Washington Birth Injury Attorney
Injury Law Group NW represents families across King County and the greater Seattle area whose children were harmed during pregnancy, labor, or delivery, and parents who lost a newborn to a preventable hospital error. A Washington birth injury attorney works on cases where the medical record, not the outcome alone, tells the story: fetal monitoring strips that showed distress hours before a delivery, a lab culture that was never ordered, a vacuum or forceps decision made too late or too forcefully.
Most birth injury claims in Washington are medical malpractice claims, which means they follow stricter rules than an ordinary injury case. You generally need qualified medical experts to explain how the care fell below the accepted standard and how that failure caused the harm. Families often come to us months or years after the birth, when a child misses milestones or a diagnosis such as cerebral palsy finally explains what went wrong. The sooner someone reads the chart, the better the chance of preserving the evidence that matters.
Our firm is led by attorneys who spent decades defending insurers and hospitals before representing injured people. That history shapes how we approach a birth injury case, because we know how a hospital’s insurer will evaluate the chart, which defense experts it tends to hire, and what it takes to move a claim toward a fair resolution.
Why Choose Injury Law Group NW for a Birth Injury Claim
Injury Law Group NW is a personal injury firm serving King County, the Eastside, Seattle, and communities throughout Washington. We represent people harmed by medical negligence, including surgical errors, delayed diagnosis, prescription errors, birth injuries, and treatment without informed consent. We offer a free, confidential consultation, and we work on a contingency fee basis, so there is no attorney fee unless we recover money for your family. If a parent or newborn cannot travel, we will meet you at home or at the hospital. Our case managers return calls and texts promptly, and we help clients find the right doctors and keep medical bills under control while the claim proceeds.
Founding partner Troy Hunter spent 16 years in insurance defense litigation, mostly as a partner at Floyd, Pflueger & Ringer, defending insurers and their corporate clients in injury and wrongful death matters. Troy also serves as a dispute mediator. Attorney David D. Mordekhov spent two decades at Gardner Trabolsi & Mordekhov trying wrongful death, catastrophic injury, and product liability cases. Both Troy and David are rated AV Preeminent by Martindale-Hubbell. David has been selected to the Super Lawyers list and teaches trial and deposition skills as faculty at the National Institute for Trial Advocacy. Associate attorneys Warren Barreiro and Hannah Shergold are part of the team, and the firm is a member of the Washington State Association for Justice. Our attorneys have argued at every level of the Washington court system, from district court to the Washington Supreme Court, and we prepare every claim as though it will be tried.
That case also led the hospital to change its procedures, which is the kind of outcome many families tell us they want, that no other baby is harmed the same way. Past results do not guarantee a future outcome. Language access matters too: David is fluent in Russian and Warren speaks Spanish, so families can discuss a painful subject in the language they are most comfortable using.
Kinds of Birth Injuries We Investigate
- Untreated Infections in Mothers and Newborns: Group B Strep is a well-known example. When a hospital fails to screen or test appropriately, or fails to give antibiotics in time, a newborn can develop sepsis or meningitis within hours.
- Oxygen Deprivation During Labor: Fetal heart rate patterns that signal distress call for a prompt response, often an emergency cesarean. Delay can lead to hypoxic-ischemic brain injury, cerebral palsy, or death.
- Traumatic Delivery Injuries: Excessive traction, forceps, or vacuum extraction can cause brachial plexus injuries, fractures, skull injuries, or bleeding in the brain. Shoulder dystocia that is mishandled is a frequent source of claims.
- Missed Maternal Complications: Preeclampsia, gestational diabetes, placental problems, and umbilical cord complications need monitoring and a timely plan. A missed warning sign can injure both mother and child.
- Medication and Anesthesia Errors: Wrong doses, wrong drugs, or poorly monitored anesthesia during labor and cesarean delivery can harm a mother or reduce a baby’s oxygen supply.
