Seattle Personal Injury Lawyers
The personal injury attorneys in Seattle at Wiener & Lambka are dedicated to compassionate client service and aggressive legal representation. We understand that the period surrounding a serious injury is often marked by confusion and stress.
Powerful Representation
- We are a Team of Trial Attorneys
- Registered Nurse on Staff
- We are Former Insurance Company Attorneys
- 70 Plus Years of Experience
Personal Attention
- Free Consultations
- We Come to You!
- 24 Hour Service
- An Attorney Handles Every Case (many firms use only paralegals)
- We Charge No Fees Unless We Collect (costs only)
Proven Results
- Over $65,000,000 Collected for Our Clients
- Thousands of Satisfied Clients
- Six and Seven Figure Awards and Settlements
- Greater than 85% of our Cases Resolve Without Needing a Lawsuit
Personal Injury
Contents
For years, our personal injury attorneys have eased the anxiety and frustration of Washington personal injury victims, laboring tirelessly to deliver prompt results. Wiener & Lambka Attorneys at Law, have earned a reputation throughout the state of Washington for consistently attaining impressive financial recoveries for our clients’ injuries and putting certainty back into their future so they can continue to lead normal, healthy lives.
Personal injuries often result in much more than medical bills and lost wages from time off work. Injuries can have unforeseen, debilitating effects that leave a person permanently disabled or cause premature death. Depending on the severity of the injury, victims or loved ones can be left to shoulder exorbitant bills all alone. Our personal injury attorneys in Seattle, Washington will not let this happen to you! We have earned a well-deserved reputation for obtaining maximum compensation for our clients’ injuries.
Serious personal injuries are often followed by a frightening period of uncertainty. We will fight to put the security back into your future. If you are in need of a personal injury attorney and live anywhere within Washington state, our Seattle-based law firm will answer all your questions and provide you with expert legal representation.
What is Personal Injury Law (Tort Law)
Personal injury law, or tort law, aims to provide individuals injured by a person or business’ negligent or malicious actions with adequate and appropriate financial compensation. By allowing the injured party to seek financial compensation for injuries and damages, personal injury law not only protects the injured individuals but also deters illegal and wrongful actions in the future. A variety of grievances fall under personal injury law including wrongful death, auto accidents, medical malpractice, defective drugs, product liability, and workers’ compensation.
Successful personal injury lawsuits must establish two essential elements: liability and damages. Liability refers to legal responsibility. The plaintiff must prove that, under the law of the state, the defendant is responsible for the incident. Damages refer to the injured party’s right to receive financial compensation. The plaintiff must demonstrate that the damages claimed are plausible and appropriate, reflecting the true extent of the sustained injury. Every state maintains different standards for each element. It is important to retain a qualified attorney who will represent your case proficiently and aggressively. Our personal injury attorneys in Seattle have extensive experience representing Washington residents’ personal injury claims. We understand the law and will work to attain the largest compensation possible.
Establishing Liability
In order to establish liability, you must prove a person has acted negligently. There are three categories of negligence recognized by personal injury law:
Tort of Negligence: You claim that the person caused your injury by failing to prevent it. For example, if a property owner digs a hole in a high-traffic area and fails to block it off, and you subsequently fall in and break your leg, you may claim the owner acted negligently because he failed to take precautions against such a fall.
Strict Liability: Strict liability is also called product liability. If you use a product as directed and are injured by it, you have a claim against the manufacturer, regardless if the resultant injury was caused by negligence or malicious intent.
Intentional Wrong: This type of liability protects victims of domestic violence and sexual abuse. It allows the victim to pursue a civil suit as well as criminal charges against the perpetrator.
Personal injury law is not cut and dry. It is imperative that every victim obtain experienced and capable representation. Our personal injury attorneys in Seattle, Washington are qualified professionals thoroughly familiar with Washington personal injury law. We will explain all the facets of personal injury law and examine the strength of your claim.
