Pearson Law : Personal Injury Attorneys

2011 Washington State Laws

admin — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 23:36:37 +0000

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.

Kindness.

admin — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 06:40:51 +0000

I recently came across this poem in a magazine and was struck by its powerful message. I hope that you all find it as moving as I do. Please share your thoughts in the comments section! – Michele Pearson

KINDNESS

Before you know what kindness really is

you must lose things,

feel the future dissolve in a moment

like salt in a weakened broth.

What you held in your hand,

what you counted and carefully saved,

all this must go so you know

how desolate the landscape can be

between the regions of kindness.

How you ride and ride

thinking the bus will never stop,

the passengers eating maize and chicken

will stare out the window forever.

Before you learn the tender gravity of kindness,

you must travel where the Indian in a white poncho

lies dead by the side of the road.

You must see how this could be you,

how he too was someone

who journeyed through the night with plans

and the simple breath that kept him alive.

Before you know kindness as the deepest thing inside,

you must know sorrow as the other deepest thing.

You must wake up with sorrow.

You must speak to it till your voice

catches the thread of all sorrows

and you see the size of the cloth.

Then it is only kindness that makes sense anymore,

only kindness that ties your shoes

and sends you out into the day to mail letters and

purchase bread,

only kindness that raises its head

from the crowd of the world to say

it is I you have been looking for,

and then goes with you everywhere

like a shadow or a friend.

~Naomi Shihab Nye

Fridays at the Pentagon

Michele — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 03:43:30 +0000

This article was written as a Memorial Day tribute in 2007. Read on for more about a touching ceremony honoring our veterans.

Death of a Stepparent

Michele — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 04:36:25 +0000

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.

Why We Do What We Do

Michele — Sat, 19 Mar 2011 17:03:47 +0000

Our office has been in trial for the past two weeks with our associated counsel, Mr. Ed Harper, from Kirkland. Our client was hit violently from behind as she sat waiting in traffic on Hwy. 99 in Lynwood. The truck that hit her was going 35 mph at impact, her car was totaled, and she sustained serious injuries. She complained to the investigating office of neck and back pain at the scene. This was 45 months ago. Despite vigorous attempts to settle, the defendant forged ahead to trial. At trial, they blamed the pain that resulted from the crash that their employee had caused, on our client’s early childhood history saying that she was psychologically predisposed to increased pain, and so they should not be accountable for most of the past treatments and none of the future treatment. As unbelievable as that sounds, they used that theme throughout the trial and in closing. Finally, True Green Lawn Care, represented by both local defense counsel as well as two attorneys from a large Chicago defense firm has heard how a community of our client’s peers define fair restitution. We received a verdict yesterday afternoon of $1,383,000. Our client now will be able to pay for a lifetime of medical treatments, as she is only 33.

Check your Homeowner’s Policy

Michele — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 06:00:12 +0000

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

A Life of Service

Michele — Sat, 26 Feb 2011 16:18:57 +0000

Excellent article on one woman’s cause to heal veterans with PTSD.

Seniors for Sale | Hiding Harm

Michele — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 04:18:03 +0000

Jerry Pearson presents arguments to WA State Supreme Court

Michele — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 05:33:34 +0000

Polished Shoes or the Holiday Gift

Michele — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 04:53:30 +0000

Foreword: Another way of communicating my message this season is with the discipline of non-linear dynamics. Also known as chaos theory, “non-linear dynamics exhibits a sensitive dependence on initial conditions: small or virtually unmeasurable differences in initial conditions can lead to wildly different outcomes.” (Thank you to Answers.com.) I wondered about the effect of initial conditions at various stages of life and that effect upon the way that people celebrate the holidays, how those around them observe and interpret those celebrations, how things are not always as they appear, and how peaceful order can be realized through the honest and intentional gift of contribution, minus the red bow and the carole.

“There is something different about you. What is it? Are you a god?”
“No, I am not a god.”
“An angel then?”
“No, I am not an angel either. I am a person who is awake.”