- Neonatal Care Failures: Problems do not end at delivery. Untreated jaundice, low blood sugar, and delayed recognition of breathing or infection problems in the first days of life can cause permanent injury.
- Brain Injury and Lifelong Care Needs: Many birth injury cases involve a child who will need therapy, equipment, and support for life, and the claim must account for decades of future care, not just current bills.
- Wrongful Death of a Newborn: When an infant dies because of medical negligence, Washington’s wrongful death statutes allow the family to seek compensation through a personal representative.
What Families Should Do After a Suspected Birth Injury
Start with your child’s health. Make sure your child is seeing the specialists they need, whether that is a pediatric neurologist, a developmental pediatrician, or a therapist, and keep a running record of every appointment, diagnosis, and recommendation. Those records show the real medical course and later help establish what future care will cost.
Next, request the complete medical records for both the mother and the baby, including prenatal visits, labor and delivery notes, nursing notes, and the electronic fetal monitoring strips. Those strips are often the single most important piece of evidence, and they are easy to overlook in a standard records request. Ask for them by name. Write down your own recollection of the delivery while it is fresh: who was in the room, when you asked for help, what you were told. Do not post details about the birth or your child’s condition on social media, and be careful about signing releases or speaking with the hospital’s risk management staff or insurer without advice.
Deadlines in Washington medical malpractice cases are shorter and more technical than many families expect. Generally, the claim must be filed within three years of the negligent act, or within one year of when you discovered, or reasonably should have discovered, that the care caused the injury, whichever is later. Washington’s statute has also contained an eight-year outer limit, but the state Supreme Court has found that outer limit unconstitutional, so how it applies today is a question we would analyze with you rather than assume. Courts can treat the clock differently for minors, and the rules differ if the death of a newborn is involved, where the wrongful death three-year period runs from the date of death. Do not rely on a general rule of thumb. Have a lawyer calculate the deadline for your family’s facts as early as possible.
If the care was delivered by a public hospital or a government-run clinic, a different process applies. Claims against local government entities require a formal claim to be presented first, followed by a 60-day waiting period before suit can be filed. Claims against the state follow a similar 60-day rule through the Office of Risk Management. Missing these steps can jeopardize an otherwise valid case.
Most of these cases are filed in King County Superior Court, which sits in Seattle and in Kent. Which location hears a case generally depends on where the parties are and how the case is assigned. Because birth injury claims are usually valued well above the district court limit, they belong in superior court rather than the district courts that handle smaller disputes. Expect the process to take time: records review, expert consultation, a formal claim or complaint, discovery, depositions of the delivering team, and mediation or trial. Insurers pay more fairly when they see a lawyer who is prepared to take the case through that entire process.
How Washington Law Treats a Birth Injury Claim
Washington requires proof that a health care provider failed to meet the accepted standard of care and that the failure caused the harm. In birth injury cases, causation is often the hardest piece. The defense will argue that a child’s condition was the result of something that happened before labor, a genetic factor, or an unavoidable complication. Winning that argument depends on expert review of the timeline, including when warning signs appeared and what a reasonable obstetric team would have done in response.
Washington follows a pure comparative fault rule, so any fault assigned to a patient reduces the recovery but does not bar it. In birth injury cases, the more common allocation fight is among providers: the obstetrician, the nurses, the anesthesiologist, the neonatal team, and the hospital itself can each point at one another. Identifying every responsible party early helps avoid leaving a viable claim behind.
Damages in a serious birth injury case can include the child’s past and future medical care, therapy, equipment, home modifications, and lost earning capacity, along with pain and suffering. A parent’s claims, such as the cost of care they have provided or their own injuries from the delivery, may be part of the case as well. When a child has died, the wrongful death statutes allow the personal representative to bring an action for the benefit of the spouse or domestic partner and children and, if there are none, parents or siblings. The estate may also recover economic losses, and in some circumstances pain and suffering the baby experienced before death. Valuing a claim like this means working with life care planners and vocational and economic experts, which is part of how we prepare these cases for trial.
