How do I know if I have a case? Anytime someone is injured or has property that is damaged because of the negligence of someone else, then, in theory, they have a case. This is based on the negligence laws in Washington State.
Negligence is defined as failure to exercise duty of care, which means the type of care that an average, reasonable person would use under like or similar circumstances.
The person who committed negligence and caused the damages must return you to the position that you were in before the accident, which is also called “making you whole.”
There are different categories of damages:
- Special damages refer to compensation for quantifiable monetary losses such as your car value, repair costs, medical bills, and wage loss.
- General damages refer to compensation for the non-monetary aspects suffered due to the accident such as pain, suffering, disability, loss of enjoyment of life, and disfigurement. These damages are not easily quantifiable and highly subjective depending on the person.
The question becomes, “How do I know if I have a case that an attorney will accept?”
The value of your case may be limited, making it difficult for an attorney to get involved in any substantial way. At PLG, we don’t have a threshold of the types of injuries or duration of treatment determining our decision to take a case. We evaluate potential clients on a case-by-case basis and try to understand the accident’s impact, currently and in the future, on the life of that person. We offer initial consultations with an attorney in-person or on the phone for free because it is the only way that we can carefully consider and determine whether a particular case is a fit for our firm.
Sharing Our Knowledge
We believe it is our duty to spend as much time as needed to provide you with easy-to-understand legal information, whether we take your case or not. Our goal is to leave you in a better position, even if it’s to help you ask the right questions when consulting with another lawyer or to give you advice about representing yourself.
Jason at premier law group is truly an outstanding individual. Our particular case was not something that their firm usually sees but they were more than willing to help us and give us all of the information they had available. I can't recommend them enough.