Proving Negligence
Society expects people to abide by certain codes of behavior. These codes are essential to a properly functioning society. Without them, chaos would ensue. According to the law, standards of behavior are defined by what a reasonable person would do in a situation, instead of what the average person would do. This is an important distinction. The majority of a community could behave a particular way, but, if that behavior is not in line with what is deemed reasonable, an injury sustained as a result of the behavior could be protected by personal injury law. For example, if you are in a store and slip and fall on an unmarked, freshly mopped floor, you can claim the store owner acted negligently, even if every store on that block routinely ignores safety regulations and fails to mark wet floors.
In order to prove negligence, you must establish two things: (1) the defendant deviated from the accepted standards of behavior and your injury would have been prevented if the defendant had observed the standards of behavior, and (2) the defendant’s actions caused your injury.
Federal and State Statutes
If the defendant acted contrary to federal or state statutes, there is a strong chance he will be held liable for any injuries resulting from his actions. However, disobeying a federal or state statute does not necessarily guarantee a guilty verdict. If a reasonable person would have acted the same way in a similar situation, the defendant may not be held accountable.
Duty
The law recognizes that a person has a reasonable responsibility to protect others from harm. For example, a property owner must mark off a gaping hole in the middle of a high-traffic area. However, this duty is restricted. The law does not obligate a person to help another individual who is in trouble. If a person does choose to help another individual, though, the care must adhere to certain standards. This means if you decide to help a person in trouble and the person is hurt in the process, you may be found liable for the injury.
Implied Assumption of Risk
If you are forewarned about certain inherent risks associated with a situation and a person’s negligent behavior results in your injury, the negligent party is not responsible. For example, if a parent signs a school field trip consent form and his child is injured during the field trip, the school is not liable because the parent was warned of the potential dangers.
If you believe your injury is legally protected by personal injury law, it is crucial for you to immediately contact a personal injury attorney. Our firm in Seattle, Washington employs some of the most knowledgeable and talented attorneys in the state. We will gladly explain the important aspects of personal injury law and help you assess your case.
Damages
Personal injury law is designed to reward the victim of negligent or malicious behavior with appropriate financial compensation that reflects the severity of the negligence. Damages have two purposes: (1) To cover all injury-related costs the victim may incur, and (2) to prevent reoccurrences. There are two types of damages awarded to successful plaintiffs:
Compensatory: Compensatory damages are meant to cover all expenses associated with an injury, including lost wages, pain and suffering, medical bills, earning capacity impairment, mental impairment, permanent disability, and more. The injured party must demonstrate to the court all of his immediate and future expenses, which can be difficult because some injury-related costs may take years to surface. This is where our personal injury attorneys based out of Seattle, Washington become extremely important. We have a track record of attaining impressive financial settlements that sufficiently cover all injury-related costs.
Punitive: These damages are awarded when the defendant’s behavior is deemed malicious or oppressive. Courts award punitive damages in order to punish the offender and dissuade others from similar behavior. There are very few circumstances where Washington law allows punitive damages.
All states limit the amount of time a plaintiff has to file a personal injury lawsuit, which means victims must promptly obtain the counsel of a personal injury attorney. In Washington, the statute of limitations for personal injury lawsuits is generally three years. Our personal injury attorneys in Seattle will help you file your case in a timely manner, assuring your right to seek monetary compensation.
Everything You Need To Know About Personal Injury in Seattle
If you are someone who has been on the receiving end of another person’s inability to follow safety laws, there is a chance that you are capable of receiving compensation for the harm that they caused. Not all situations where one person’s actions or inactions result in a legal claim. The answers you provide to three questions will decipher whether or not are able to make a personal injury claim. First of all, you will need to figure out if the other party intentionally caused you harm and breached their legal duty. In order to file a legal claim, we must prove that the person who caused your injuries acted negligently and ignored their civic obligation to uphold the law.
Only those who have a legal duty are able to be sought after in response to injuries they caused you. The police department is a prime example of individuals who may cause you harm but cannot be sued, due to a Supreme Court ruling that permits police officers to decide whether or not they address a complaint.
A court case dating back to 2005 resulted in this Supreme Court outcome.
The husband kidnapped her three children and she reported him to the police. Despite making several requests for the police to find her husband and the children, they took no steps to do so.
After the husband killed all three children, the mother sued the police department for their failure to take action.
The Court declared her suit invalid because, under the law, a police department is not required to protect citizens upon request. Police are given the space to implement discretion with the complaints they receive and therefore they do not have to respond to every claim that is brought to their attention.
