Recent Blog Posts
DOES YOUR INSURANCE COVER YOU IF YOU DRIVE FOR A RIDESHARE?
DOES YOUR INSURANCE COVER YOU IF YOU DRIVE FOR A RIDESHARE? Driving for Uber, Lyft, or any other rideshare service is a way many people earn some much-needed extra cash, and part of the enticement might be the apparent ease –just needing a car and the app (this probably oversimplifies a bit, but you get the… Read More »
ALPHABETICAL LIST OF POPULAR CAR INSURANCE TERMINOLOGY
ALPHABETICAL LIST OF POPULAR CAR INSURANCE TERMINOLOGY Reading an automobile insurance policy can be hard. Talking to an insurance lawyer about your insurance policy can be even more difficult. Sometimes insurance lawyers are so experienced in insurance and the words used in insurance policies that we forget that many of the words are not… Read More »
ALPHABETICAL LIST OF POPULAR PERSONAL INJURY LEGAL TERMINOLOGY
Legal words can be hard. We lawyers sometimes use confusing words and just assume that non-legal people know what they mean. This can result in a barrier to justice. I wanted to provide a quick place to define some of these words in what, I hope, are easy-to-understand terms. In some instances, we have… Read More »
WHAT I LEARNED AS AN INSURANCE DEFENSE ATTORNEY
When I was just a puppy lawyer, I worked for one of the largest, most influential insurance defense law firms in the Northwest. I later worked for one of the most popular insurance companies in the United States. In each of these positions, I was employed as an insurance defense attorney. As an insurance… Read More »
ARE YOU A BUSINESS OWNER? THEN YOU NEED PERSONAL INJURY PROTECTION A.S.A.P
WHAT IS PIP? In general, personal injury protection is a no-fault medical payments policy. Personal injury protection covers the driver and passengers involved in a car accident. PIP also protects pedestrians or bicyclists who are involved in a collision with that car. Most policies exclude owners of the business from coverage. Up to the policy limit,… Read More »
DO YOU KNOW THE LEADING CAUSES IN BOATING FATALITIES?
In what is becoming an annual tradition on this blog, I write to you today about boating safety. We have discussed boating safety before in other blog posts; Boating Safety Refresher, Boating Age Requirments, Keeping Safe While Having Fun: Boat Safety & Refresher. The waterways are looking a lot more appealing now that the sun is out,… Read More »
FINANCES OF A PERSONAL INJURY CASE & THE COST OF COUNSEL IN WASHINGTON STATE
DOES THE OTHER SIDE HAVE TO PAY ATTORNEY FEES AND COSTS IF WE WIN? Generally, each side pays its own attorney fees and costs. In a Washington personal injury case, that means the costs and fees come out of the settlement or verdict. However, if your case goes to trial or arbitration and you win,… Read More »
WAIT, I HAVE TO PAY BACK PIP OR HEALTH INSURANCE AFTER A SETTLEMENT? ISN’T THAT MY MONEY?
This question was posed to me in response to a prior blog about paying back PIP benefits. In general, PIP and Health Insurance benefits have to be paid back at the end of a personal injury case. In short, the concern was why a consumer pays premiums for protection, and then when they get injured,… Read More »
THE COST TO COMMUNICATE: ATTORNEYS RESPONSE TO LANGUAGE BARRIERS
Recently my partner, Ben Melnick, wrote a blog post in titled Language Barriers and Connecting With Clients. Ben’s post details a very real challenge that we grapple with and that is the difficulty with communicating with those of other languages. OUR CLIENTS HAVE MANY LANGUAGES I can’t even begin to list all of the different… Read More »
CAN ATTORNEYS PRACTICE LAW OUTSIDE OF THEIR JURISDICTION DUE TO COVID-19?
Many attorneys have wondered if they could leave their jurisdiction while working remotely. I’m a licensed attorney in Washington and Oregon. Can I appear in a Washington matter from Oregon? Can I appear in an Oregon matter while in Washington? Yes! Times are different. COVID has affected the way we interact with friends and… Read More »
