Spokane Pedestrian Accident Lawyers

Spokane Pedestrian Accident Lawyers

When pedestrians are injured, it’s often the result of being struck by a car. These types of accidents usually cause extreme injury and sometimes death. If you or a loved one has been hurt in a pedestrian accident, it’s important to speak to a lawyer to find out if you are due compensation.

If you’re reading this, you may have been injured as a pedestrian. You are probably in pain. You’ve likely missed a lot of work, leading you to worry about finances. And you’re most likely looking for someone you can trust to handle a pedestrian accident claim.

We are here to help. We offer free legal advice. Call our Spokane pedestrian accident lawyers today.

Don’t worry about needing money up-front to get answers to your questions. Give us a call any time and schedule a free legal consultation.

What to Do After Being Injured as a Pedestrian

The most important thing to do after a pedestrian accident, of course, is protect your health. But the steps below are helpful to do, as you are able.

• Note as much information as you can about what happened, your injuries, and who witnessed the accident. If you’re able to while still on the scene, this may include recording witness statements, whether in a notebook or by taking video on your phone
• Take photos or video with your phone of the accident scene
• Call a personal injury trial lawyer who has experience in pedestrian accident claims
• Give your lawyer as much information as possible about the at-fault party, including their insurance information, if you have it

What Kind of Damages Can I Seek Compensation for in a Pedestrian Accident?

If you’ve been injured in an accident as a pedestrian, you can seek compensation for economic damages for lost pay and medical bills, as well as compensation for future damages, such as the expense of continuing care and related disability expenses. You can also seek compensation for non-economic damages, such as pain and suffering.

If a pedestrian accident takes the life of the person who was injured, surviving family members can recover compensation through a wrongful death claim. This compensation can also be both economic, compensating for lost financial support, and non-economic, compensating for loss of consortium and companionship.

Can I File A Claim if I Was Partially At-Fault in a Pedestrian Accident?

Washington State follows comparative negligence laws. This means you can pursue compensation even if you were partially at-fault for an accident.

If you are found at-fault for any percentage of the accident, your potential settlement award will be reduced by the proportion of fault you hold. For example, if you are found to be 20% at-fault in a pedestrian accident in which you suffered $20,000 in damages, the most you would be eligible to collect is $16,000.

What Information Will My Lawyer Need from Me?

Your Spokane pedestrian accident lawyers will conduct an accident investigation separate from the one conducted by law enforcement, with the specific goal of supporting your claim. If you happen to have copies of documentation about your accident, such as police and other reports from emergency medical services, and medical reports and records, by all means provide those to your attorney. You should also provide any bills you’ve received for accident-related medical care. It’s always helpful to provide your attorney with as much as you can, beginning as early as possible in the case.

Can a Spokane Pedestrian Accident Attorney Help Me?

There are three over-arching ways hiring a lawyer to handle your claim can benefit you. One is by preserving the value of your claim, another is by enabling you to receive more compensation than you could without a lawyer, and a third is by allowing you to rest and recover while your attorney moves your claim forward for you.

A Spokane Pedestrian Accident Attorney Can Protect the Value of Your Claim

Lawyers help protect the value of your pedestrian accident claim in several ways.

Having an attorney handle all communications with the insurance company is extremely helpful to preserving your claim’s value, because your lawyer knows what to say and what not say to them.

Insurance adjusters are skilled at guiding conversations and unwary accident victims are vulnerable to saying things that can damage their claims. Your pedestrian attorney knows what to expect and how to communicate effectively for you while keeping your claim’s value intact.

When a personal injury lawyer handles your pedestrian accident claim, you don’t have to worry about confusion over when to accept a settlement offer. This is another way a lawyer can help you protect the value of your claim.

People who don’t have lawyers often get so worn down by the process of working through a claim, they jump at the first offer they get — an offer that is almost always far too low. When you take on your own accident claim without the help of a lawyer, the insurance company knows you’re not likely to successfully sue them in court if they don’t offer a fair settlement offer. This puts you at a disadvantage.

This can result in the insurance company delaying and denying your claim in hopes you’ll give up and go away or accept a pitifully small offer. If they succeed in either result, they save money.

When you have a seasoned pedestrian accident lawyer working on your claim, however, it puts the insurance company on notice that if they don’t make a reasonable settlement offer, they’ll be hit with a lawsuit. The potential for being sued often gives the insurance company incentive to consider settling.

