206.285.1743When you are looking for legal representation after being injured in an accident or having your rights violated, it is in your best interest to find a qualified Seattle personal injury attorney with a history of success.
At Premier Law Group, we are committed to achieving the highest level of service for victims of any kind. From car accidents to wrongful death cases, we are dedicated to making sure your rights are protected. No case is too big or too small for our devoted attorneys.
Take a moment to review some of the outcomes of our previous cases to understand the various clients we represent. The results of each case are different and are determined by a number of details that are case specific.
Case Results
$310,000 settlement awarded after multiple tractor-trailer accident
The Plaintiff, a tractor-trailer driver was sideswiped by another tractor-trailer when that driver failed to pay attention and made an unsafe stop on the freeway. The Plaintiff’s tractor-trailer was then rear-ended by another tractor-trailer who was not following at a safe distance. Both defendant drivers, each of whom blamed the other driver and the Plaintiff for making an unnecessary and unsafe stop, hotly contested liability. As a result of the collision, the Plaintiff suffered neck and back injuries, with pain radiating into her legs, PTSD, depression, and bipolar disorder. An MRI subsequently showed an L5-S1 disk herniation and Left S1 radiculopathy, with disk herniations at C5-6 and C6-7. The Plaintiff underwent conservative therapy, physical therapy, massage therapy, and treatment at a pain clinic. The Plaintiff’s doctors determined that she was not a candidate for surgical intervention because the surgery that she needed would be difficult and there was a greater chance that it would do more harm than good. As a result of her injuries, the Plaintiff was unable to go back to work as a tractor-trailer driver. The Defendants’ experts argued that the Plaintiff suffered only a minor shoulder and back sprain and should have healed after 12 weeks. The opposing experts also argued that the Plaintiff’s PTSD and depression were entirely unrelated to her injuries and subsequent loss of her career. Despite this, the Plaintiff was able to obtain a $310,000.00 settlement at mediation.
$560,000 awarded from head-on collision with drunk driver
The Plaintiff, a Canadian citizen, was on his way to a spring break vacation, when he was hit head on by a drunk driver in Seattle. The Plaintiff suffered extensive injuries: breaks to his left femur, right ulna, left ulna, multiple broken fingers, and multiple lacerations and contusions. After life-saving surgery, the Plaintiff underwent extensive physical therapy and eventually his doctors recommended hip abduction surgery. Defendant’s expert witnesses sought to minimize the extent of future care that the Plaintiff would require, arguing that he would only need care for an additional five years. Despite this, the Plaintiff was able to obtain a settlement of $560,000.00 combined, from the third party carrier for the drunk driver and from the underinsured motorist carrier, ICBC (the governmental insurance carrier of British Columbia).
T-bone accident results in $475,000 settlement
The Plaintiff suffered neck, back, and shoulder injuries when the defendant driver pulled out from a parking lot right in front of the Plaintiff’s truck. With no time to stop, the Plaintiff t-boned the defendant driver’s vehicle, resulting in permanent injuries and disabling injuries to the Plaintiff’s shoulder and neck. The collision caused a C3-4 disc bulge, a C5-6 disc bulge, a SLAP tear to the left shoulder, lumbar sciatica, numbness and tingling that radiated from his upper to lower extremities, and headaches. The Plaintiff attempted conservative care including physical therapy, chiropractic therapy, acupuncture, and steroid injections. The Plaintiff underwent left shoulder arthroscopic surgery, yet continued to have shoulder and neck pain that severely limited his ability to work as a carpenter. The Plaintiff then underwent a C6-C7 anterior cervical discectomy and fusion to address his neck and shoulder pain. Defendant’s experts claimed that the Plaintiff only suffered a strain/sprain as a result of the collision, and that the need for surgery was due to degenerative conditions made worse by the physical requirements of his work as a carpenter. Defendant also contested liability for the collision. Despite this, the lawsuit settled at mediation for $475,000.00.
A two week jury trial results in a $575,000 award in a rear-end collision
The Plaintiff was rear ended in stop and go traffic when the defendant driver looked down to grab her cell phone from her purse. Upon inspection of the cars, neither car had any visible damage. Nevertheless, the Plaintiff immediately felt discomfort in her low back. As days passed, her low back pain became progressively worse with stabbing pain, numbness & tingling sensation on the top of her left foot and ankle. An MRI revealed that the Plaintiff had a herniated disc at the L3-L4 of her lumbar spine. As time passed, the pain into her left leg and foot became progressively worse. For several months she tried physical therapy treatment and received steroid injections to try to get better. But her symptoms did not improve. As a result, she underwent low back surgery, which improved her low back pain and lower extremity pain. Defendant’s experts claimed that the Plaintiff only suffered a strain/sprain, and that the need for surgery was due to a degenerative disc condition that was unrelated to the rear-end collision. Defendant’s other expert claimed that the speed of the defendant’s vehicle was less than 5 mph that it was unlikely that the plaintiff sustained any injury to her low back. After a two week jury trial, the jury awarded the Plaintiff $575,000.
