Recent Blog Posts
WILL MY INSURANCE RATES GO UP IF I REPORT A CRASH?
WILL MY INSURANCE RATES GO UP IF I REPORT A CRASH? As long as you were not in any way at fault, insurance companies in Washington cannot raise your rates. I commonly am asked this question by people who are fault-free in automobile crashes. USE YOUR REQUIRED INSURANCE POLICY AFTER ACCIDENT It is required… Read More »
WHO IS RESPONSIBLE WHEN A BICYCLIST IS HIT BY SOMEONE OPENING A CAR DOOR?
There are few things better than getting out and riding your bike on a nice day. Maybe you are soaking in the sun or thinking about the things you need to do later in the day. Maybe you are not paying full attention to the parked car ahead. As you near it, the car… Read More »
USAA AND DENIAL OF PIP BENEFITS
Being a personal injury attorney, we can often see patterns in how insurance companies adjust and resolve claims. Sometimes, for example, the pendulum swings toward settling claims and saving on defense costs (meaning, the insurance company might be okay paying a little bit more to settle a claim if it means that it doesn’t… Read More »
I WORK FOR A TEMP AGENCY AND WAS HURT ON THE JOB, DO I HAVE A CLAIM?
Most workers who get jobs through a temporary employment agency are immediately sent out to work in facilities owned and managed by the agency’s clients. For purposes of this post, we’ll call the temp agency’s client “the factory” (I picked this just because a lot of the temporary workers I have represented get sent… Read More »
PEDESTRIAN DEATHS IN THE UNITED STATES ON THE RISE
Some 6,227 people died as pedestrians around the nation after being hit by motor vehicles in 2018. More than in any year since 1990. According to a Wall Street Journal article published Thursday, February 28, 2019, entitled “Pedestrian Deaths Highest Since 1990”, pedestrian traffic fatalities are up. The WSJ article discusses a recently published… Read More »
SETTLING AN INJURY CLAIM TOO QUICKLY CAN LEAVE YOU WITHOUT FULL COMPENSATION
Settling quickly without knowing your damages happens far too often. It leaves people feeling taken advantage of, and in most cases, without any options to get the medical treatment needed for injuries. We’ve already shown you how to deal with “threats” from an adjuster, and explained how difficult it can be to overcome an advance… Read More »
PREMISES MEDICAL PAYMENTS COVERAGE
“Medical payments” insurance coverage is something we encounter fairly often in the premises liability cases that we handle. Automobile insurance policies will sometimes have a specific coverage called “medical payments coverage”, but most often, in Washington State and Oregon, there is a specific “personal injury protection” coverage to pay medical bills and lost wages… Read More »
RESPONSIBLE DOG OWNERSHIP
Jimmy the German Shorthair Pointer and Allie the youngest daughter of Schauermann Thayer attorney Scott Edwards moments before being disturbed for breakfast My family recently added a new member to our family. Jimmy came to us when he was almost six months old and has almost literally turned our world upside down. Being first… Read More »
WHAT IF SOMEONE INTENTIONALLY INJURES ME?
Most of the injury claims we see in our office, and going through the courts, are of the unintentional variety- some form and degree of negligence on the part of the bad actor. Of course, intentional injuries do occur. Intentional injuries to the body can involve vehicles, fists, or weapons, or they can be… Read More »
ON ATTORNEY FEES AND “SAFE HARBORS” — OREGON LAW IN PIP AND UIM DISPUTES
Generally, the “American Rule” is that adverse parties involved in litigation in courts in our country each have to bear their own attorney fees. Sometimes, however, there are specific statutes that may vary that general rule – and which do provide for a court to have the authority to award reasonable attorney fees to… Read More »