Oft told Zen tale

Upstate New York State, March 1921, baptism. Canisius College, class of 1943. Economics degree with honors bestowed. Swim team. United States Marine Corps wartime service. Marriage, April 1945. First job, American Airlines, trainee. Polished shoes. Syracuse, NY, birth of first child, a girl. Another baptism. Polished shoes, cuff links, suit “without the nap pressed down.” White collar. Carling Black Label. Transfer to Buffalo, then Syracuse, then Rochester. The Kodak building dominates the cityscape, when the clouds lift enough. Church, polished shoes, white collar, cuff links, suit. Old Spice. Wedding ring. Three sisters now, polished shoes, white collars, braids, “smiles.” The collection plate ushered to and fro, to and fro, to and fro. Muffled voices, counting. Holy water, genuflection. Three sisters, fear, “corporal punishment”, confession of sins. Uniforms “without the nap pressed down.” Maypo, Cream of Wheat, oatmeal, checkerboard cakes, pinwheel cookies, corned beef hash with eggs. Mike’s Park Club, a few more beers, great pizza. Stations of the Cross, holy water, “forgive me Father, for I have sinned.” Advent wreath, black eye. Christmas Mass, polished shoes, white collar, cuff links, suit, dads, collection plate ushered to and fro, to and fro, to and fro. Back slaps, hand shakes, muffled voices, counting. Incense, procession, vestments, Latin, choir like angels, dozens of smiles and braids. Christmas Tree, presents, puzzles, black eye.

Harpers Ferry, Missouri, 1946, silver spoon, hallelujah. Harvard, class of 1968. Political science, history minor, study abroad. National Guard, deferment, service. Marriage 1975. Make do, Levittown, alder stained maple. Birmingham Alabama, a son in the iron town. Statue on the mountain you can see from the hospital. First job, graduate school at night, the attraction of big banks. Polished shoes, starched white collar, iron, iron, military perfection. Open container, car accident, silver spoon. Brut. English Leather. Wedding ring. Cocaine. Born again, hallelujah. Muffled voices, raised to song, upstretched hands waving to and fro, to and fro, to and fro. Election campaign, Washington D.C., contributions. Pickled oil billionaires, blackouts. Power, sychophants, world conflict. United States Senate, white papers, briefings, news conferences. Advent wreath, war, some oil. Christmas bible readings, polished shoes, starched white collar, red tie, dads, moms, buried sons and daughters, upstretched hands waving to and fro, to and fro, to and fro. Back slaps, hand shakes, muffled voices, paper shredder. Oil field fires, procession, flag draped caskets. Presents, tall, tall, tall Christmas Tree, black eye, war.

November 1953, New York, New York, baptism. Howdy Doody and Uncle Bob. Maypo, Cream of Wheat, oatmeal, homemade lasagna, Stella D’Oro, peppers and eggs. Princeton, class of 1973. Advent wreath and a hug, Christmas mass. Suits up and down, small man, collection plate ushered to and fro, to and fro, to and fro. Business degree, drama club. Track and soccer. U.S. Army wartime, southeast Asia. Peace demonstrations. Kent State, peace signs, rolling papers. First job, New Jersey Bell Tel, customer service. Polished shoes. Manhattan, white collar. Real estate, beachfront, cocaine, Florida disappointments. Marriage, son and daughter. Baptism? Pickled Texan billionaires, rubbed elbows, blackouts. Cocaine, dollars, dark. Polished shoes, cuff links, suits, Armani. White collar, logic, think about it. Separation. Country club, jiggers and shot glasses, payoffs, the collection plate ushered to and fro, to and fro, to and fro. Muffled voices, counting, polished shoes. Kids, Seattle disappointments, bankruptcy. Betty Ford, movie stars, dry. Seattle, white collar, surrender. Attachment, no attachment. Contribution, warm underground steam, grating, blanket. Thoughts on paper. Betty Ford, dry, ten years. Sufficiency, holiday puzzle, awake.