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Personal Injury Accident Lawyers

In Washington state, Personal Injury Law encompasses a wide range of legal matters arising from accidents or incidents that result in physical or psychological harm to individuals. Whether it’s an auto accident injury, slip-and-fall accident, amputation, dog attack, or any other type of incident caused by negligence or intentional wrongdoing, victims have rights under the law to seek compensation for their injuries and losses. Whatever the accident, call Emery | Reddy, PLLC to speak with our experienced Intake Specialists for a Free Case Review and find out how we might be able to help you.

Types of Personal Injury Cases

Amputation

An amputation — whether it be losing a limb, hand, or eye — is a life-altering experience for anyone. Many amputees are grateful to be alive after their brush with tragedy in a auto or construction site accident. Yet after the initial shock subsides, injured workers must still learn to cope with the aftermath of their accident, recover from their amputation, and adjust to life with a disability.

Auto Accident Injuries

Auto accident injuries can range from bruises, cuts, soft tissue damage, and neck pain to catastrophic injuries involving the headspinal cord, and brain. As a victim, it is in your best interest to secure guidance and support from an Auto Accident Injury attorney as soon as possible after an auto accident. This allows time for a legal expert to build a case on your behalf and collect the evidence necessary to establish liability. 

Back Injuries

Emery | Reddy frequently handles workplace back injuries including bulging discs, herniated discs, pinched nerves, stenosis, myelopathy, arachnoiditis, failed back or post-laminectomy syndrome, cervical and lumbar disc fractures, and cases involving workers who have undergone or need laminectomies, discectomies, or fusions. Workers may have difficulty getting approval for physical therapy, medication, injections, facet blocks, or even spinal cord stimulators that can provide needed relief from pain. 

Brain Injuries
In general terms, a traumatic brain injury includes any harm resulting in damage to the brain. Most cases of traumatic brain injuries are caused by blunt force trauma to the head or closed head injuries. For example, a person’s head may hit their windshield in a collision or be struck by a falling object in a warehouse at work. Other accidents involve penetrating head injuries where an object actually penetrates the skull, directly damaging the brain.
Burn Injuries

Workers with burn injuries are at increased risk of infection, and pain levels may sometimes be high enough to trigger unconsciousness. Burn injury victims also commonly suffer from scarring, or hair may fail to grow back in areas where burns have occurred. Wheezing can be a symptom of internal burns in the lungs, while hoarseness may indicate a burned throat. Nausea and vomiting are another set of symptoms to look for; these can be signs of smoke inhalation and exposure to chemicals. Finally, a condition known as paresthesia can lead to numbness, tingling, or pain around the burned area.

Car Accident Injuries

Car accident injuries can range from bruises, cuts, soft tissue damage, and neck pain to catastrophic injuries involving the headspinal cord, and brain. Emery | Reddy’s Car Accident Injury Attorneys collaborate with experienced investigators to study your accident scene, analyze road conditions, interview witnesses, and reconstruct the event, putting you in the best position to receive full compensation for your injuries.

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is compression of the median nerve that runs through the carpal tunnel. Primary symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome include sporadic numbness of the thumb, index, long, and radial side of the ring finger. Numbness tends to occur at night because many people sleep with their wrists flexed. Long-standing carpal tunnel syndrome can result in serious and permanent nerve damage, with workers eventually experiencing constant numbness, atrophy of muscles in the hand, and weakness of palmar abduction.

Catastrophic Injuries

Catastrophic injuries can be caused by anything from automobile accidents to construction accidents and defective products. If a negligent party is at fault for such an injury, a victim’s claim becomes an essential factor in shaping their future quality of life; successful claims will greatly impact the quality of that individual’s medical care and related support and will help compensate the victim for lost earnings, loss of employment, and pain and suffering.

Chronic Pain
Following an injury to a shoulderknee, hand, or other extremity, workers may suffer from intense or chronic pain during recovery. While pain is certainly normal during the healing process, workers should seek a medical evaluation if it develops into something persistent and intense. This may be an indication that you have developed a condition known as chronic pain syndrome.
Dog Attacks

Dog attacks can result in punctures and lacerations, crushing wounds, fractured bones, and disfiguring scars. Children are especially vulnerable to emotional trauma after being attacked by an animal.

People injured in dog attacks generally have the right to seek compensation if the dog owner’s negligence contributed to its attack, if the owner violated dog leash or restraint laws, or if the owner kept a dog with a known history of aggressive behavior toward people.

Head Injuries

Head injuries and head trauma are common among workers involved in car, truck, and motorcycle accidentsslip-and-fallsconstruction site accidents, and other work-related incidents. A blow to the head should not be casually dismissed just because it seems relatively minor at the time; even a mere bump on the head can escalate into a life-threatening brain injury if an individual does not receive proper medical evaluation and treatment. 

