Washington Injury Law Blog

Pain is the natural side effect from any type of personal injury recovery, including car accidents and major trauma injuries. Unfortunately for many of those accident victims, the pain never goes away. This is something that accident survivors have always known but now a major pain study by the University of Washington has come to the same conclusion. The study which was published in the journal, Archives of Surgery was conducted by Dr. Frederick Rivara, MD. According to the study almost 63% of all trauma patients still experience moderate to severe pain one year after the accident.

The study included 3047 patients ages 18-84. They all had experienced acute trauma from an accident. The researchers followed the people for over one year and discovered most of the pain was reported in the joints and extremities (44%), back (26%) head (11%) and neck (7%). Moreover, 59% of those patients with injury-related pain had three or more painful areas one year after injury.

Other findings worth noting in this March 2008 study were that pain levels at the 3 month marker were indicators on how long pain severity would continue. Basically, if you had severe pain after three months of a single trauma, most likely you would be experiencing at least moderate pain in one year’s time. The study findings encourage doctors to treat the pain as well as the injury. One important conclusion reached by the study is that “Earlier and more intensive interventions to treat pain in trauma patients in needed.”

Information for early pain management options should be available to patients so that they can choose the best treatment according to their injury and lifestyle. Where can a person go to get unbiased information? First, always keep a good line of communication open with your doctor and then start with the following resources:

A general overview of evaluating Health Information on the Internet can be found at, http://www.fda.gov/oc/opacom/evalhealthinfo.html.

A comprehensive non-profit organization called the American Pain Foundation has several resource guides for managing and understanding your pain. Here are a few helpful links:

Pain Resource Guide,

Discussion Guide for you and your doctor,

Pain Treatment Options,

Options for Managing pain,

Target Chronic Pain guide.

Pain can rob you of your family time, work productivity and quality of life. Pain is a major part of any injury claim. That’s why it is important to choose an experienced Washington Injury Accident Attorney if you have been in a car accident of other accident caused by the negligence of another person.

The tax man is coming! April 15th is fast approaching, meaning it is time to pay Uncle Sam his due. As a Kirkland Washington personal injury attorney I rarely wade into tax law issues. However, for all my Washington personal injury clients, there is one very important tax regulation that applies to personal injury lawsuit verdicts or settlement money.

If you are the injured victim or family member that recovers money as the result of a personal injury lawsuit or claim – then the money received is not taxed. Under Federal Treasury Regulation § 104(a)(2) Gross Income (potentially taxable income) does not include money (unless punitive damages – which aren’t available under Washington laws) received as the result of personal injury lawsuit /claim settlement, judgment, or verdict.

If you settled your car accident or other Washington injury accident case in the last tax year you will not have to pay taxes on it. You will probably have to report that you received a personal injury settlement or verdict, but no taxes will be charged against it. So when your accountant or tax software asks you about the amount received don’t worry, you won’t pay more taxes by telling the IRS about your injury settlement/verdict money. 

The tax code section reads specifically: “Section 104(a)(2) excludes from gross income the amount of any damages received (whether by suit or agreement) on account of personal injuries or sickness. The term “damages received (whether by suit or agreement)” means an amount received (other than workmen’s compensation) through prosecution of a legal suit or action based upon tort or tort type rights, or through a settlement agreement entered into in lieu of such prosecution.”

Ben Sansone of the Missouri Injury Law Blog had recent post on the same subject. If you live in Missouri you should definitely check out his blog, it is excellent.

As a Kirkland Personal Injury Attorney I often have car accident clients who have suffered severe injuries – which have left them with chronic injuries that will last the rest of their lives. A traumatic brain injury can leave you permanently disabled with lingering effects from the accident.