The next question looks to understand if the individual who holds the legal duty caused injuries as a result of their carelessness. This question is at the heart of many personal injury cases. A common example of legal duties being breached is a car crash that is caused by an oncoming car running a red light. There are statutes governing how we are required to act when driving and they include coming to full stops at red lights.
Negligence is defined as unruly behavior that results from the failure to adhere to regulations, causing damage in the process.
In many situations, there is a fine line between negligence and dutiful behavior, which makes it difficult to prove negligence transpired. A scenario where negligence is tricky to corroborate involves the health spector because you must compare the behavior of the doctor in question to all other providers in similar practices. This is described as “standard of care.” The expectation for doctors is higher than for drivers operating motor vehicles.
The third question is whether or not the negligent actor caused the suing part harm. The injuries that the plaintiff sustained are considered harm. The injuries go beyond physical wounds; harm also refers to financial burdens, destruction of vehicular property, and all other inconveniences. Damages and harm are essentially the same thing. Proving that the negligent actions caused harm by displaying evidence is just as important to a personal injury case as showing that the defendant acted negligently.
For example, say you are driving home and someone in an oncoming lane runs a red light, causing you to have to stop suddenly. The behavior is negligent on their end, but if they do not cause a car crash, you do not have the grounds to file a lawsuit. This is because harm did not ensue from their negligent actions.
You were inconvenienced, certainly, and likely scared. Unfortunately, if the inflicted damages were not caused by negligent behavior and a failure to uphold legal duty, then the court will not deem your situation as worth receiving compensation.
In personal injury cases, the intent behind causation is highly contested. Your injuries may be evident to you, but the defense attorneys will find any reason to oppose your statement and deter the blame away from their client. They will attribute the damages to prior incidents, blame psychological factors, or belittle the severity of the injuries, suggesting that the injuries are not nearly as bad as the hurt person claims.
They act in this way because they want to discredit your claims for compensation. The law requires that the party bringing suit, referred to as the plaintiff, proves that the care they received was “reasonable and necessary” as a direct result of the incident. Defense attorneys might call upon doctors to testify against your claims that the care you received was necessary.
Types of Personal Injury Cases
Learn More Here
What should you do if you have suffered a personal injury? Before you do anything else, you should contact a personal injury lawyer.
Many personal injury law firms will charge a small fee to meet with you and discuss your situation. The initial consultation is free when you meet with us. Contact us via our website to start your case today.
You should not be expected to understand everything that personal injury cases require overnight. There is a lot of information involved, pertaining to subjects like insurance, the legal system, and medical care. Many personal injury attorneys don’t fully understand each of these areas of law themselves. Your personal injury case is unique to you and it should be treated as such.For example, you might experience a generic automobile accident where someone struck you from behind. Occurrences like this are widespread.You are not the only person who has ever been rear ended by another vehicle, but your case is still unique in its own rights. You definitely want to implore legal assistance sooner than later. Depending on the details of your case, there are multiple different outcomes that could happen. Follow the link below to get an understanding of how we go about handling our cases:
Slip and Falls
Slip and fall injuries are governed by premises liability, the legal precept that determines who is at fault when a person suffers an injury while on the property of another person. Specifically, premises liability is used to examine two questions: (1) did the owner take reasonable precautions to ensure the property was safe, and (2) did the victim act carelessly. In slip and fall cases, fault is not easily determined. The “reasonability” standard applies to the victim and property owner alike. The property owner may claim he took reasonable precautions, despite the fact that a person was injured. Furthermore, if the victim entered an area of the property he was not supposed to enter, or if he was acting recklessly, the property owner may be exonerated. Many defenses and arguments can convolute what seemed like a cut-and-dry case. Our experienced and talented personal injury attorneys in Seattle, Washington will sort through the complicated myriad of facts and represent your interests truthfully and aggressively.
If any of these circumstances apply, the property owner is more likely to be liable:
- The owner created a hazardous condition on the premises.
- The owner knew about a perilous condition on the premises and failed to rectify it.
- The owner should have been cognizant of the unsafe condition because any reasonable person would have been aware.
