Redmond, WA, Car Accident Lawyers

When 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 Redmond, WA, 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 Bellingham, WA 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 Bellingham, WA, 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 Redmond, WA, 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 Bellingham 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 Redmond 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 Redmond, WA

When they are in accidents, drivers in Washington have some legal responsibilities. Additionally, many motorists unintentionally do, or don’t do, some things that could hurt their future claims for damages.

All drivers, regardless of fault or extent of damage, must stop, provide insurance and contact information, or leave a note, and assist injured victims if possible.

This duty continues until emergency responders arrive. When that happens, these responders take over, at least for most purposes. Priorities for emergency responders include tending to injured victims and securing the scene. Collecting evidence for a future negligence suit is not on the list. This responsibility falls to the victims themselves, or to their Redmond car accident lawyers.

Since the victim/plaintiff has the burden of proof, evidence collected at the scene is often vital. This proof includes:

  • Pictures of vehicle damage and your injuries
  • Names and contact information of potential witnesses
  • Location of nearby surveillance cameras
  • Pictures of the crash scene.

It is also important for victims to seek immediate medical treatment. You don’t know how badly you are hurt until a doctor examines you.

Many victims are too seriously hurt to take care of these things themselves. If that’s the case, it’s even more important to call a lawyer immediately. If your attorney gets a head start, the case’s outcome is usually better.

Doing the right things is not enough. Victims must also not do some things. Do not apologize to other drivers, don’t give detailed information to emergency responders, and don’t talk to the other driver’s insurance company.

Recoverable Damages After a Car Accident in Redmond

We all make mistakes from time to time, and we all must accept responsibility for the mistakes we make. After a vehicle collision, this responsibility includes paying compensatory damages.

Victims need compensation for economic losses. They deserve compensation for their noneconomic losses. Quite frankly, these victims need money to put the shattered pieces of their lives back together. We firmly believe that this money should never come from their own pockets.

Economic Damages

Compensation for tangible, economic losses is perhaps the most important component of compensatory damages. Your Redmond car accident lawyer can usually convince doctors and other providers to delay billing or collection until the case is resolved. But these bills must be paid eventually.

Following a serious car accident, the victim’s medical bills often exceed $50,000. This figure includes emergency care, hospitalization, follow-up care, and physical therapy. Ancillary costs, like transportation expenses (such as helicopter medevac), prescription drugs, and medical devices could be even higher, in some cases.

Future medical bills are an important consideration as well. Unless the final settlement properly accounts for these future costs, the victim could be financially responsible for them. That’s the biggest reason settlement negotiations only heat up when medical treatment is at least substantially complete.

Lost wages and compensation for property damage are the other two major components of economic damages. Lost wages usually means lost productivity. Many recovering victims have good days and bad days. Property damage includes more than the Blue Book value of a wrecked car. Frequently, the family car has an emotional value that exceeds its financial value.

Non-Economic Damages

General damages, usually referred to as non-economic damages, are more difficult to compute in monetary terms. They include:

  • Pain and Suffering: This general category usually includes emotional distress, for those who suffered injuries in a car wreck. Money cannot relieve emotional pain and suffering. But it is the only remedy available under Washington law.
  • Lost Quality of Life: Some accident injuries cause disabilities that might require medication or the use of ambulatory aids for the rest of your life. You could recover compensation for loss of quality of life if the accident injuries caused such life-changing changes.
  • Loss of Companionship: If your car accident injuries caused long-term or permanent disabilities that preclude you from enjoying family events and activities, you could recover extra compensation.
  • Loss of Consortium: If the car accident injuries caused a long-term or permanent disability that precludes you from having a physical relationship with your spouse, whether those injuries are physical or emotional, you could recover extra compensation.

To determine a reasonable amount of non-economic losses, most Redmond, WA car accident lawyers multiply the economic losses by two, three, or four, mostly depending on the facts of the case.

There Is No Fee Unless Our Redmond, WA, 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 Redmond, WA, car accident attorneys at 206-741-1053 for a free case evaluation as soon as possible.

Redmond, WA, Car Accident FAQs

  • When should I contact a car accident lawyer in Redmond, WA?

    You should contact our Redmond, WA, 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 Redmond, and the at-fault driver and I live in another city. Do I have to use your Redmond office?

    No. You can work with our car accident lawyers 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

Attorney Jed StrongJed 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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    Client Review

    “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
    Client Review

    “I hired Strong Law after my car accident. Jed and his team worked hard on my case. They were professional and compassionate through my surgery and as I recovered, and they were awesome on communication. I got justice and awesome compensation. I would recommend Strong Law to anyone in my situation.

    – Rick R.

    “I want to thank Jed and Tory of Strong Law for their outstanding help with my case. The attention to details and keeping me informed at all times made for a positive outcome. Thank you again for your help, determination, and hard work. I would not hesitate to recommend you to anyone in need of an excellent lawyer.

    – Jaretta O.

    “Unbelievable work! I had a claim involving my own insurance company. I tried to negotiate with them, and they completely denied my claim – two times. I then hired Strong Law, and the change was instant. The insurance company immediately began negotiating, and Jed was able to secure an unbelievably good settlement. I will never again attempt to take-on an insurance company without Strong Law in my corner. Thank you!

    – Jonathon S.

    “Absolutely outstanding! I was involved in a motorcycle accident and Jed led the way! Definitely top notch! When it matters, call strong law!

    – Edwin S.

    “While working a wrongful death case of my husband’s, throughout the legal process, Jed pursued every possible resource and angle to ensure that we would receive policy limits despite intense resistance from the representatives of the insurance companies. We are deeply grateful to him for the funds we received and the lasting friendship that grew out of the entire ordeal.

    – Cheryl.

    Contact Our Team of Redmond, WA, 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 Redmond, WA, 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.