At Wells Trumbull, we are dedicated to protecting the rights of personal injury victims and securing the maximum compensation for our clients. If you have been injured due to another party’s negligence or wrongdoing, you may be entitled to recover financial compensation for your damages.

We understand that personal injury accidents can have a devastating impact on your health, career, and finances. The mounting medical bills, calls from insurance companies, and stress about how you will provide for your family if you are unable to work can be overwhelming. Don’t face these challenges alone. From the moment we take your case, we will deal with the insurance companies and handle all aspects of your legal claim so that you can focus on your recovery.

How to Choose a Qualified Personal Injury Lawyer in Lake Stevens

Our personal injury attorneys in Lake Stevens have successfully represented Washington personal injury victims for over 35 years. We have a proven track record of recovering the full compensation our clients are entitled to, and we want to do the same for you.

Choosing Wells Trumbull means you enjoy the full advantages of well-qualified legal representation, including the following:

The knowledge, resources, and experience of an entire legal staff behind your case
The personalized attention of an attorney dedicated to making a compelling claim on your behalf to maximize your financial recovery
Access to the best medical experts

Choosing a highly qualified personal injury lawyer in Lake Stevens means looking at their history of results in cases similar to yours. At Wells Trumbull, our history of recovering millions of dollars for our clients gives your personal injury claim in Lake Stevens a powerful voice. Call us at (360) 322-1477 or visit our contact page now to schedule a free consultation. We will listen to you, answer your questions, explain your options, and help you take the next steps to get every dollar you deserve.

What are the Common Causes of Personal Injuries In Lake Stevens?

A personal injury is one that directly impacts someone’s “person” with physical harm as opposed to harm to their character or reputation. The most common causes of personal injury claims in Lake Stevens and elsewhere include three types of negligent actions:

Carelessness: when a person fails to take the reasonable precautions expected of them to prevent causing injury to others, such as a driver’s failure to follow traffic laws
Recklessness: This is egregious negligence with disregard to the harm the action could inflict on others, such as a driver who aggressively weaves through traffic or the operator of a fireworks display shooting fireworks into a crowd
Wrongdoing: This includes actions like intentional violence, drunk driving, and road rage attacks

Depending on the cause of the personal injury, the case could also involve criminal charges; however, a personal injury claim is independent of the criminal justice process and focuses on compensating the victim rather than punishing the wrongdoer.

What to Do After a Personal Injury In Lake Stevens

A sudden serious injury may leave you incapacited or disoriented and unable to take purposeful action, but if you or a companion can use a cell phone safely, it becomes a powerful tool for preserving evidence that can benefit the case later. Use a cell phone at the scene of an injury to do the following:

First, call 911 to request emergency services for severe injury or make arrangements for transportation to a hospital
Then, use the phone’s camera to capture photos of anything relevant to the injury, such as the scene of a car accident, a broken stair rail, or a wet floor
Photograph any visible injuries
Add the contact information of any eyewitnesses to the injury and anyone involved
If the injury occurred in a business, ask the manager to fill out an accident report and save any security camera video of the incident

It’s crucial to go directly to a hospital or seek a full medical evaluation as soon as possible after a personal injury. This not only helps you receive emergency medical treatment and identify injuries with delayed symptom presentation, such as whiplash and concussions, but it also documents evidence that your injury occurred in the accident or incident and nowhere else—a common reason insurance companies dispute claims.

Types of Personal Injury Cases We Handle In Lake Stevens

No one begins a typical day expecting to end it in an emergency room, but nearly 140 million people visit emergency rooms each year in the U.S. alone. Over 40 million of those visits are for accidental injuries—many of which result directly from another party’s careless, reckless, or wrongful actions. The expenses of an injury add to the emotional anxiety as an injury victim worries about their physical recovery, meeting their living expenses, and the impacts of the injury on their career. Common causes of personal injuries in Lake Steven include the following:

Car accidents
Commercial truck accidents
Motorcycle accidents
Pedestrian accidents
Bicycle accidents
Slip-and-fall injuries and other premises liability claims
Workplace injuries
Dog bites
Medical malpractice
Defective product injuries
Acts of violence

These are some, but not all, examples of personal injury cases we’ve navigated successfully for our injured clients. If you aren’t certain if your case merits a personal injury claim, we offer free evaluations in an initial consultation.