Birth Injury Questions Parents Ask Us
How long do I have to file a birth injury claim in Washington?
Generally three years from the negligent act, or one year from when you discovered or should have discovered the cause of the injury, whichever comes later. Exceptions can apply for concealment or for a foreign object left in the body, and special rules apply for claims against government entities. Because the outer-limit statute has been called into question by the Washington Supreme Court, a lawyer should confirm how the deadlines apply to your situation.
Does a bad outcome automatically mean malpractice?
No. Doctors and hospitals cannot guarantee a good result, and some complications happen despite proper care. A claim requires proof that the care fell below the accepted standard and that this caused the injury. That is why we have medical experts review the records before anyone makes promises.
What records and evidence matter most?
The full prenatal chart, labor and delivery notes, nursing documentation, the fetal heart monitoring strips, the newborn’s records, and any later imaging or specialist evaluations. Parents’ own notes and photographs from that time can also help fill gaps.
My child was diagnosed years after birth. Is it too late?
Not necessarily. The discovery rule can extend the time to file when a family could not reasonably have known the injury was caused by the care. Waiting longer still makes records and witnesses harder to track down, so do not assume the window has closed or that you have plenty of time.
How much does it cost to hire your firm?
The first consultation is free and confidential. We handle injury cases on a contingency fee basis, so you pay no attorney fee unless we recover compensation for you.
Who can bring the claim for a child who was injured?
A minor child cannot sue on their own, so a parent or guardian generally brings the claim on the child’s behalf. Parents may also have their own claims for the added costs and losses the injury has caused the family.
Can the hospital be responsible even if the doctor was an independent contractor?
Possibly. Hospitals can be responsible for their own employees, such as nurses, and in some situations for physicians who appeared to be acting on the hospital’s behalf. They can also be liable for their own failures in protocols, staffing, and testing. Sorting out who employed or controlled whom is part of early case investigation.
Will my health insurance cover my child’s treatment while the claim is pending?
Treatment should not wait for a lawsuit. Your health insurance or public coverage can pay for care in the meantime, and those payers may later assert a right to be repaid from a recovery. We help coordinate that so bills are handled and your child keeps getting care while the case moves forward.
What if the baby died shortly after birth?
Washington allows a wrongful death claim through the personal representative of the estate, for the benefit of qualifying family members. The three-year period for wrongful death claims begins on the date of death. These cases are among the most painful we handle, and we approach them with patience and care so that families can focus on one another.
Will the case go to trial, and how long will it take?
Many claims resolve through negotiation or mediation, but whether yours does depends on the insurer’s willingness to pay what the case is worth. Birth injury cases commonly take longer than ordinary injury claims because of the expert work involved. We prepare each one as though it will be tried, which is often what moves an insurer toward a fair offer.
What if my English is limited?
We can help in your own language. David Mordekhov is fluent in Russian and has represented Russian and Ukrainian speaking families, and Warren Barreiro speaks Spanish.
Serving Birth Injury Families Across King County and Beyond
We represent families throughout King County, starting with the Eastside communities of Issaquah, Sammamish, Bellevue, Redmond, and Kirkland. From there our work extends south to Renton and Kent and into Seattle, where many of the region’s major hospitals are located. We also serve families across the greater Seattle area and the Puget Sound region, and we take birth injury and medical malpractice cases from throughout Washington. Families often deliver at one hospital and receive neonatal care at another, and we are comfortable sorting out records and responsibility across several facilities. If a new mother or an injured infant cannot travel, we will come to your home or the hospital.
Talk With a Washington Birth Injury Lawyer
If you believe medical negligence harmed your baby or took your child’s life, a Washington birth injury lawyer at Injury Law Group NW will listen to what happened, review what the records show, and explain what your options are. The consultation is free and confidential, and you pay nothing unless we recover money for your family. Call or text us to talk with an attorney. We give hope. We get results.