Determining guilt in a slip and fall personal injury case is a hazy matter made even more unclear by several exceptions that could potentially limit the property owner’s legal liability. Among the categories of exceptions are trespassers, children, and government property.
Here At Wiener & Lambka we have a lot of experience handling premises liability cases. Premises liability can be complex: different cases and different laws apply to different circumstances in different premises. So, for example, it you slip on snow or ice, that is really a completely different situation than if you’re shopping in a supermarket and you slip over a display case or something that the grocery has left out there. Each case really has to be analyzed individually, on its own merits, and we think we are very good at doing so and giving people the appropriate advice to handle those matters so they can be treated fairly.
One important element of premises liability cases is that an investigation be conducted early on. I can guarantee you that any business owner who has had a customer slip and fall in their place of business is going to conduct a thorough investigation to make sure that they are put in the best possible position regarding their legal liability. As a result, I think it is real important that people take advantage of the fact that we have a free consultation and that we are happy to talk about things at an early stage, and make sure that things get squared away well so you are put in the best possible position later on.
Dog Bites
The Centers for Disease Control estimates 4.7 million people are victims of dog bites each year. Most of these dogs are family pets. But this is not always the case. If you have been the victim of a dog bite, the law allows you to seek monetary compensation for medical bills and associated costs.
The standards for liability in dog bite lawsuits vary from state to state. In most states, the standards rely on precedent. If the owner is aware of a previous attack or vicious injury inflicted by his dog and decides to keep the dog, he is liable for all subsequent attacks, assuming the dog is not provoked. Other states evaluate dog bite lawsuits on a case-to-case basis. In these cases, the dog’s past behavior weighs heavily in the decision. In Washington, the behavior of the dog is not always considered; the owner is usually strictly liable for the dog bite.
Personal injury attorneys are essential to the successful resolution of a lawsuit and the size of the financial compensation. Our personal injury attorneys in Seattle, Washington, possess the knowledge and experience needed to effectively represent your case.
If you or a loved one has been injured as a result of someone else’s negligent or reckless behavior, we encourage you to contact our highly qualified personal injury attorneys, conveniently located in Seattle, Washington.
What is the Statute of Limitations for a Personal Injury Case?
A statute of limitations is a date by which you must either resolve, or properly file and serve, your lawsuit against the negligent party. The statute of limitations for personal injury cases in Washington State is three years. Attempting to seek reimbursement for the harm caused to you more than three years after the incident will restrict your ability to claim compensation.
If other statutes of limitations affect your case, the time limit may be drastically reduced. If assault is involved, then the statute of limitations drops to two years instead of three. Consult an attorney immediately if you think that you have a case.
The statute of limitations determines whether or not your claim is valid and timely, so pay close attention to this limitation. It is especially important to begin the steps of a lawsuit earlier on because the duration of lawsuits can stretch for years.
Compiling information about the person who caused you harm is a lengthy process in and of itself. We have had clients come to us without any knowledge of contact information for the driver who negligently caused a collision with them. If you do not know who injured you, your attorney cannot file a lawsuit on your behalf. Even with the information, the insurance companies acting as defense for their client will take every opportunity they can to have a case dismissed, especially if it is not properly carried out.
While the statute of limitations allows three years to take action, we advise that you begin the process much earlier. For all the reasons explained and many more, the most crucial thing to do when you suspect you have a case is to reach out to an attorney who specializes in personal injury.
Finding A Personal Injury Lawyer Who Is Right For You
It is important that you find an attorney that you trust. Your case will either settle without a trial or it will be taken to court before a judge and jury. No matter what results from the case, you will need to place your trust in the hands of your attorney. We tell all of our clients that it is our priority to provide them with important information and risk analysis so that they can make a good decision about their case.
We do not personally make the big decision for our clients. Our client gets to determine whether we accept a settlement package or we seek further compensation in the courtroom. The client gets to decide how much money they are willing to settle for as well.
Most personal injury attorneys will talk with you for free about your case and provide advice on how to best proceed. We do the same, and in all honesty, there is no advantage in charging people to discuss their situation with us because most people would not benefit from legal guidance. We look at each detail of personal injury cases on their own, and then once we have the full story, we analyze the details against one another as well. The sooner you address your situation, the more beneficial your outcome will be for you.
