Vancouver Personal Injury Lawyer

Recovering from a personal injury can be challenging for many victims and their families. When costs from medical procedures, physical therapy appointments and other, related services begin to mount, knowing that your best interests are being protected can be an important part of the recovery process.

Richard and the Rizk law team made the whole process seamless and as easy as possible.
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The Vancouver personal injury lawyers at Rizk Law have a comprehensive knowledge of Washington State’s personal injury laws and our law firm has recovered millions of dollars in compensation on behalf of our clients.

There are no upfront fees if you decide to hire us and it’s free to talk to an attorney at our firm to help determine if you have grounds to file a lawsuit.

Contact Rizk Law today by calling 503.245.5677.

Deadlines for Personal Injury Claims

You may be wondering when to contact an attorney after suffering a personal injury. The answer is: as soon as possible. The reason for this is that there is a deadline for pursuing legal action.

Washington’s personal injury statute of limitations sets a deadline of three years from the date of the injury for filing a lawsuit. This means if you do not file a lawsuit within three years, you no longer have the legal right to do so. This deadline also applies to wrongful death lawsuits and claims involving property damage.

Some injury victims think that because they are going to pursue insurance compensation they do not need to worry about the lawsuit deadline. However, there is no guarantee you or your Vancouver personal injury attorney will be able to obtain fair compensation. After all, insurance companies are notoriously difficult to deal with, and often do whatever they can to avoid paying fair compensation. They could even deny what you consider to be a completely valid claim.

If the insurance process does not result in you receiving fair compensation, your last resort may be to file a personal injury lawsuit. Since the statute of limitations will be running during the insurance claims process, you want to have an attorney who is prepared for filing a lawsuit if the insurance claim is unsuccessful. This will help ensure your lawsuit is filed before the statute of limitations runs out.

If you pursue an insurance claim first, your attorney will not have a full three years to prepare a lawsuit. The insurance process could take several months to be resolved, one way or the other. This will leave you just over two years to get a personal injury lawsuit filed. The Vancouver personal injury attorneys at Rizk Law understand how this works and will be prepared. We are committed to pursuing fair compensation for all your damages.

Other Deadlines to be Aware of

If your injury was the result of negligence by a government entity, such as an employee of the City of Vancouver or state government, the three-year statute of limitations still applies. However, before filing the lawsuit, you must file a written notice of claim. This must be done within the three-year time limit. Once the notice is received, you are prohibited from filing a lawsuit until 60 days have passed.

If you suffered an injury caused by the negligence of another, contact a personal injury attorney in Vancouver today by calling 503.245.5677.

Common Kinds of Personal Injury Cases

There are a lot of things to do in Vancouver, from hiking to going to parks and shopping, just to name a few. Unfortunately, whether you are going out or staying in, there is always a risk of suffering a personal injury. It could happen when you are walking, driving, on someone else’s property, at work, or receiving treatment at an area hospital.

Our firm handles a wide variety of personal injury situations involving many different injuries. If negligence is involved and you suffered damages, we are prepared to pursue compensation if you have a viable case. Some of different types of cases we handle include those involving:

These accidents can cause various injuries, including:

No matter what types of injuries you suffered, we are prepared to pursue the compensation you deserve for them, which could include compensation to cover:

We will also pursue compensation for lost wages if you are unable to work. If you have a permanent disability that limits your ability to work in the same job as before, we may be able to obtain compensation for lost earning capacity.

We can also pursue compensation for:

If you lost your spouse due to negligence, we can pursue compensation for the loss of services, such as companionship, childcare and income.

The value of your case depends on a variety of factors, including the severity of your injuries and the financial and emotional issues you are struggling with. Our Vancouver personal injury attorneys will carefully examine the factors involved in your case to determine the value of your case. This includes conducting a thorough investigation where we review medical records, police reports, video and pictures from the scene, consult medical experts, and talk to eyewitnesses.

Contact Rizk Law today by calling 503.245.5677.

What Should I Do After an Accident in Vancouver, WA?

This is one of the most frequently asked questions personal injury victims have. They are often confused, in shock, angry or frantic because they just do not know what to do.

There are a few steps you can take to help ensure your safety and begin to document what happened, which will go a long way toward helping your attorney begin building a case against the at-fault party.

Report the Accident

Call 9-1-1 and get in touch with the Vancouver Police Department after an accident. Once emergency responders arrive at the scene, inform the police of what happened to have your side of the story on the record.

Filing an accident report and obtaining a copy for your records will be an important part of your claim. You can request a copy of the report in person at the Vancouver Police Records Division or visit the Public Record Request page and fill out your request online.

However, your accident may have occurred just outside of city limits or on an interstate. When this happens, you may need to contact a different law enforcement agency. If you were injured outside city limits, your accident may be handled by the Clark County Sheriff’s Department. If you were injured on an interstate, you may need to contact Washington State Patrol.