A test has been developed by an insurance company doctor, Dr. Paul Lees-Haley, to find people who are faking injuries or over exaggerating the severity of their injuries. The test – called “Fake Bad Scale” – claims to find injury victims who are lying about the severity of their injuries. Which would be all and good if it was proven to be scientifically accurate – it isn’t. There is a lot of controversy and disagreement amongst the scientific community regarding the tests reliability and accuracy in finding fakers (a.k.a malingerers).

An article in the Wall Street Journal last week shed some light on this latest battle between greedy insurance companies and good guys like me, otherwise know as plaintiff’s attorneys. The test is commonly given as part of a psychological exam as a sub-part of the MMPI. Unfortunately, nearly everyone who takes it can be considered a faker – according to leading critic Dr. James Butcher. Great for insurance companies, bad for you the injury victim!

The test asks 43 true or false questions like “My sleep is fitful and disturbed” or “I have nightmares every few nights.” For someone suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder these can be legitimately true statements, but the test counts two points towards classifying you as a faker. Other test questions are “I have very few headaches” or “I have few or no pains.” If you suffer from chronic headaches you would say false, and again the test would count two more points towards labeling you a faker.

The author of this test, Dr. Lees-Haley over the last 18 years has received 95% of his work from defense attorneys representing insurance companies. I also find it very interesting that Dr. Lees-Haley paid to have his faker test published in a small medical journal in an attempt to buy his test instant creditability.

Luckily for injury victims across the country judges have often been persuaded to not allow this test into evidence in court cases. Whenever there is a genuine controversy surrounding the scientific soundness of a test – courts are generally suppose to forbid its use as evidence.

I have not had a case where Fake Bad Scale has raised its ugly head. But I’m sure its only a matter of time. Let’s hope that our Washington judges – if or when faced with deciding whether to allow the use of the Fake Bad test against an injury victim – choose on the side of caution. Choosing to protect injury victims over the greedy insurance company’s attempts buy excuses for failing to pay legitimate injury claims should be any easy choice in my biased opinion.

The best course of action if your insurance company is calling you a faker (a.k.a. malingerer) or requesting an “independent” psychological exam is to speak with an experienced Washington injury attorney pronto. Before you agree to this kind of testing you should absolutely know your rights!

There’s another good post by Missouri Injury Law Blog concerning Allstate’s settlement tactics. Allstate advertises that you’re in “Good Hands” with them. But ask any experienced Washington injury attorney or injury victim who has had to deal with Allstate on an injury claim and you’ll quickly hear how those hands came wrapped in boxing gloves.

Many of my clients have found dealing with Allstate on your own is like going a few rounds with Mohammad Ali. There’s a lot of jabs, some body blows and eventually you’re seeing stars wondering what happened. There are numerous stories of how Allstate adjusters have not dealt with people on a level playing field just like the story of attorney Ben Sansone’s client. 

A case in Washington had to reinforce the fact that Allstate cannot tell a Washington car accident victim they don’t need to speak with an attorney because the insurance adjuster is looking out for them and attorneys will only take money out of their pocket. When an insurance company tells someone they’re looking out for them and they don’t need an attorney to review a release of all claims form they want signed – the insurance company is giving legal advice without a license to practice law. That’s illegal – and just not right.

Although I haven’t personally had an insurance company threaten bankruptcy of the at fault driver as a way to force a low settlement — it doesn’t surprise me. An experienced Washington injury attorney should know that a bankruptcy has no effect on the available insurance. This underhanded tactic does not work on experienced injury attorneys, but if it were you — would you know the threat was hollow? I have had several cases were the at fault party went bankrupt, but the insurance coverage was still available and paid despite the bankruptcy. This is definitely a trap for the unwary and another reason you should speak with an experienced Washington injury attorney before speaking with an insurance adjuster.

Or better yet order my free book “The Guide to Washington Injury Cases” by clicking here. The book will give you some good information about the whole Washington car accident claim process before you speak with that pushy insurance adjuster.

