LAW OFFICE OF

EXPERIENCE MATTERS

For over 30 years I have performed legal services ranging from claims of under a $1,000 to those of more than a $1,000,000, and have been involved in trial work and appeals in Washington District and Superior Courts, the Washington Court of Appeals and Supreme Court, and U.S. District Court.

Currently, I am accepting new clients in these areas:

• Personal injury, including wrongful death cases and select medical malpractice.  I have successfully resolved well over a hundred claims involving negligence by others.  Unfortunately for me, but relevant to my injured clients, I possess first-hand knowledge of being a victim of a serious car accident, and then the victim of an insurance company which failed to make a fair settlement.  I had to hire a lawyer to sue my own insurance company (successfully)*, and know the frustration of being forced to litigate a valid claim against an unyielding insurance giant. 

*  As Abe Lincoln put it:  "If you represent yourself you will have a fool for a client and a jack-ass for a lawyer."  Not wanting to be either, I hired a lawyer.

Note - Some personal injury lawyers delegate nearly all of the work-up of the case to a paralegal.  While I do have a trained paralegal on staff to assist me, the essential legal work is performed by me.

• Insurance claims.  I enjoy making Farmers, State Farm, Allstate, etc., live up to their slogans. 
• Family law.  This is the new term for “divorce.”  I have had dozens of divorce trials and many hundreds of hearings.  While I work hard to achieve, without an expensive trial, fair child support and a suitable parenting plan for those cases with children, and fair property and debt division, and appropriate spousal maintenance (“alimony”), I recognize that sometimes the other spouse simply refuses to act reasonably.  In those cases, I am willing and able to take your dispute to trial. 
  

Note - I carefully screen custody disputes and accept only a limited number of those cases.

• Estate planning.  This includes wills for individuals and couples, and trust wills for those with minor children.  I also prepare, if needed, community property agreements, powers of attorney, and directives to physicians.
• Probate.  With advance planning, probate need not be expensive. 
• Guardianships.
• Real estate matters.
• Contract matters.
• Miscellaneous civil claims.
• Arbitration and civil trials.

  There are certain things I don’t do:

• Criminal law.
• DUI and other traffic offenses.
• Bankruptcy.
• Adoption.
• Complicated estate planning (for substantial estates which require specialized tax law expertise).
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SAMPLING OF SIGNIFICANT CASES

Personal Injury:

• Log truck collision resulting in a bruised spinal cord and permanent impotence.  Over $1,000,000 total paid out during client's lifetime (structured settlement).
• Car accident resulting in fractured vertebrae requiring spinal fusion.  Jury verdict damages of $386,000.
• Car/truck collision resulting in a broken hip.  $100,000, plus medical bills.
• Car/motorcycle accident causing neck and TMJ injuries.  $100,000, plus medical bills.

 Wrongful Death:

• Death caused by hospital negligence (see below, under medical malpractice cases).
• Death caused by nursing home negligence.  Night exits were unlocked and unstaffed.  Elderly man with dementia left the building in the middle of the night in freezing weather.  He was later found frozen to death in a ditch.
• Settlement of three fatal car accident cases.

 Medical Malpractice:

• Following a C-section, hospital and physician negligence led to the mother bleeding to death.  Settlement of $1,350,000.
• Hospital negligently allowed a profoundly disturbed and heavily sedated psychiatric patient to go outside, unsupervised, where he fell from a dangerous ledge onto concrete, fracturing his ankle.
• Physician failed to diagnosis appendicitis in a small child, leading to a ruptured appendix.
• Physician broke a new-born’s thigh bone during a routine C-section.
• Nurse practitioner improperly performed a circumcision, resulting in the child having to have a second surgery. 

Note:  In medical malpractice cases, I only accept those where medical negligence is clear.  I have turned down many more cases than I have accepted, for that reason.

My normal office hours are 9-5.  I can often accommodate those who need noon, early evening, or Saturday conferences.  Also, I make it a point to try to return calls, or have my assistant do so, no later than the next business day, so please leave voice mails.