Selecting a law firm to hire onto your case is imperative to success with your case. While not all ratings are equal, looking at all of the different pieces of information is still valuable. At Wiener & Lambka, PS, we are very proud that almost all former clients endorse us and many have taken the time to do so online. You can find these reviews here:
The most important thing to consider when hiring an attorney is that you trust them. The most telling attributes of a lawyer is the way her or she interacts with people, how much experience he or she has acquired, and whether or not they uphold their client in court. The client comes first, always, so make sure you lawyer acts in accordance with their fiduciary duty.
Having an attorney who is as passionate about your situation as you are is key. At the end of your case there will only be one settlement or award. Once a case is closed, it can very rarely be reopened. You won’t ever get a chance to come back later for another bite at the apple. If your attorney isn’t clearly doing a good job by being responsive to your questions and concerns, you should consider seeking out counsel that will value your lawsuit.
Is Hiring A Personal Injury Attorney Worth It?
The short answer is it depends. The smaller the value of the claim, the less likely an attorney should be retained. An attorney is going to charge a contingency fee. This means the attorney will take a percentage of the total amount of money obtained for the client. Wiener and Lambka, PS typically charges the industry standard of 33.3% for non-litigated cases. In special circumstances, we charge a reduced fee. On cases where a lawsuit is needed in order to obtain a recovery then we reserve the right to charge a slightly higher fee (39%). Because a smaller case would result in a smaller fee for the attorney some cases simply aren’t worth the attorney’s time from a business stand point, but these cases are also more likely to resolve agreeably without the need for legal expertise and an attorney’s involvement is not likely to provide enough of a benefit to justify taking a third of a smaller pie.
Many cases, however, do warrant attorney involvement. It is important to remember in the vast majority of cases, the only thing the attorney can do is obtain money as compensation for a client. Accordingly, a case is, for better or worse, a business asset of the client. An attorney can help increase the value of this asset and can help to insure the full value of a claim is obtained. Put another way, getting everything one can is important, but not as important as making sure the insurance company doesn’t take advantage of an injured party i.e. the value of the claim can be preserved and the client is treated fairly.
While injured parties can attempt to resolve their claim on their own and then hire an attorney, this strategy does have drawbacks. First, whatever negotiations occur can handcuff an attorney from making progress later; it is hard to “unring” a bell. Second, the client may provide information that is harmful to the attorney’s ability to later obtain more compensation. Third, if negotiations go poorly, the adjuster may harbor resentment or ill feelings toward the injured party that permeate later attempts at settlement.
Another advantage of hiring an attorney is Washington law favors represented parties on the issue of subrogation. Subrogation is where your insurance company has paid for your bills (such as PIP of Health insurance) and then, when you collect those bills from the negligent party’s insurance company, you repay your company (so as to avoid a “double recovery” where a person gets the monetary value of their medical bills in their pocket when they have already received the care for free because of their own insurance having paid). In Washington, when an attorney obtains the third party settlement from the negligent driver, then first party insurance is still repaid, but a percentage is deducted and then provided back to the client under the theory that the client should not have to pay an attorney in order to obtain money for their own insurance company and, to the extent that the client did so, that money should be deducted. This amount is typically around one third of the bills in a case and can result in the attorney obtaining thousands of dollars more for a client than what the client could have obtained for themselves. Put another way, this amount usually pays for 30-40 percent of the attorney’s fee to the client. This means that the effective rate for representation is well below one third of the total amount obtained and closer to 25%.
Attorneys handle almost all of the dealings with the adjusters and attorneys from the insurance companies involved. We handle paperwork (although we often work with a client as much as for a client in many cases), case presentation and negotiations. While the client is always in charge of all important decisions about their case, having an attorney who can explain everything so that an informed decision can be made is important in most cases. There is rarely such a thing as a simple, straight forward automobile accident claim. Clients cannot possibly be expected to understand all of the insurance aspects of a claim, much less the legal importance of the individual facts of their unique case and how they apply to the evaluation of an injury claim.