Think your MySpace, Facebook, or social network page is not really going to come back to haunt you someday? Think again — it could happen in the worse of circumstances. A recent King 5 story tells the story of a young Arlington, Washington woman, Marissa Schneider, who was in a severe car accident and suffered very serious injuries that have left her in a nursing home unable to talk or care for herself at 21 years old.

The car accident that hurt Marissa so badly was caused by a driver that crossed the I-5 median into oncoming traffic and hit Marissa’s Dodge Spirit head-on. Marissa and her family have sued the driver and Chrysler — the maker of the Dodge Spirit — due to an alleged design flaw. Chrysler’s attorneys are being very aggressive and have subpoenaed Marissa’s MySpace account records including her private blog entries.

Corporation and insurance company lawyers are conducting these kind of “cyber-investigations” more and more. Chrysler believes the information on Marissa’s MySpace page will lead to relevant evidence in her car accident case. Defense attorneys in fact promote these kind of tactics openly as can be found on this defense attorney blog. Corporation and insurance company lawyers are looking for things on your MySpace page that contradict your injury claims or “there could be interesting stuff we’d like a jury to see.”

Kind of makes your stomach turn a little doesn’t it? Anything you put out there on the web could someday be fodder for a jury to decide your fate. Ouch, that’s scary! It’s enough to make you second guess that video from Friday night’s party you were thinking about posting. Defense attorneys have discussed the possibility of subpoenaing your online “friends” as witnesses including using your “friends” access to your page’s private areas, or even trying to become on of your “friends” to spy on you. These kinds of sneaky and underhanded tactics are what big corporations and insurance companies do in an effort to attack your credibility in a car accident case.

You may be asking yourself, is my Facebook or MySpace page in anyway relevant to my car accident? Why should I have to turn over my private account information for something that has no relevance to my car accident injuries? I totally understand that feeling of frustration and it’s what nearly everyone of my clients feels when faced with questions from defense attorneys in areas that seem irrelevant to the car accident.

Rules that apply to Washington car accident lawsuits allow a broad scope of questioning by defendants. This area of questioning is called discovery. During discovery both sides get to ask each other questions that will help find the truth about what happened and how badly you were injured. The rules give a very broad scope of things that can be questioned and discovered about you.  Sometimes this results in over-reaching or requests for stuff that is out of bounds.

The ultimate question is given Washington discovery rules is your MySpace, Facebook or other social network page out of bounds in your Washington car accident lawsuit? Unfortunately, the answer is not clear. In some circumstances your MySpace page may be relevant because it shows you doing things your injuries should not allow you to do. Other times there may be nothing there. The general rule the courts follow is whether the information requested could lead to information that is relevant to the car accident lawsuit. So if there’s a possibility that information requested could lead to information that could be used in your injury case, then a judge is likely to grant access to your MySpace page.

Washington appellate courts have not had an opportunity to address a question regarding access to a person’s MySpace, Facebook or other social network page. However, it is only a matter of time before we see some rulings from the Washington high courts to give this area added guidance. Until then — it’s probably a good idea to speak with an experienced Washington car accident attorney about the effect your MySpace page may have on your car accident case. There are steps that your attorney can take to protect you in certain circumstances.

But for now — BEWARE — you’re private MySpace page may be an open book when you least want or expect it.

This post continues my series with answers to frequently asked questions about Washington car accident claims.

Q: I was on a jury and the plaintiff was asked for her medical bills to be repaid. The jury thought that the bills were probably all covered by insurance. Was this correct?

A: In Washington, as in most states, evidence about whether or not a plaintiff’s medical bills have been paid by insurance is kept from a jury during a trial. There are many reasons for this law. Sometimes, however, juries attempt to account for the fact that insurance has paid the medical bills and adjust their award accordingly.

If you are on a jury in a personal injury case you should not do this. The reason is that insurance is not simple and different insurance “rules” may apply to the claims at hand. In most cases the plaintiff has to pay back her insurance company out of any award, so she really was not insured at all! Almost all insurance policies require the injured person to pay back any amounts the company paid for the medical bills if the plaintiff wins her lawsuit.