Our Spokane pedestrian accident lawyers know all the methods the insurance company is likely to use to try to save money. Your attorney will be able to guide you as to which offers are far too low to waste your time on and which ones are worth considering.

Objectivity is something you are likely to find in short supply when dealing with your own injury claim or the wrongful death claim of a loved one. Your attorney’s ability to step back and consider settlement offers with professional objectivity can be key to helping you make decisions about whether to accept a settlement offer or pass it up.

The many ways a lawyer can help preserve the value of a claim leads those with lawyers to receive many times more than those who muddle through their own claims without legal assistance.

Retaining a pedestrian accident lawyer is also the best way to allow yourself to rest and recover. Even if you are an experienced negotiator, you’ve got two things working against you when you’ve been injured in a pedestrian accident: you’re not at your best physically (and likely emotionally and intellectually) and you’re not objective.

In looking at the ways a lawyer can help you with your pedestrian accident claim, don’t discount the importance of being able to rest and recover while an attorney takes care of your claim. This is one of the biggest benefits of hiring a lawyer to fight for compensation on your behalf.

Mistakes to Avoid in a Pedestrian Accident Case

When you’ve been seriously hurt in a pedestrian accident, you can help preserve the value of your claim by avoiding some common mistakes.

Don’t Forget About the Doctor

It may seem unlikely that you’d fail to seek a medical exam after being struck by a vehicle, but it is possible — if, for instance, a person was to suffer a “glancing blow” by a vehicle that got too close while passing by. The amount of adrenaline and cortisol surging through your bloodstream after a traumatic event can prevent you from registering pain as you otherwise would. Protect your life after a pedestrian accident by getting a medical exam whether you feel pain or not.

Going to the doctor will also protect the value of an accident claim, should you decide to pursue one. This is because it will generate an official record of your what injuries you suffered and when you were treated for them. The closer the time of your exam is to the accident, the stronger the proof of when and how you were injured.

Without a medical exam to support your claim, the insurance company may be skeptical that your injury is as severe as you claim. Or they may suggest you weren’t injured in the accident at all.

Don’t leave any doubt about your right to get compensated for your pedestrian accident injuries. Seek a medical exam as quickly as you can after you are injured.

Don’t give a Recorded Statement to the Insurance Company

We’ve mentioned that it’s better for you to turn over communications with the insurance company to your Spokane pedestrian accident Lawyers. It’s important to remember that the insurance adjuster is not calling to find out how you’re doing, they are looking for ways to lower the value of your claim. The more you say to them, the more vulnerable your claim is. Communications with the insurance company are best turned over to your attorney.

Don’t Wait to Retain an Attorney

It’s not uncommon for people to think in terms of the filing deadline when they consider starting a pedestrian accident claim. This is important, but long before you need to be concerned with the filing date, you’ll need to make sure you’ve collected as much evidence as possible and reached out to witnesses for statements. If you’ve got an attorney, they can take this on for you. If you’re planning to put off your search for a lawyer until you’re feeling better, remember that you’re taking a chance that evidence will be gone by the time your lawyer can get an investigation started.

In addition, witnesses may move away or change contact information as time goes by. The very best chance to record witness testimony is right after the accident. This is also when witnesses have the clearest recall of events.

If you are too badly injured to compare attorneys online or make phone inquiries to setup consultations, consider asking a friend or loved one to take on the job for you. Chances are, they will be more than happy to help.

Hiring the Wrong Lawyer

When you look for an attorney to help you with a pedestrian accident claim, it’s best to look for a personal injury trial lawyer.

When it comes to the law, there are many practice areas in which an attorney may choose to focus. Your mother’s estate lawyer may be excellent at what she does, but she may not be familiar with the specifics of personal injury law. Your strongest case will be made by someone who regularly represents personal injury claims.

Don’t forget to make sure this person is also a trial lawyer. Though most claims are resolved before going to court, there is no guarantee that your case will be resolved through a settlement. If your claim goes all the way to trial, you’ll need a lawyer skilled at winning cases in front of juries.

Spokane Pedestrian Accident Client Story

Please read the client story below for an overview of your pedestrian accident claim. We’ve edited the names and details of the story to protect the privacy of our client, but that doesn’t change the helpful information it contains. After you’ve finished, please give us a call so we can talk about the circumstances of your specific claim.