We at Wiener and Lambka, PS take pride in our ability to keep our clients informed and aware of their options and to thereby provide outcomes that clients are happy about. When you resolve an injury claim there is no going back later if circumstances change of if the settlement occurred without fully understanding your rights. If nothing else, personal injury attorneys, including this firm, provide free consultations about your claim. Please take advantage of this to make sure that you are adequately protected and to avoid needless hassle with your claim.
Personal Injury Settlement Stats
The Centers for Disease Control made public their data from 2015, demonstrating that motor vehicle accidents were responsible for a total of 37,757 deaths that year. After heart disease, cancer, and respiratory illnesses, car accidents were the fourth main incidents that resulted in death. You can read more about the CDC’s findings on their website.
What Does a Personal Injury Settlement Look Like?
Many personal injury cases do not require a trial, seeing as they end in a civil agreement. Neither side receives exactly what they hoped for. Settlements involve a lot of deals that allow the parties to reach a happy medium. The person who sustained injuries usually just wants to be reimbursed for the financial burden the injuries created.
If injuries have healed and are a thing of the past, then it is easier for the injured party to reach a settlement. When injuries are still being treated by medical personnel, it may spark a sense of discomfort in the minds of the defending party. Not being given a numerical amount that is set in stone makes them worry that they will owe much more than they are agreeing to compensate. Unfinished medical treatment means more payments will be made along the way and that is a stress inducer. If you are still injured at the time of the suit, it creates a vulnerable space for them to make claims about your healing process.
The longer we wait to accept a settlement, the more money you can receive. They want to see how little they can offer. Once they pass the phase of offering low rates of reimbursement, they will offer larger amounts because they want to pay upfront rather than stretch the money that is due over a lengthy period of time.
Compensation is typically based on bills that you had to pay as a result of your injuries, but this is not always a reflection of how much you are owed, since harm includes aspects that are priceless. Such is an instance where compromises are necessary in order to reach a settlement. If an offer is made by the defendant, and accepted by the plaintiff, then the discussion is over.
All personal injury cases are different to some extent. Someone who breaks a rib will likely have lower medical bills than someone who has suffered a whiplash injury. Broken ribs require time to heal. Whiplash, on the other hand, can cost upwards of $10,000 in medical bills and rehabilitation efforts. This is not to say that one injury is more painful or debilitating than the other. They both may have the same value in terms of the patient’s pain, suffering, and loss of enjoyment of life as well. However, a broken rib might require an ER visit and one or two X-rays to be taken. The main point is the medical value tends to determine the amount of compensation you receive. Whiplash injuries require far more visits and types of care.
Damages in personal injury cases range in severity and form, including:
- wage loss
- damage to cars, eye equipment, valuable items, etc
- impairment of future earning capacity
- additional expenses for caretakers in the home as a result of injuries
- loss of consortium – the loss of love and affection of a spouse or other family member due to death or serious injury
- bills for medical care
- detrimental alterations in lifestyle
Settlement Periods Vary for Personal Injury Cases
Every case is unique but most cases follow a similar time table.
First, the client gets to a point where they no longer require medical care. Ideally, if a client can completely resolve their injuries, then that places them in a prime position for settlement. The insurance companies and attorneys working on behalf of the defendant are more willing to pay outright than to agree to pay future medical bills, due to the uncertainty they pose. Once a case has been settled, it cannot be reopened and you cannot try the defendant for the same liabilities, so we strive for the best possible outcome every time.
Since defense attorneys, defendants, and their insurance companies are more readily willing to comply when the future is not unknown, we wait to proceed with negotiations until injuries are stable. After the healing process has transpired, we collect the medical records of our client and base our settlement package upon the injuries and the care they received. Obtaining medical records usually takes about 8 weeks. Not all providers respond to our request for payment history and medical records, so we always anticipate a waiting period. Once we receive your medical records, we then have to comb through the details and make sure nothing is missing in the documents. Often, we find that not all records or bills are included in the official paperwork, so we have to submit another request for the missing documents. Having to wait longer for content we initially requested adds time to the already lengthy waiting period.
After we have ascertained that all necessary information is present, we can proceed with the analysis portion, which takes a few weeks as well. This package then needs to be sent to the insurance company and then time is needed for it to also review the matter. After the insurance company receives the package, they are allotted some time to refute our claims and offer other options. Not all insurance providers have the time to get back to us immediately, so additional time can be spent waiting for their reply to arrive. The hope is that we can reach an agreement with the insurance company, but if we cannot do so, then a lawsuit begins.
