some injuries will not manifest for hours or even a day or two.
- After the police release you from the scene, seek medical attention as soon as possible. Let the medical personnel know that you were in an accident and you want to ensure that you do not have any injuries that have not manifested yet.
- Contact our car accident lawyers in Hillsboro, OR.
Recoverable Damages After a Car Accident in Hillsboro
Very few events turn lives upside down faster, and more completely, than a sudden and unexpected vehicle collision. These victims usually sustain serious injuries, like broken bones, head injuries, and internal injuries. Usually, these injuries are disabling, at least to an extent. Oregon has one of the highest average daily hospital costs in the country. As a result, these victims quickly accumulate medical bills which, in many cases, they cannot possibly pay. The financial strain combined with the physical strain traps families in a downward spiral.
A Hillsboro car accident lawyer obtains compensation for these losses. Victims need this compensation to pay medical bills and other accident-related expenses. They deserve it because the car accident wasn’t their fault. No one can turn back the hands of time and break the chain of events that led to a vehicle collision. Financial compensation is the next best thing, and, quite frankly, money helps victims recover and move on with their lives. At this point, that’s the best possible outcome.
Economic Damages
This phrase refers to the out-of-pocket expenses related to a vehicle collision in Oregon. Specific items include:
- Medical Bills: We mentioned hospital bills above. Other medical bills include follow-up medical care and physical therapy expenses. Ancillary medical costs include things like transportation (usually the ambulance or helicopter ride to the hospital), medical devices, and prescription drugs.
- Lost Wages: Frequently, this category really means “lost productivity at work.” As a result, this portion of economic damages is often hard to calculate. Many recovering victims have good days and bad days. It may be several months, or even longer, before they are back to work at full speed.
- Property Damage: This component is often hard to calculate, as well. For example, the family car often has an emotional value which, in many cases, exceeds its financial value.
It’s very important not to settle or otherwise resolve a car accident claim until medical treatment is at least substantially complete. If cases settle too early, the settlement might not reflect all probable future medical expenses. If that’s the case, the victim could be financially responsible for these charges.
Non-Economic Damages
Economic damages go a long way toward compensating car crash victims. But this relief is incomplete. Intangible losses include:
- Pain and suffering,
- Loss of consortium (companionship),
- Emotional distress, and
- Loss of enjoyment in life.
Many of these noneconomic damages are difficult to calculate. How can anyone put a price tag on something like a sleepless night worrying about accident-related bills or the inability to push a child on a swing?
To determine a fair amount, most Hillsboro car accident lawyers multiply the economic losses in a case by two, three, or maybe four, largely depending on the facts in the case.
Punitive damages, a special form of noneconomic damages, are available in a few extreme cases, such as an alcohol-related wreck caused by a driver with a sky-high BAC level. Jurors may award these additional damages if there is clear and convincing evidence that the tortfeasor (negligent driver) intentionally disregarded a known risk.
There Is No Fee Unless Our Hillsboro, OR, Car Accident Lawyers Win
You might be thinking that it is all well and good that we can obtain these types of results for our clients, but you worry about fees to retain us. This is one concern you don’t need to have.
Your initial case evaluation is free, and you don’t pay our attorney’s fees unless we win your case for you. If we win, we take our attorney’s fees from your settlement or trial award. We understand that you are going to have a hard enough time paying bills while you are out of work due to accident injuries. We have the resources to investigate your case and negotiate for a settlement to cover your injuries and costs or to take your case to court.
To win the compensation you deserve, contact our Hillsboro, OR, car accident attorneys at 206-741-1053 for a free case evaluation as soon as possible.
Hillsboro, OR, Car Accident FAQs
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When should I contact a car accident lawyer in Hillsboro, OR?
You should contact our Hillsboro, OR, car accident lawyers as soon as possible after the accident. Even if you are in the hospital, we can still meet with you for your initial case evaluation. We can visit you in the hospital or conduct a case evaluation over the phone or via video call.
If you are not able to meet with us due to your injuries, a loved one may contact us on your behalf. We will let your loved one know what steps to take.
My accident was not in Hillsboro, and the at-fault driver and I live in another city. Do I have to use your Bellingham office?
No. You can work with our car accident lawyers in our office in Tacoma, WA, or even Portland or Eugene, OR. We also have an office in Salt Lake City, UT. Because of jurisdiction and venue laws, you should visit the office closest to where you or the defendant lives or closest to where the accident took place.
The insurance adjuster for the defendant’s insurance company keeps calling me. What should I do?
Ask the adjuster to contact our office. If you have given the insurance adjuster this information previously, tell the adjuster not to call you again. Additionally, let our office know that the insurance adjuster continues to reach out to you. We will also inform the insurance adjuster that he or she should not contact you.
I need to have my car fixed before my case settles. How do I get it fixed?