In the State of Washington, you can bring a personal injury claim if you have suffered damages due to another party’s fault. To be successful, you must prove four specific elements. They are:

The defendant owed you a duty of care.
The defendant breached that duty of care by negligent, reckless, or intentional actions.
This breach of duty caused injury to you.
You suffered actual damages due to the defendant’s breach of duty.

These elements may seem straightforward. However, you need an experienced Lake Stevens personal injury attorney representing you to ensure you meet your burden of proof for each element. An experienced personal injury lawyer in Lake Stevens will also ensure that all of your damages are properly valued and calculated when determining a fair settlement.

Fault Laws in Lake Stevens, Washington

Washington follows a pure comparative fault rule in personal injury claims. This means that each party to an accident may be assigned a percentage of fault.

So, even if you are partially at fault for an accident that caused your injuries, you may still be able to collect damages from the other at-fault party. This is true even if you were found to be 99% at fault.

However, your compensation will be reduced by the percentage of fault assigned to you.

For example, if you were determined to be 40% at fault in an accident and your damages are $100,000, you will receive $60,000 because your award is reduced by 40% – your assignment of fault.

Insurance companies strive to put as much blame as possible on the other party to deny the claim or diminish the amount they pay. You must have a dedicated Lake Stevens personal injury attorney who works tirelessly to minimize your assignment of fault and maximize your compensation.

At Wells Trumbull, we have seen nearly every tactic an insurance company can use to shift blame to the injured party. We know how to effectively deal with their methods and win big for our clients.

What Damages Are Recoverable for Injured Victims?

Sadly, the distress of a serious personal injury isn’t limited to the physical pain and temporary or permanent disability. Financial concerns also arise for most injury victims. Recovering the compensation they deserve from the insurance company of the party at fault relieves the financial concerns so an injury victim can focus on their physical recovery. Common damages in Lake Stevens personal injury claims include the following:

Reimbursement for medical expenses already paid
Future medical costs related to the injury
Lost wages
Future income loss
Lowered future earning capacity due to disability
Compensation for pain and suffering
Compensation for any other damages experienced on an individual basis, such as disfigurement, scarring, loss of limb, loss of hearing, vision loss, PTSD, or diminished quality of life

If a loved one died due to someone else’s actions, a wrongful death claim is a type of personal injury claim brought by the decedent’s personal representative or one assigned by the court to obtain compensation for the closest surviving family member, typically one who suffers the financial impacts of the death. Speak with a wrongful death lawyer in Lake Stevens today for legal guidance.

Statute of Limitations In a Lake Stevens Personal Injury Claim

Like other states, Washington sets a time limit for filing personal injury claims in order to ensure that evidence remains available and eyewitness testimony fresh should a case require litigation in court. This statute of limitations also protects defendants from living with the ongoing threat of a lawsuit. Washington’s statute of limitations for personal injury claims is three years from the date the injury occurred. Only under specific circumstances will the court consider extending this time limit. For example, if an injury victim discovers their injury a month after the car accident when the doctor diagnoses their back pain as a burst disc fracture from the accident, the statute of limitations begins on the day of the discovery or when they should reasonably have discovered the injury.

If an injury victim is incapacitated for a significant time after their injury, the court may delay the start of the statute of limitations in their case until after they have recovered their cognitive abilities.

Those under the age of 18 who suffer a personal injury caused by someone else have up to three years from their 18th birthday to file a claim.

Contact a Lake Stevens Personal Injury Lawyer Today

If you have been injured due to another party’s negligence or wrongdoing, Wells Trumbull wants to help. Our personal injury attorneys in Lake Stevens have been recovering maximum compensation for our clients for over 35 years.

We know what it takes to resolve your personal injury case successfully. We will negotiate for the full compensation of your claim. If a fair settlement is not reached, we will take your case to trial and aggressively fight to protect your rights and recover maximum compensation.

Call us at (360) 322-1477 or visit our contact page to schedule a free consultation to discuss your case.