Personal Injury Claim in Issaquah, Washington

It's important to understand the context for what is called a “tort,” or a personal injury claim. Essentially, it's a civil claim seeking dollars as restitution for harms caused by another person or entity. For example, consider as a useful metaphor the idea that if someone breaks your window, they are responsible for repairing and replacing the damaged glass.

This legal remedy involves three primary issues: liability, causation, and damages. Liability is proof of who's at fault and responsible; causation is proof that a specific act of negligence caused a particular harm; damages are proof of the harms and losses that are directly caused by the negligent act.

The evidence of damages can include things that can be calculated like treatment expenses and wage loss — as well as things that are not subject to quantifiable measurement or calculation, like quality of life and emotional distress. You are often the source of the proof of your own claim. For instance, if you go to the doctor for treatment, that creates positive proof we can use as your personal injury attorney. If you do not go for treatment, that creates negative proof the opposing side can use.

Keep in mind that the “burden of proof” (meaning evidence that is “more probable than not”) is always on the injured party. Let’s take a closer look at the three primary elements of restitution our Issaquah personal injury attorneys will seek out.

Liability

Liability comes in many shapes and sizes. In a vehicle incident, it's clear that Washington has “rules of the road” based on specific statutes and standards. Frequently, however, if there's no investigation at the scene or independent witnesses, it's often a "he said or she said" dynamic.
 

Causation 

There can be many contributing causes in any incident or personal injury claim in Issaquah. Some of those are directly related to the weather, or the design of the highway, or the perceptions or distractions of other things going on in vehicles, such as texting. The most fundamental causation principle can be summarized as the "but for" test: “but for” the negligent actions, would the harms and injuries have occurred?

It is also helpful to understand that causation in the medical world may have a specific definition, and even though medicine is incredibly important in the legal environment, it's frequently more important to think about causation in terms of the "but for" perspective. We often use non-medical witnesses like family members, coworkers, and others to prove that the injured person did not have these harms, problems, symptoms, or limitations before the accident, and that they did have these harms after the accident. This is just one of the reasons why it's so important to hire the right personal injury attorney in Issaquah and surrounding areas of Washington.
 

Damages

Personal injury claims we see in Issaquah typically involve different kinds of harms/damages, including economic losses and non-economic losses:

Economic losses: These are losses that can be calculated. In a typical personal injury case, harms involve past reasonable and necessary treatment expenses and future reasonable and necessary treatment expenses. There are other economic losses like past and future wage loss or lost earning capacity due to injuries. Note that future losses are frequently calculated based on opinions of doctors, experts like life-care planners, economists, and others, so there's always the perspective that future losses are inherently ambiguous or speculative.

Non-economic losses: These are losses that cannot be calculated. They include emotional distress, past and future physical and emotional pain, as well as quality-of-life issues. These are factors to be included in a personal injury claim as they are components of the harms caused.

Hurt by Someone's Negligence? 
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When you choose the Pearson Law Firm, you can expect skilled representation rooted in kindness for your situation and backed by over 40 years of experience. Our team values building positive relationships with our clients and we work to demystify the legal process.

We want to make sure you feel safe and informed as we work towards getting you the results you deserve.