We will contact the insurance company on your behalf to get information about repairing your vehicle. Once an investigation has been completed, you can take your car in for repairs. In many cases, insurance companies have separate departments for property damage and personal injury claims. You can discuss getting your vehicle repaired with the property damage department, or you can ask us to obtain the information you need for the repair shop to submit expenses.
If the driver who hit me was on the job, can I also collect from his or her employer?
If the employer is found to have some fault in the accident, you can also sue the employer’s insurance company. For example, if the investigation finds that the brakes failed on a delivery car and the employer knew that the brakes were malfunctioning but told the driver to drive the car anyway, the employer could share in the responsibility for your damages.
If I caused an accident because of a defective part on my vehicle that the manufacturer would not recall, can I sue the manufacturer?
Yes and no. Generally, manufacturers are strictly liable for the injuries their defective products cause. However, if you knew about the defect and did nothing to make your vehicle safer, the manufacturer could use that inaction as a defense.
Strict liability is a higher standard than negligence. A defective product, like a defective tire or an ignition issue, could seriously injure thousands of people. There are basically two kinds of product defects in Washington law:
- Design Defect: The 1970s Ford Pinto is an example of a design defect. To make the car lighter and cheaper, designers put the Pinto’s unlined gas tank behind the rear axle. As a result, it was overly prone to rupture and explosion, even in a relatively low speed accident.
- Manufacturing Defect: 1990s Takata airbags are an example of a manufacturing defect. To cut costs, the manufacturer replaced a stable and expensive chemically propellant with ammonium nitrate, which is unstable and cheap. Ammonium nitrate is basically the same compound Timothy McVeigh used in the Oklahoma City truck bomb.
The unforeseeable use doctrine is basically the only legal defense in a defective product claim. Manufacturers are not liable for damages if individuals misuse a product, and that misuse causes injury. The misuse must be extreme, like using racing tires to go off-roading in the Cascades.
Is it possible to suffer post-traumatic stress disorder after an accident?
Absolutely. In fact, it’s also possible to suffer from PTSD-like symptoms, and obtain compensation for them, even if you were not otherwise injured.
About half of car crash victims suffer from PTSD. Going through a stressful event, like a car wreck or combat firefight, alters brain chemistry. The amygdala (part of the brain that controls emotional responses) enlarges, and the cerebral cortex (logical responses) shrinks. This imbalance causes effects like depression, anger, flashbacks, and other symptoms that make it difficult or impossible to function in everyday life.
Furthermore, the additional stress parents feel when they see their children injured triggers a special legal doctrine, called the zone of danger rule. Therefore, parents in these situations are entitled to compensation for bystander injuries. This compensation could include both the economic and noneconomic damages mentioned above.
What if the accident was my fault?
Tragedies like car crashes often have multiple causes. So, both drivers could well be partially responsible for the wreck. However, there are two important things to remember in this area.
First, there is a difference between fault and legal responsibility (known as “liability”). An insurance adjuster, who will have the insurance company interests as their focus instead of yours, usually determines fault based solely on the immediately available evidence. If your case goes to trial, a jury or judge determines liability based not only on the evidence at the scene, but also on electronic and other subsequently available evidence.
Additionally, even if you were partially responsible for the accident, compensation is still available. Washington is a pure comparative fault state. So, even if the victim was 99 percent responsible for the collision, the negligent driver is liable for a proportionate share of damages.
Attorney Jed Strong
Jed Strong is the founder of Strong Law. He knows that accident injuries can be devastating to individuals and families, so he does everything in his power to ensure his clients recover every bit of compensation they deserve. Prior to representing accident victims, Jed worked for GEICO insurance company as one of its in-house attorneys – representing the insurance companies. After learning the inner workings of insurance companies, he quit and began representing accident victims. [ Attorney Bio ]
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“Excellent attorneys and staff!! My attorney, Peter, and his paralegal, Katrina, went ABOVE & BEYOND to get me a settlement that was even higher than my own personal bottom line. I highly recommend Strong Law for all your personal injury claims. I would not have been able to navigate this 3-year long journey without them! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!”
Anita Washington
Contact Our Team of Hillsboro, OR, Car Accident Lawyers for a Free Case Evaluation
Car accident injuries, especially those that cause long-term or permanent disabilities, can significantly change your life – and usually not for the better. While the compensation you deserve does not get rid of your injuries and disabilities, nor does it bring back a loved one who died in a car accident, the money does reduce the financial stress of not being able to work or of missing that second income.
Our Hillsboro, OR car accident attorneys can help protect your rights after an accident and help you recover the compensation you deserve. If you or a loved one was in a car accident, contact Strong Law at 206-741-1053 for a free case evaluation.
Our Team
Jed Strong is the founder of Strong Law. He knows that accident injuries can be devastating to individuals and families, so he does everything in his power to ensure his clients recover every bit of compensation they deserve. Prior to representing accident victims, Jed worked for GEICO insurance company as one of its in-house attorneys – representing the insurance companies. After learning the inner workings of insurance companies, he quit and began representing accident victims. [ 