Insurance policies differ and not every insurance policy requires this type of reimbursement. What the courts have done, however, to make the issue fair for everyone, is to simply take insurance out of the consideration of the jury.

If you’re a juror please don’t discount a plaintiff’s damage award because you think the medical bills have already been paid. In almost all of my cases my clients have to repay the insurance company that paid the medical bills. Insurance companies would love this to happen, but it really only hurts the injury victim.

If you’re called for jury duty please go. The justice system in Washington and all other states depends on citizens showing up for jury duty when called. I know it’s a pain and you get paid peanuts, but I need you and my clients need you. We need jurors like you to fight the greed of the insurance companies that force their customers to file lawsuits to get the insurance benefits owed.

This post continues my series with answers to frequently asked questions about Washington car accident claims.

Q: The insurance company for the driver who hit me says they need me to sign a document (medical records release) before they can pay my medical bills. Should I sign the medical release?

You should never, ever sign the medical release that it sent to you by the at-fault driver’s insurance company. While releases are sometimes important to the claim every release that I have ever seen from an insurance company is overbroad–contains no time limit–can be sent to anyone at all–and allows the insurance company to re-release the information to others. There is no requirement that you sign their release.

While you’re still going to the doctor treating your accident injuries there is no good reason for the at-fault driver’s insurance company to be monitoring your medical records. The only reason they want to see your medical records is so they can look for things to use against you–and ways they can weaken your injury case. I can’t count the number of times I’ve been called and told me the at-fault driver’s insurance adjuster is telling an injury victim that–they should have been healed by now–and they weren’t really hurt that bad in the car accident. Don’t fall for this tactic. Your doctor is the expert on the severity of your injury and how much treatment you need to recover.

My advice to you is that if an insurance adjuster calls you requesting you to sign anything, tell them to mail you the form and you’ll be happy to review it with your attorney.

Or better yet order my free book to Washington residents ”The Guide to Washington Injury Cases” by clicking here. The book will give you some good information about the whole car accident injury claim process before you speak with that pushy insurance adjuster.

This post continues my series with answers to frequently asked questions about Washington car accident claims.

Q: I have been involved in a Seattle car accident and the medical bills are mounting. The insurance company for the driver who hit me says they will pay my medical bills and give me a “little something” for pain and suffering. They have asked me to sign a release. Should I take them up on their offer?

No, especially if you are still under the care of the physician. Once you settle with the insurance company, that will be the end of your claim, even if your injury gets worse. Your medical bills will not be paid by the driver of the car that hit you as they are incurred. The other driver’s insurance company will only agree to pay your medical bills in exchange for a release of all claims, which ends any further payments of your medical bills or otherwise.

There may be other sources available to pay your medical bills while your claim is pending. You may have Personal Injury Protection (PIP) insurance on your own car insurance, which is specifically designed for paying your medical bills in a car accident regardless of whose fault the accident was. My previous post on PIP insurance (click here) explains this insurance more fully. Another source is your health insurance. Your health insurance will pay for your medical bills from your car accident. If you have either PIP or Health insurance these are the people you need to contact to get your medical bills paid while your actively treating your car accident injuries.

I often hear people say “Why should my insurance pay when the accident was the other guy’s fault? I don’t want my rates to go up.” Don’t fall into this trap. You purchased PIP and health insurance for the very purpose you are now facing after suffering injuries in a car accident. I can’t say for absolute sure, but in my experience I have not seen any of my client’s car insurance rates increase for making a PIP claim. The reason being is they are entitled to be repaid down the road when you do settle your case.

