Washington Personal Injury Attorney
A crash on I-90 at rush hour, a fall on a contractor’s unfinished stairs, a surgery that went wrong: each of these starts a clock in Washington, and the insurance company on the other side usually knows exactly when yours runs out. Injury Law Group NW is a personal injury law firm that represents people hurt by someone else’s negligence, from car, truck, motorcycle, and bus crashes to construction accidents, medical malpractice, brain injuries, premises hazards, and wrongful death, with clients throughout King County, the Eastside, Seattle, and the greater Puget Sound region.
Looking for a Washington personal injury attorney usually means you have already learned that the other side’s insurer is not neutral. Washington’s rules are favorable to injured people in some respects, such as a comparative fault system that does not bar you from recovery when you share blame, and unforgiving in others, such as strict filing deadlines and special notice requirements for claims against public agencies. Knowing which rule applies to your facts, and which documents an adjuster will use against you, shapes the outcome long before any lawsuit is filed.
Why Choose Injury Law Group NW for a Washington Injury Claim
Injury Law Group NW is led by attorneys who spent decades defending insurance companies before they began representing injured people. 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 against injury, wrongful death, fire loss, and construction defect claims. Attorney David D. Mordekhov spent two decades at Gardner Trabolsi & Mordekhov, a Seattle defense firm, trying wrongful death, catastrophic injury, and product liability cases before judges and juries. Associate attorneys Warren Barreiro and Hannah Shergold complete the legal team, supported by case managers who return calls and texts promptly.
That background matters because injury claims are valued by people who have a playbook. These attorneys know which records adjusters request first, how reserves and settlement authority are set internally, and what signals an insurer is preparing to fight rather than pay. The firm prepares every claim as though it will be tried, and the attorneys have argued at every level of the Washington court system, from district court to the Washington Supreme Court. Troy Hunter also serves as a dispute mediator. 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, and the firm is a member of the Washington State Association for Justice.
The results reflect that approach. The firm obtained a mid-six-figure settlement for a family of five whose minivan was forced into the I-5 center barrier by a semi-truck, a mid-six-figure settlement for an elderly woman struck by a transit bus in a downtown Seattle crosswalk, and more than $1 million for parents whose newborn died after a hospital failed to adequately test for Group B Strep. That last case also led the hospital to change its procedures. Past results do not guarantee a future outcome, and every case turns on its own facts.
Clients consistently describe the same things in their reviews: fast communication, honesty about their case, and clear guidance through a confusing process. David Mordekhov is fluent in Russian and has represented Russian and Ukrainian speaking families, and Warren Barreiro speaks Spanish. If injuries make travel hard, the firm will come to you at home or in the hospital. Consultations are free and confidential, and fees are contingent: no attorney fee unless there is a recovery.
Types of Washington Injury Cases and Where They Arise
- Car, Truck, and Motorcycle Crashes: Interstate corridors like I-5, I-90, and I-405 carry heavy commercial traffic alongside commuters. Semi-truck cases bring in carrier liability and federal safety rules, motorcycle riders face injuries that adjusters often blame on the rider, and pedestrians and cyclists in crosswalks and bike lanes are among the most vulnerable.
- Bus Accidents: Transit buses and other commercial passenger vehicles operate throughout the Seattle area. Claims can involve the driver, the operating agency or company, and maintenance contractors, and public-entity defendants trigger special notice rules.
- Construction Site Injuries: Active building across the Puget Sound region produces falls from ladders and scaffolds, trench collapses, electrocutions, and forklift and crane incidents. Workers’ compensation does not stop a separate claim against a negligent third party such as a property owner or another contractor.
- Medical Malpractice: Surgical errors, misdiagnosis and delayed diagnosis, prescription errors, birth injuries, and treatment without informed consent. These cases require qualified medical experts and follow their own timing rules.
- Traumatic Brain Injury: A brain injury can follow a crash, a fall, or a slip on an icy entry, and symptoms may not appear at once or show on imaging. Valuing these claims takes medical and vocational evidence about long-term effects on work and daily life.
- Slip and Fall and Retail Liability: Wet floors, poor lighting, broken stairs, and falling merchandise at stores, apartment complexes, and other businesses. The question is whether the owner or manager knew or should have known about the hazard and failed to fix or warn about it.
- Dog Bites: Washington makes an owner liable when a dog bites someone in a public place or lawfully on private property, and the dog’s history of aggression is not a required element of the claim.