Darryl Paul was just “That kind of guy.” The kind of guy you’d call in the middle of the night when you were stuck on the side of the road with a flat tire. He was, in fact, on a lot of people’s short list of trusted friends who would be there for you, no matter what.

Being “That friend” for so many people in the event of an alien invasion or zombie apocalypse makes for a long list of wedding invitations. Luckily, Darryl’s fiancée Heather didn’t mind a bit. Well aware of his “incredibility” factor, she figured the price of postage, and two hundred some-odd chicken cordon-bleu plates was well worth it.

She also wasn’t surprised when Darryl called at 8:36 p.m. one rainy Friday in Spokane not so long ago to tell her he’d be late for their late dinner. He’d stopped on his way back from dropping off his brother at the airport to help his brand-new friends, Mr. and Mrs. Finkelstein   with a flat tire.

He’d just discovered them there on the side of the road, elderly and clearly at a loss as to what do about their flat tire.

Heather told Darryl not to worry, they could take a raincheck on their dinner for the next night. Since Heather, her sister, and her best friend were due at the bridal shop the next morning at 10:00 a.m. to look for her wedding dress, of course they had to meet for breakfast two hours prior “make a game plan.” Darryl knew this was code for “laughing over waffles and pancakes” and had absolutely no objections. Agreeing on the raincheck, they hung up after each made approximately 32 kissy-face noises.

The rain maintained a steady beat as Darryl knelt on the shoulder of US-2 eastbound, pulling off the flat, seating the Finkelstein’s spare tire, and tightening all the lug nuts. He’d told the couple to stay in the car, even though it was tucked so far into the shoulder he doubted Mrs. Finkelstein could get out her door if she wanted to, sure she’d bang her door against the steep rock face that lined the road if she tried. So much the better to keep the couple away from the cars zipping by on the slick roadway.

Tightening the last of the lug nuts, Darryl stood and waved at the driver’s window to catch Mr. Finkelstein’s eye. He motioned for him to pop the trunk once more so Darryl could return their tire iron and jack back to where he’d found them.

Darryl heard the trunk release in the same moment headlights momentarily blinded him. He covered his eyes with the back of his hand, expecting to see another motorist pulling over to offer assistance, or maybe highway patrol. The light was the last thing he remembers about the accident.

Darryl woke up in the hospital with a leg broken in three places, a broken shoulder, and three broken ribs. He also suffered a serious concussion. Heather was at his side and told him a drunk driver had swerved into the breakdown lane at precisely the worst possible time, almost killing him. The car had struck him in the leg, slamming his torso and then his head into the couple’s car.

“I am SO mad at you!” Heather suddenly sobbed. Darryl blinked at her in confusion, but even in his weakened state, knew this was not the time to ask why. Just thinking about breathing was painful. He opted for innocently raised eyebrows that conveyed just the right amount of, “What’d I do?”

“Darryl James Paul, you are NOT getting out of this wedding. You hear me? I thought I was going to have to pick out a black dress instead of a white one. Don’t you EVER do that to me again!” she gasped as tears soaked her cheeks, creating mascara rivulets to her chin.

“Okay,” was all Darryl could manage to wince out, so he left it at that.

Darryl had had an operation on his leg and was looking at one more operation, at least. The accident had done damage to the bones in his lower leg, knee, and upper leg. It would be months before he could hope to resume his previous activities.

We met Darryl and Heather ten days after the accident, right before Darryl’s discharge from the hospital. One of his friends had suggested he contact us to find out about pursuing a pedestrian accident claim, and Heather had arranged for Personal Injury Attorney Kathleen H. Paukert to join them for a bedside consult.

How much does it cost to hire a lawyer?

“Thanks for coming to the hospital to speak to us,” Heather began as Attorney Paukert sat down. “We don’t mean to be rude, but before we get into this, Darryl is adamant we ask what it would cost to hire your firm. We’ve got the wedding coming up and all, and it looks like he’ll be out of work weeks, and on light duty after that for maybe months.

“He can do some talking, Heather explained, “but Darryl asked me to do most of the talking, as it still pains him to speak a lot.”

Kathleen said she completely understood and told the couple the firm works on a contingency fee model. “So, we cover all the case expenses, investigation, administration, research, all of it. We even pay for litigation should that be necessary. In the end, we only get compensated when we bring a successful resolution to your pedestrian accident claim.”

“Well okay, you can stay then,” Darryl said carefully with a completely straight face. His eyes slid from the attorney to his fiancée, and he added, “That was a joke.”