Both PIP and health insurance companies have a repayment right called a “subrogation interest” against your accident claim. If you hire an injury attorney to handle your car accident case he will negotiate and handle this repayment for you. If you don’t have an attorney, the insurance companies generally talk to each other and work out repayment between themselves. All you generally need to do is give the PIP adjuster or health insurance person the name, address, and phone number of the at fault driver’s insurance adjuster. I know this can sound complicated, but you can handle it with some patience and asking a few questions, or you can hire an attorney to take care of these details for you. 

An experienced personal injury attorney will be able to help you understand your rights. My advice to you is that if an insurance adjuster calls you requesting you to sign anything, tell them to mail you the release and you’ll be happy to review it with your attorney.

Or better yet order my free book for Washington residents ”The Guide to Washington Injury Cases” by clicking here. The book will give you some good information about the whole Washington car accident injury claim process before you speak with that pushy insurance adjuster.

This post continues my series with answers to frequently asked questions about Washington car accident claims.

Q: A friend was in a car accident and broke his leg. He got a lot of money. Will my case be worth as much as his?

Each Washington car accident case is different. Each injury affects a person differently. Even if you both broke the same bone, your pain tolerance might be different. You might need surgery to correct the problem, whereas your friend didn’t. Your friend might be a football player for the Seattle Seahawks, and as a professional athlete his broken bone means he lost months of work. Your situation is probably different.

It’s important to know how your injury has affected your daily life. Has it impaired your ability to do your daily tasks like tying your shoelaces, taking a shower, making breakfast, going to the bathroom, holding groceries and similar activities?

If you were to ask me when you should try to resolve your injury claim, like nearly every one of my clients asks when they hire me, my recommendation is that you shouldn’t begin the process of trying to resolve your injury claim with the insurance company until you have fully healed and recovered from all of your injuries, or your injuries have reach a point of maximum improvement and will not likely get any better in the future. Once you’ve reach this point, the value of your case is based upon all of your damages. So if your broken leg injury was so severe that you now will walk with a limp for the rest of your life, well that has more value than if your leg healed without any permanent limp. This is just one example of the kinds of factors that go into establishing a value of your Washington car accident injury case.

Since everyone is different, and injuries affect each person differently, the value for each case is different. I can tell is this, if the insurance company calls you right after the car accident and offers $500 to settle your broken leg injury claim, $500 is nowhere close to the true value of your case.

Anyone who suffers a serious injury in a car or other vehicle accident should get the advice of an experienced Washington injury attorney as soon as possible. Or better yet, order my free book for Washington residents “The Guide to Washington Injury Cases.” The book has good quality information for you to use before speaking with an insurance adjuster or meeting with an attorney for a “free consultation.”

As a Kirkland injury accident attorney I handle many cases involving very serious injuries. I am frequently asked questions by clients and family members about issues common in many injury accidents. I want to provide you with some good information and tips about serious injury cases in Washington, so I’ve decided to do a series of blogs on the frequently asked questions I get about injury accidents in Washington.

Q:   If an insurance adjuster calls me after my accident to ask me questions, can I talk to her?

Of course you can, but I don’t recommend it following a serious accident. The insurance adjuster is calling to get you to make statements (usually in a recorded call) about the events leading up to and including the accident. They will also ask you about your injuries and whether you went to a hospital or a doctor following the accident. They will ask how you’re doing and if you missed work. She will be looking for ways to limit your claim based on your answers.

The inherent problem with talking to an adjuster following a serious accident is that they’re probing and trying to make a record of your statement. They can then use it against you at a later time should you bring a lawsuit against the driver or owner of the other car involved in your accident. They will also use it against you even if you don’t have an attorney, they will often try to make you feel guilty for not have recovered from your injuries quickly enough or that you’re going to the doctor too much. Don’t fall for the insurance companies deceptive tactics.

If an insurance adjuster calls to talk to you, tell them you’ll be happy to speak to them, after you speak with your attorney. Or better yet order my free book “The Guide to Washington Injury Cases” by clicking here. My special report will give you some good information about handling injury accident claims before you speak with that willy insurance adjuster.