- Wrongful Death: When negligence ends a life, the personal representative of the estate brings the claim for the benefit of the surviving spouse or registered domestic partner and children, or for parents or siblings when no spouse or child survives.
What to Do After an Injury in Washington
Start with medical care, even if you feel you can get by. Adrenaline hides injuries, and brain injuries, soft tissue damage, and internal trauma often declare themselves days later. A gap between the incident and your first treatment gives an adjuster an argument that something else caused your symptoms. Follow your providers’ instructions and keep records of every appointment, prescription, and out-of-pocket cost. Washington auto policies must offer personal injury protection coverage, which is part of your policy unless you rejected it in writing, and it can pay medical expenses and some lost income no matter who caused the crash.
Gather what disappears fastest: photographs of the scene, vehicles, hazards, and your injuries; names and contact information for witnesses; the police report number; and the identity of any company involved, such as a trucking carrier or property manager. Do not post about the incident on social media, and do not sign medical releases or give a recorded statement to the other side’s insurer without talking to a lawyer. You are generally not required to give the at-fault party’s insurer a recorded statement, and adjusters ask questions designed to narrow your injuries or move blame onto you.
Deadlines are where Washington claims are most often lost. Most personal injury lawsuits must be filed within three years, and wrongful death claims follow the same three-year period counted from the date of death. A lawsuit counts as started when you file or when you serve the defendant, as long as the other step happens within 90 days; miss that window and the filing may not stop the clock. Medical malpractice has three separate timing provisions: three years, a one-year discovery rule, and an eight-year outer limit, with a special one-year period running from actual knowledge of a foreign object left in the body. Time can be paused for minors, for people who cannot understand the proceedings because of incompetence or disability, and in a few other situations, but you should never count on a pause without confirming it applies.
Claims against government have an extra step. For a city, county, school district, or other local agency, you must present a claim on the standard tort claim form to the entity’s designated agent within the limitations period, and email or fax is generally not accepted. No lawsuit can be filed until 60 days after presentment, and the limitations period is paused during that wait. State agency claims go through the state’s office of risk management with the same 60-day wait. Because a bus crash or a fall on a public sidewalk can turn on these rules, identify early whether any public body could be responsible.
If you file, the forum depends on the size and nature of the claim. King County Superior Court, a general jurisdiction trial court, hears injury cases at the King County Courthouse in Seattle and the Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent, with Seattle and north-of-I-90 matters generally heard in Seattle and matters from south of Seattle and I-90 generally heard in Kent. King County District Court can hear injury claims up to its statutory dollar limit and has an East Division covering Bellevue, Issaquah, and Redmond. Small claims court restricts attorney appearances and is rarely a fit for a real injury case. Federal claims go to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington in Seattle.
How Fault and Insurance Shape the Value of Your Claim
Washington follows comparative fault. Your compensation is reduced by your share of responsibility, but you are not barred from recovery, even if you were mostly at fault. The statutory definition of fault is broad: it includes negligence, product misuse, unreasonable assumption of risk, and unreasonable failure to avoid an injury or mitigate damages. That last category is why gaps in treatment, ignored medical advice, or social media posts can be used to shrink a claim. Insurers routinely push the percentage up, and each point of assigned blame comes directly out of what you recover.
Value depends on the severity and permanence of your injuries, medical expenses past and future, lost income and earning capacity, the effect on daily life, and the insurance available. Recoverable damages generally include medical care, wage loss, and pain and suffering. A policy limit can cap a claim well below its true value, so identifying all coverage, including underinsured motorist coverage, employer policies, and additional liable parties, is part of building a case. Defense lawyers who have worked for insurers know how that evaluation happens from the other side of the table, and that knowledge is the practical reason the firm’s background affects settlement results.
Product and construction cases carry their own time limits. A product liability claim generally must be brought within three years of discovering the harm and its cause, and harm occurring more than twelve years after a product was delivered raises a presumption that the product’s useful safe life had expired, which can be rebutted with evidence. Construction-related claims against builders and design professionals must accrue within six years after substantial completion, though that limit cannot be raised as a defense by an owner or tenant in possession and control of the property when the claim arises. If impairment was involved in a crash, Washington’s DUI statute sets a 0.08 alcohol concentration limit within two hours of driving, 5.00 for THC, and a lower threshold for drivers under 21; impairment evidence can strengthen a civil claim and open the door to additional damages arguments.
Washington Personal Injury Claims: Frequently Asked Questions
How long do I have to file a personal injury lawsuit in Washington?