Heather and Attorney Paukert laughed. “The doctor told us to expect some ‘mismatch’ between his facial expressions and his words,” she explained. “He hit his head pretty hard; they said he was borderline for a traumatic brain injury, but the swelling is going down. I think most of it now is just him trying not to breathe because his ribs hurt.

“Sometimes he comes across a little robotic,” she added, wiping a tear from laughing.

“I get it,” said Paukert with a smile, “we’ve seen it before, both due to TBI and ribs.”

What is my pedestrian accident claim worth?

“Okay, so, Darryl’s first question is, what do you think his claim might be worth?” Heather asked.

“That’s going to depend on a couple of factors,” said Attorney Paukert. “The first factor is the results of the accident investigation. From what you mentioned on the phone, the driver who hit Darryl was drunk. That’s going to factor into his claim.”

“We’ll also establish how far off the road you were when you stopped to change the tire, Darryl, the location of your car, whether your emergency flashers were on… we’ll dig into everything to clearly establish fault for the accident.

“In addition, there may be another at-fault party, in the form of the ‘dram shop’ or bar that sold alcohol to the driver. Depending on the circumstances, you may be able to file against them as well, Darryl,” Paukert said.

“And it sounds like you have two witnesses who were on the scene at the moment of impact, correct?” She asked.

“Yes, the Finkelsteins,” said Darryl carefully. He then looked sheepishly at his fiancée. “I sort of invited them to the wedding when I stopped to change the tire.”

“That’s okay, Sweetie,” said Heather, “If you hadn’t, I would have. They’ve sent two bouquets of flowers since you arrived at the hospital. They included a card with all their information and wrote that if we ever need their testimony or anything else to let them know.”

Attorney Paukert nodded, “Great. Now, the second part of your case value will come from your damages. For us to determine your damages, you must reach what is called ‘maximum medical improvement,’ Darryl.

“This means recovering all the way back to your pre-accident level of health, or as close to it as you can come. It’s going to mean you’re done with operations, and your doctors have a clear understanding of how your health may be impacted by these injuries in the future.”

“You mean, like, if he’ll have a limp?” Heather asked.

“Yes, like that, or a limitation on lifting, or restricted range of motion, difficulty walking, any of that. Your damages, Darryl, will reflect all the ways your life has been, is now, and will be negatively impacted by your injuries. We need to wait until you’ve reached maximum medical improvement so we can be completely sure we’ve factored all of it into your request for compensation,” said Paukert.

“This means your only job from now until you reach maximum medical improvement is to channel all your energy into getting better. Follow your doctor’s orders and get as much rest as possible. We’ll take care of the rest.”

“Okay,” said Darryl before looking to Heather for the next question.


How long does a pedestrian accident claim take?

“How long do you think Darryl’s case will take?” Heather asked, taking Darryl’s hand.

“That’s also going to depend on two factors,” said Attorney Paukert. “The first is how long it takes Darryl to reach maximum medical improvement. We can’t ask for compensation until we know what losses, or damages, we need compensation for.

“Once you reach maximum medical improvement, Darryl, we’ll send a demand letter to the insurance company or companies for economic and non-economic damages. From that point onward, the timeline of your claim will depend on the insurance companies’ willingness to offer a fair settlement. If they do, we’ll be able to close your case without further hassle. If they fight us on the settlement, though, we’ll sue them in court.

“Please don’t let the possibility of a trial upset you. The insurance companies around here are familiar with our reputation; they’re not likely to be eager to come up against us in front of a jury. But if that’s where we end up, we’ll be ready to fight to get you the compensation you deserve. Either way, we’ll be up to the challenge.

“That’s why no matter who you choose to retain for your claim, Darryl, it’s important to hire a personal injury trial lawyer,” Attorney Paukert said, as a smarty-dressed elderly couple stopped in the doorway with yet another enormous bouquet of flowers.

“The Finkelsteins, I presume,” Paukert added as everyone laughed.

Darryl and Heather were satisfied with the information they received in their free legal consultation. Darryl retained Paukert and Troppmann, and Attorney Paukert got him over seven times the amount the insurance company originally offered.

Call Our Spokane Pedestrian Accident Lawyers Today

We hope you’ve learned helpful information about pedestrian accidents from this page. Every case is unique, so please contact our Spokane pedestrian accident lawyers to schedule your free legal consultation as soon as possible. Let us help you get full and fair compensation for the damages you’ve suffered.