$1.3 million dollar settlement in civil rights violation case
FD, nurse, civil rights activist and president of the Hayward California, branch of the NAAACP sued two Alameda County Sheriff’s Deputies and Prison Health Services, Inc. for violations of her First Amendment rights under the Civil Rights Act of 1871. She claimed that she was harassed and retaliated against by the deputies after she spoke out about how some of the nurses were being treated by the management at Prison Health Services at the Alameda County jail in Dublin. The Plaintiff worked as a nurse for Prison Health Services administering medical care for the inmates at the jail. Ms. Davis was subsequently disciplined and set up to be fired or possibly injured, which forced her to walk away from her $70,000 a year job that she had held since 1990 and seek psychological counseling. She also sued Prison Health Services, who disciplined and wrote her up, and ultimately moved her into an undesirable mental health unit at the jail. FD also testified that she began having trouble at her job beginning in 2006 when she complained that Prison Health Service’s director of nursing “demonstrated a pattern of racist and sexist behavior toward her at work.” Premier Law Group achieved a settlement with Prison Health Services for FD for $528,957. The other defendants denied wrongdoing. The award came with fees and cost and the matter eventually settled for 1.3 million dollars.
$450,000 awarded in Federal Court to two United States Veterans
Premier Law Group represented nine men who worked in various positions with General Dynamics Land Systems, a defense contractor for the federal government in its Stryker program.
The IAV Stryker is a family of eight-wheeled, 4+4-wheel-drive, armored fighting vehicles derived from the Canadian LAV III and produced by General Dynamics Land Systems, in use by the U.S. Army. In February 2002 the Army named its new interim armored vehicle after two soldiers who received the Medal of Honor. The American servicemen who posthumously received the Medal of Honor were PFC Stuart S. Stryker, who died in World War II and Spc4 Robert F. Stryker, who died in the Vietnam War.
At the height of the conflict in the middle east, the U.S. Army had seven Stryker Brigade Combat Teams, three of which were deployed in combat zones: two in Iraq and one in Afghanistan. GDLS employed approximately one thousand people and had about one third of them deployed outside of the country.
Each man served in the United States Army for a number of years before joining General Dynamics Land Systems. Each had a medical condition that affected a major system in their bodies and were thus covered by the ADAAA as a disability. In some cases, the disabling medical condition, which made them vulnerable to termination, was incurred while they were in the service.
In 2009, GDLS instituted a policy of discharging any employee who could not pass a pre-deployment physical (including a dental exam) and/or the CONUS Replacement Center (CRC) or the Soldier Readiness Program (SRP) as such failure prevented employees from being deployed to a combat zone.
Ultimately, GDLS terminated all of these men for being deemed “Not Physically Qualified” during pre-deployment screenings. None of the men were offered other positions in the company after being informed that they did not meet pre-deployment requirements. And none of the men were allowed to remedy their pre-deployment deficiencies or given waivers.
The men filed suit in federal court alleging violations of the recently amended American With Disabilities Act, but were forced to arbitrate the dispute. As a result of pre-employment agreements, all employees must sign agreeing to resolve any dispute through a process that ends with final and binding arbitration.
Some of the claims were resolved before the arbitration, but the majority were decided by the arbitrator. The total verdict in favor of four of the men was over $450,000 plus costs and attorney fees.
$450,000 verdict awarded after an unreasonable settlement from Allstate
Patrick Kang obtained a jury verdict in the amount of $450,000 against Allstate Insurance. Patrick represented JM in trial against her own insurance company, Allstate, after Allstate refused to make a reasonable settlement offer. After presenting the case to the jury, the jury returned a $450,000 verdict in favor of JM.
A three day jury trial results in a $344,000 judgment for a rear-end accident
Patrick Kang and Jason Epstein obtained a verdict against Farmers Insurance Co. of Washington for a total judgment of $344,000 after a three day jury trial for a rear-end car accident caused by an uninsured driver. Patrick and Jason represented JB against Farmers, JB’s own insurance company, for uninsured motorist’s (UM) benefits. Farmers unreasonable settlement offer to JB was $4,000, requiring her to sue Farmers.
