Personal injury claim can be complex, time consuming and emotional. When our staff here helps us to prepare a case either for settlement or for litigation, they undertake an exhaustive review of your medical records. Your attorneys are closely involved in this process and often create their own chronologies, minute by minute if the case demands it.

By the time your records are organized, they have become very familiar to your legal team. Sometimes we notice details that can hurt or help a case. In saying this, I am not referring to something truthful that should not be revealed. Instead I am addressing details that become ambiguous. How do they become ambiguous? Very unintentionally. Nine times out of ten, those details reflect a client’s genuine attempt at clarity. Most clients only want to accurately document what’s happened. This is a chance for me to point out some areas where you can add more clarity. This discussion is based on our experience with clients over many years, their health care,providers, the insurance industry, judges, and juries. Here is a brief list that outlines the typical problems and recommendations:

1. Those little line drawings of human bodies

2. Write clearly and legibly

3. Don’t guess on dates

4.  Assume your records will be used in litigation

We often find ourselves caught up in the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, from battling department stores to catching up with acquaintances at holiday parties. Sometimes, we lose site of what is most valuable to us. This year, my family altered our tradition of spending on “things” to spending time with family and friends. My 93 year old mother always talks about “making memories,” something I found to be much more important than making a fuss with too many gifts and parties. Enriching life happens when you spend time, not money.

We hope that you had a wonderful holiday season with your family and that you were able to make some memories of your own.

With 2011 now in the past, it is important to stay current and know what laws went into effect. Here is a look at some of the new Washington state laws that went into effect in 2011:

• Double the fine for drivers who don’t move over or slow down through an “emergency zone.” This zone is a 200-foot area around emergency vehicles or tow trucks that are stopped with lights on. Drivers must change lanes if it is safe or slow down if unable to do so. (Source: The Spokesman-Review)
• The expansion of categories of drivers with previous arrests for DUI who can apply for a special license to drive with an ignition-interlock device. The expansion now includes those who have been convicted of vehicular homicide or vehicular assault as a result of a DUI. (Source: The Spokesman-Review)
• Cars driven by suspected drunk drivers will be placed under a 12-hour impound hold. (Source: Q13 Fox News)
• School buses are allowed to be equipped with cameras to photograph cars that illegally pass a bus if it is stopped to pick up or drop off students. (Source: Q13 Fox News)
• Video devices, such as those playing a movie, visible to the driver are banned, except live images of the vehicle backing up. (Source: Handsfreeinfo.com)

The above new laws promote safe driving by encouraging drivers to be vigilant and discourage distracted or impaired driving. Being a safe, undistracted driver will reduce the risk of a car accident.

Do you have stepchildren? Do you know someone who does? The reason I ask is because in our appellate court, Division III, published an opinion that speaks directly on the issue of whether a stepchild is deserving of part of a personal injury award when the stepparent dies. In this particular case, the decedent had married three times and had survived each of her husbands, and helped to raise several children who were not biologically her children. After being widowed the third time and still in contact with children of her previous husband’s, she died from injuries suffered in a car crash. Her biological daughter brought the wrongful death suit, and some of her “step” siblings from the second marriage felt they were deserving of part of the settlement. The bottom line analysis that the court adopted regarding the meaning of “stepchildren” was the plain meaning of the word since it appears no where in the law of Washington. That definition is that once the stepparent remarries, the stepchildren of that former spouse cease to be stepchildren, i.e. the biological or adoptive parent has to be in the picture as the spouse, otherwise the stepchildren cease to be so. So when the second husband died, the children of her second husband ceased to be her stepchildren. This is a good lesson because it brings to mind the intracacies of procedures that ensue after your death, so make sure your own “house” is in order, that you have the proper understanding and the proper documents to give your loved ones the guidance they need to proceed upon the course you have designed.

Dear Clients and Friends,
Today I read a new appellate decision from our state courts that dealt with the cost to repair a house after a fire. The issue in the particular case that was discussed was whether the insurance policy that the homeowners had purchased would cover the actual repairs. An associated issue was to what extent the home would be repaired. For instance, would it be repaired “like kind and quality”, or “equivalent construction”, or would it cover, as these homeowners expected, repairs to bring the new construction to code? The house was an older one, and to obtain new occupancy permits, the new construction was going to take different materials, adherence to safety regulations for fire prevention, electrical work, etc. that did not exist during the home’s original construction. The lesson here is to ask your insurance agent to point you to the exact language in your policy that governs the replacement or repair of your home due to a fire or other calamity. If it is insufficient in your opinion, then shop for better coverage. It can make a huge difference. If your home actually costs $100,000 to rebuild and the insurance contract will only cover half that amount because the contract calls for “like kind and quality”, then what you are going to get reimbursed is only the material to bring it to that older standard, not the newer one. This is a vital concern, and one you should investigate sooner than later. – Michele