Most injury claims must be filed within three years, and wrongful death claims follow the same period counted from the date of death. Medical malpractice has its own rules, including a one-year discovery provision and an eight-year outer limit. Claims against public agencies require a formal claim and a 60-day wait before suit.
Can I still recover if I was partly at fault?
Yes. Washington reduces your damages by your percentage of fault but does not bar you from recovery. Because the percentage directly changes your payout, challenging an insurer’s fault assessment is often one of the most valuable parts of a claim.
How much does it cost to hire Injury Law Group NW?
The first consultation is free and confidential. The firm handles injury cases on a contingency basis, so no attorney fee is owed unless there is a recovery.
Who pays my medical bills while the claim is pending?
After a crash, personal injury protection coverage on your own auto policy can pay medical expenses and some lost wages regardless of fault, unless you rejected it in writing. Health insurance may also cover treatment, and the firm works to coordinate these sources while your claim moves forward.
Should I give a recorded statement to the other driver’s insurance company?
You are generally not required to, and you should speak with a lawyer first. Adjusters ask questions that can be used to downplay your injuries or assign you blame, and our attorneys know from their defense work how those statements are used.
What is my case worth?
It depends on injury severity, medical costs, lost income and earning capacity, the effect on your daily life, and available insurance coverage. The firm evaluates claims the way insurers do, so it can tell you what a fair result looks like and push for it.
What if the injury only showed up days or weeks after the accident?
Delayed symptoms are common with brain injuries, whiplash, and internal trauma. Get evaluated as soon as symptoms appear and tell the provider about the incident. A documented link between the event and your condition is what rebuts the argument that something else caused it.
Does a claim against a city or transit agency work differently?
Yes. A claim against a local government must be presented on the standard claim form to the entity’s designated agent, email and fax are generally not recognized, and suit cannot be filed until 60 days after presentment. The limitations period is paused during that wait, but a defective presentment can jeopardize the claim.
Can I bring a claim if I was hurt on a construction site and am receiving workers’ compensation?
Often yes. Workers’ compensation covers claims against your employer, but you may also have a third-party claim against a negligent property owner, general contractor, or equipment manufacturer. Those claims can provide compensation beyond what workers’ compensation pays.
What if I was hit while a minor, or I could not understand what was happening because of my injuries?
Washington can pause the filing deadline for people under 18 and for those whose incompetence or disability prevents them from understanding the proceedings. The protection is narrower in medical malpractice cases, and you should not assume a pause applies without a lawyer confirming it.
Who can bring a wrongful death claim in Washington?
The personal representative of the estate brings the claim for the benefit of the surviving spouse or registered domestic partner and children, including stepchildren. If none survive, parents or siblings may be beneficiaries. Parents also have a separate claim for a child’s injury or death, and a survival action can address the decedent’s own losses before death.
Is it worth hiring a lawyer for a smaller claim?
If medical treatment, lost work, or lingering symptoms are involved, a free consultation costs nothing and can tell you whether the offer you received is fair. With a contingency fee, there is no attorney fee unless money is recovered.
Does the firm help clients who do not speak English?
Yes. David Mordekhov is fluent in Russian and has represented Russian and Ukrainian speaking families, and Warren Barreiro speaks Spanish.
Serving Injury Clients Across King County and Washington
Injury Law Group NW represents clients throughout King County, starting with Issaquah and the Eastside communities of Sammamish, Bellevue, Redmond, and Kirkland, and extending to Seattle, Kent, Renton, and neighborhoods across the greater Seattle area. The firm also handles claims throughout the Puget Sound region and across Washington, whether the injury happened on a freeway, at a job site, in a hospital, or in a store parking lot. For clients whose injuries make travel difficult, the attorneys will meet at home or at the hospital.
Whether your case will be heard in King County Superior Court at the courthouse in Seattle or at the Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent, or in an Eastside District Court division covering Bellevue, Issaquah, and Redmond, the team prepares each claim as though it will be tried, wherever the venue lies.
Talk to a Washington Injury Attorney About Your Claim
If someone else’s carelessness has cost you your health, your income, or a family member, you do not have to face the insurance company alone. Injury Law Group NW offers free, confidential consultations with a Washington injury attorney who has seen how insurers value, delay, and deny claims from the inside. Call or text the firm to schedule a consultation, and the attorneys will listen to what happened, explain your options, and pursue the care and compensation you need to move forward. We give hope. We get results.