$456,800 awarded for lost wages and emotional stress after being discriminated against at work
Patrick Kang obtained a jury verdict in the amount of $456,800 against Farmers Insurance Exchange for disability discrimination. His client, DG sued her former employer, Farmers Insurance Exchange for disability discrimination for failing to accommodate her disability – Multiple Sclerosis. After almost three weeks of trial, the jury returned a verdict in her favor, awarding her $62,800 in lost wages and $394,000 for emotional distress.
Rear-end auto accident results in $1 million policy limit recovery for Washington woman
In Newcastle, Washington, GL was driving her SUV on Coal Creek Parkway when she was rear-ended by another vehicle. The car accident seriously injured GL and an emergency bladder surgery was required. A reconstructive pelvic floor operation was also needed due to a vaginal prolapse. A policy limits demand was made around three years after GL’s car accident. The policy limits were tendered after we filed a lawsuit that alleged violations of Washington’s Insurance Fair Conduct Act. As a result, GL recovered a total of $1 million.
$211,637.53 recovered for minor involved in rollover accident
$211,637.53 was recovered for a minor who was involved in a rollover van accident. The minor, MB, was a passenger in a camp van that was traveling to a campground. The van was preparing to make a left handed turn when a speeding vehicle attempted to pass the van on the left side of the road. The car hit the van which caused it to roll over and land on its roof. After the accident MB was taken to the hospital and later received ongoing treatment including physical therapy and chiropractic care for chronic neck and back pain.
$1.05 million was recovered for a surveyor who was run over by a car when the driver fell asleep at the wheel
MT, a surveyor for a large construction company, was gathering equipment from his work van. At the very last second, MT saw a pickup truck speeding towards him and was not able to move out of the way in time. The pickup truck ran MT over and he was dragged approximately 20 feet. The driver of the pickup truck had fallen asleep at the wheel due to taking pain medication that was not prescribed to him. MT was immediately rushed to the hospital and had a two level lumbar fusion performed the next day. MT was unable to go back to work at his old position because of his injury and new physical limitations. New job training was required. The minimal insurance limits of the at fault driver were recovered as well as the insurance policy limit for the company van that MT was using at the time of the accident resulting in a total recovery of $1.05 million for MT.
$100,000 policy limits for auto accident resulting in lumbar fusion
SA was driving down an arterial street when a vehicle attempted to make a left hand turn in front of him. SA was unable to avoid the collision in time and struck the other vehicle in a t-bone accident. The defense tried to assert that the accident was SA’s fault and that he was speeding at the time of the collision. However, after our motion, the Court granted summary judgment finding that the t-bone accident was actually entirely the other driver’s fault. SA required a lumbar fusion, and the cause of this was disputed because he had a history of low back pain. Although SA visited the emergency room for a dirt bike accident that caused low back pain 5 days before the t-bone car accident, our expert physician testified that the lumbar fusion was in fact caused by the auto accident. The defense tendered their $100,000 insurance policy limits to SA.
$238,335.06 total recover for 82 year-old woman hit by car backing out of a parking spot
While walking through a parking lot on the way to her local library, DK was struck by a car backing out of a parking spot. The accident resulted in DK fracturing her hip. The fractured hip required surgery and approximately 3 weeks of nursing home care. Not only did DK make a full recovery from the accident injuries, but we also recovered the insurance limits from the driver of the vehicle that hit DK and DK’s under insured motorist limits on her auto insurance policy which resulted in a total recover of $238,335.06.
$171,992.05 recovered for auto accident requiring low back surgery
JH underwent an L5-S1 laminectomy and discectomy related to an injury that he suffered on the job. Two weeks later, on his way to a post surgery physical therapy appointment, JH was involved in a car accident. Because of this, JH underwent a second L5-S1 laminectomy and discectomy to repair the damage caused by the auto accident. Unfortunately for JH the procedure did not hold and JH was forced to have a L5-S1 decompression and fusion. All available insurance limits from the at fault party and also from JH’s under-insured motorist policy were recovered for a total of $171,992.05.
$37,500 recovered for food poisoning at a local restaurant
SC and his family became ill after eating at a local restaurant. While the two members of SC’s family suffered mild cases of food poisoning, SC received the worst of it. The food poisoning caused SC uncontrollable vomiting and he was taken to the hospital for a short time. SC was placed on an IV to ensure that his fluids remained intact and was soon released home. It took SC two days to be able to return back to work. The restaurant accepted fault and a settlement of $37,500 was reached.