Get Treatment

It is important to start treatment right away after an accident. You need to get your injuries stabilized, evaluated by qualified medical professionals, and begin a treatment plan. This helps to ensure your injuries do not get any worse, which might prevent them from getting more serious down the road.

Another important aspect of getting treatment right away is linking your injuries to the accident. It will be much more difficult for the insurance company or attorneys or the at-fault party to dispute that your injuries were caused by the accident.

Continue Treatment

Injury victims may not know that a lot of strong personal injury cases fall apart simply because the victim does not want to continue treatment. When this happens, the other side will argue you are not really hurt and do not need compensation. Stopping treatment could result in your lawsuit being thrown out or your insurance claim simply being denied.

This is why it is so important to follow the treatment plan prescribed by your doctors. Go to appointments, take prescription medications, go to physical therapy, avoid activities you are told to avoid and abide by any physical limitations placed on you by your doctors.

Try to Collect Evidence

Sometimes it is simply impossible for you to collect evidence after an accident. Maybe you were hurt so severely that you were unconscious and regained consciousness in the ambulance. It may have been unsafe for you to move or maybe you were applying first aid or putting pressure on a wound that was bleeding. In these situations, let your personal injury lawyer in Vancouver, WA collect evidence later. You could also ask a friend or family member who is with you at the time of the accident to collect evidence.

However, if you are awake and alert and it is safe to do so, take pictures of the scene. This includes any property damage, the hazards or obstacles that contributed to the accident, your injuries, landmarks and street signs that identify the location of the accident, identifying information for any vehicles, and anything else that you think is relevant.

If this was a motor vehicle accident, collect information about the other driver, including insurance information and contact information. If this was a truck accident, try to collect information about the truck, including the name on the side of the trailer and identifying information.

Are there any witnesses? If so, talk to them about what they saw and write down their contact information for future reference. You or your personal injury lawyer may want clarification on different things they said.

File an Insurance Claim

If the accident is covered by insurance, get the process started as soon as possible. However, be careful with what you say to the insurance company. Just provide the basic facts about the accident and leave it at that. You do not need to provide opinions or answer a bunch of in-depth questions. There will be plenty of time for the insurance company to investigate and get the facts from the police/accident report and your medical records.

The danger of providing opinions is that you could admit fault for the accident or say something else that hurts your chances of recovering fair compensation. It is best to let the investigation play out.

You also need to remember that insurance companies do not have your best interests in mind. They are focused on making money, not paying you fair compensation.

Contact a Vancouver Personal Injury Attorney

After filing an insurance claim, contact a lawyer to discuss what happened. An experienced trusted Vancouver personal injury lawyer can manage the rest of the process on your behalf. At Rizk Law we will take your case on contingency, so there will be no fees unless you receive compensation. Richard Rizk knows how to deal with insurance companies because he used to work for them, authorizing payment for large loss claims. He has been able to use the insights he gained from working for insurance companies when representing victims of negligence.

Call us today at 503.245.5677.

What Happens if You are Partially at Fault for the Accident?

Determining fault after an accident is not always easy. Sometimes this is because there are multiple other parties involved in your accident. However, there are also times where the victim is partially at fault for the accident. This often happens in motor vehicle accidents, but it could come up in virtually any other personal injury case.

In Washington state, these situations are governed by the contributory fault statute. This statute says your amount of fault will be calculated as a percentage and your total compensation award will be reduced by that percentage. For example, if you are 40 percent at fault, your compensation award will be reduced by 40 percent.

However, some states prohibit you from recovering compensation if your percentage of fault is too high. Washington is different because it does not matter how high your percentage of fault is, you can still recover compensation. The only way you would not be able to recover compensation is if you were entirely at fault for the accident.

This law also comes up in insurance claims because insurance companies are trying to pay out as little compensation as possible.

Our Vancouver personal injury lawyers will carefully review the details of your accident and how you may have contributed to it. We do not want you to be assigned more fault than you deserve and be denied any of the fair compensation you deserve.

Fill out a Free Case Evaluation form or call us at 503.245.5677.

Discuss Your Case with a Personal Injury Attorney in Vancouver, Washington

Obtaining fair compensation after a personal injury is a very difficult process, especially without the help of an attorney with experience obtaining fair compensation who has thorough knowledge of state laws and city ordinances and other aspects of these cases.

The experience attorneys at Rizk Law have helped many injury victims recover for their losses after a personal injury caused by negligence. As a firm, we have recovered more than $15 million for our clients since our founding in 2001. We are deeply committed to doing our part to help injury victims who are struggling because of another’s carelessness or intentional acts.

To discuss your case, schedule your free legal consultation right now. You will not be charged for having us represent you unless you are compensated at the end of the legal process.

Fill out a Free Case Evaluation form or call us at 503.245.5677.