How to Hire a Personal Injury Lawyer in Seattle
It may seem at first blush that finding a good personal injury attorney will be a difficult task. This doesn’t have to be the case, however, as there are several ways to narrow your search and find someone with whom you feel comfortable to represent your interests.
First, the internet can be both helpful and not-so-helpful for this purpose. There are various sites that rate attorneys, but not all sites are as reputable or objective as one might hope. Like most research on the internet, one needs to be mindful of the source of their information and try to review all information provided in context. On the other hand, attorneys have fairly strict ethical guidelines in each state governing how they advertise and what they can say. Any statement an attorney makes about their services should be true and verifiable. If you don’t think that this is the case, then you should find an attorney who is believable and credible.
Look at reviews from the attorney’s former clients. At Wiener & Lambka, PS, you can find reviews for us in the following places:
Our website: www.wienerandlambka.com
Google: www.google.com
Avvo: www.avvo.com
Second, you can look at objective information about the firm you are considering. How long have they been in business? Do they have a track record the demonstrates success? While past successes do not necessarily provide indication of future successes nor is that a substitute for an evaluation of your person case, a firm that has been in business for a long time and can demonstrate a track record of success is re-assuring evidence that it is doing things the right way.
Third, the personal fit for you and your attorney. Having an attorney is a special relationship. Attorneys have important responsibilities toward their clients. The relationship is one of a fiduciary capacity and this means that the attorney has the duty to place the client’s interests ahead of their own. Such relationship can be fraught with difficulties if not handled properly by the attorney involved. While the client is the person who is primarily responsible to make the important decisions about a case, they cannot do so effectively without the attorney providing the information and analysis that is needed to form the basis for these decisions.
Consultations with most personal injury attorneys are free. We encourage anyone who believes that they may need representation to contact several attorneys and discuss their case. It is crucial that a client and their attorney have a good working relationship based upon respect and trust. We believe that if you go through this process, you will conclude that Wiener and Lambka, PS provides excellent customer service and is typically a good fit for most persons in need of legal representation in the personal injury field.
If you are looking for a proven professional, then please give us a call.
Contact your local Wiener & Lambka office today.
Your Free Consultation Appointment with Wiener & Lambka
We will not bill you for your initial consultation with us. We can conduct the initial meeting over the phone or through emails. No matter what, we would love to talk to you about the specificities of your situation and inform you about your options. We are honest in our approach and we will truthfully tell you if we do not think we can help you to the greatest extent.
If we feel that we are suited to help you and that your case requires legal aid, we will travel to a location near you to discuss the details of your situation. We will explain what lies ahead for you in respect to your legal claim when we meet with you. If you would like to meet us at our office, you can do so, but we grant clients with the option of having us come to them to eradicate any inconveniences travel may cause. We often meet our clients at local coffee shops, libraries, or meeting spaces, but the ultimate location is up to you!
As of 2010, our firm has worked on cases for over 3,500 clients from all over the State of Washington and many other states in the country. We provide each client personal attention. Unlike many personal injury firms that have one or two attorneys overseeing a group of legal assistants who do almost all of the work, each of our clients has a team of one attorney and one legal assistant assigned to them. All attorney teams are then supervised by a partner in the firm. We have a registered nurse on staff, and access to experts in every applicable field across the country. Since we opened our doors in 2002, we have obtained over $65,000,000 in awards and settlements for our clients.
We Come To You
We are happy to come to our potential clients in order to establish an attorney client relationship. We do not make injured people travel in order to get the legal help they need. We accept cases throughout Washington State. Our initial telephone or internet consultations are free of charge. Our representation is done on a contingent fee basis and we charge lower fees on those cases that settle without the need for a lawsuit. We have also been successful in settling over 85% of our cases without having to put a client through litigation.
We’re On Your Side
If you or a loved one has been injured as a result of the negligence of another, please contact our office for a free consultation. At Wiener & Lambka, PS, we’re on your side – every step of the way.
If you are looking for a proven professional, then please give us a call.
Contact your local Wiener & Lambka office today.