Sirens. Ambulance. Hospital. Postcard advertising injury-related services. One of these is not like the other. In the past couple of weeks, I have followed a debate among personal injury attorneys throughout Washington who would like to address what the majority, including Anderson Law, considers to be inappropriate marketing: direct solicitation Read more…
A new study from the Insurance Research Council shows more people are hiring attorneys to receive first party insurance benefits (in Washington State, this primarily includes Personal Injury Protection and Uninsured or Underinsured Motorist Coverage). The conclusion of the study, funded by the insurance industry, is that attorneys are delaying claims settlement and that the insured is ending up with less money than if they hadn’t hired an attorney.
Nonsense. Crazy. Ridiculousness.
If you have been injured in a car accident and the insurance company is not giving you a reasonable settlement offer, you may be able to make a claim in mandatory arbitration instead of in a jury trial. Arbitration is mandatory for monetary claims less than $50,000 in most of Washington State, including Kennewick, Pasco, and Richland (Benton and Franklin counties). Compared to trial by jury, arbitration has several benefits: the cost is lower (around $1,000 instead of $10,000 or more); the hearing is sooner (3-6 months instead of a year or more); and the hearing is shorter (several hours instead of several days).
Since we are enjoying warm weather and entering the most dangerous time of the year for driving (yes, summer, not winter), I thought I would share my own practical advice on safe driving. In other words, how to avoid crashing your car. Or better yet, how to prevent bad drivers Read more…