An injured person
must know their rights to be able to negotiate a fair settlement. Our
goal is to educate injured victims so they know what is fair and can
decide if they need an attorney. We do the initial consultation by phone
or e-mail at no charge. Call 1-206-447-1615
or e-mail Mr.
Moote today for your free 1-Hour consultation!
To begin with there are some rules
you should be aware of:
1. If the injured person is fault
free, they are entitled to be fully compensated for all economic and
non-economic losses. This means 100%.
2. Damages include reasonable
and fair payment for each of the following: Past and future medical
bills, past and future wage loss, full loss of value to personal property
and automobile damage, pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life,
permanent disability, emotional distress, inconvenience, loss of consortium
with a spouse, disfigurement and scarring.
3. Even if the injured party shares
some of the fault, the total, damages are only reduced by that percentage
of fault, even if it is greater than 50 percent. Therefore, an injured
party who bears some of the blame is still entitled to be fairly compensated
for their losses.
4. Subrogation claims are not
entitled to any amount of payment until the injured party is fully compensated.
Subrogated claims include PIP payments, medical insurance payments,
wage loss supplements and all other claims against your settlement by
outside companies or non-governmental agencies who contributed to payment
of your losses. If it is necessary to pay attorney's fees and costs
to collect your settlement, any amount owed to such subrogated claims
must share their proportionate amount of attorney's fees and costs so
the injured person does not have to pay all of the fees and costs, including
most governmental liens.
5. There are deadlines for filing
claims or lawsuits that must be met or rights are lost forever. These
deadlines are called statutes of limitations. Some of these deadlines
for certain cases include: Motor vehicle accidents - three years. Slip
and fall cases - three years. Negligence claims - three years. Federal
tort claims - two years. Defamation /slander - two years .Battery or
domestic assault - two years .Negligence by state government agencies
- three years. Negligence be federal agencies - two years.