Hearing Loss

If you work in a loud environment or on a noisy job site, you could be at risk of occupational hearing loss. Losing your hearing — whether temporarily or permanently — is not only disorienting, but it can also greatly impact your ability to earn a living and provide for your family. Even though employers are required to provide protections against occupational hearing loss, it can still occur. 

Heavy Equipment Accidents

Heavy equipment accidents often occur at or near construction and industrial sites where many large moving parts create dangerous conditions. Machinery, tools, and vehicles can injure workers, visitors, or those simply passing by. Employers, property owners, and associated parties are responsible for protecting your safety — but often safety measures are neglected or equipment is defective or misused. 

Knee Injuries

Knee injuries in the workplace can result from repetitive trauma involving kneeling or crawling at work, or repetitive acts of pulling, pushing, or lifting. Many workers suffer from a serious ACL or meniscal tear caused by a specific on-the-job incident. Knee injuries at work can impact your ability to carry out basic job duties and even compromise your ability to continue earning a living.

Mental Health, Depression, and Anxiety

It is not uncommon for someone to develop a mental illness due to a traumatic incident at work, whether or not they were physically injured. Additionally, an industrial injury can aggravate a preexisting mental health condition; however, this can be harder to prove. Unfortunately, since there is not often much physical evidence to support a mental health claim, L&I and self-insured employers (SIEs) find many ways to deny treatment by saying that the worker is not injured.

Motorcycle Accident Injuries

Motorcycle accident injuries can range from bruises, cuts, soft tissue damage, and neck pain to catastrophic injuries involving the headspinal cord, and brain. Emery | Reddy’s Motorcycle Accident Injury Attorneys collaborate with experienced investigators to study your accident scene, analyze road conditions, interview witnesses, and reconstruct the event, putting you in the best position to receive full compensation for your injuries.

Product Liability

When we hear about defective products, the first images that generally come to mind are the dangerous toys that cause injury or death to children. While these remain alarmingly common today, product liability incidents are not limited to toys or even products recalled by manufacturers. Product liability claims can involve almost any product that has a design flaw or manufacturing defect, that poses a health hazard to someone using it as it was meant to be used, or that does not include an adequate warning of its potential hazard. These can range from automobiles and machinery to foods, medicines, and common household appliances.

Repetitive Stress Injuries

Repetitive stress injuries — also known as repetitive strain injuries — involve conditions that arise from placing excessive stress on a joint. Repetitive stress injuries result when the same or similar actions are performed again and again. Stress to a joint pulls on surrounding tissues, including tendons, muscles, and bursae. The repetitive nature of the action means that an important part of the anatomy has insufficient time to recover until the affected area swells and becomes painful.

Respiratory Illness

Breathing harmful airborne particles in the workplace puts employees at an increased risk of respiratory illness and can have long-term consequences for your health, productivity, and quality of life. However, many workers are not even aware that their jobs are compromising their health. Some respiratory diseases can take years or even decades to develop.

Shoulder Injuries

Shoulder injuries can be disabling, costly, and impactful on long-term health. The impact of repetitive twisting, turning, lifting, and other apparently harmless motions can accumulate over time and lead to serious shoulder damage. Isolated accidents can also disable a worker who is otherwise in perfect physical condition, forcing them to alter physical activities as a result of a shoulder injury at work.

Slip-and-Fall Injuries

A slip-and-fall injury at the workplace can occur in an instant, but its consequences often last long after the event has passed. As simple as it may seem, a slip-and-fall can result in severe injuries, including broken bones, muscle and ligament tears, headbrain, or spinal cord injuries, concussions, and other serious physical injuries. In addition to the pain and suffering that a slip-and-fall injury can involve, medical costs and lost wages can be extremely expensive.

Spinal Cord Injuries

If you suffer a spinal cord injury in the workplace, it is crucial that you receive treatment and seek the counsel of a Spinal Cord Injury attorney as soon as possible. Proper diagnoses can generally be secured with an MRI, CT scan, or myelogram and will help ensure that you receive the needed treatment for a successful medical outcome.

Toxic Injuries

A toxic injury claim may involve asthma, a chronic illness, or permanent skin or lung damage as a result of exposure to asbestos, ammonia, arsenic, benzene, gasoline, chloroform, formaldehyde, fuel oils, mercury, lead, smoke, uranium, zinc, or other toxic substances. In addition, employees who have suffered adverse health effects due to allergic reactions to peanuts, latex, mold, or other substances at work have the right to collect workers’ compensation benefits.

Truck Accident Injuries

Truck accident injuries can range from bruises, cuts, soft tissue damage, and neck pain to catastrophic injuries involving the headspinal cord, and brain. Emery | Reddy’s Truck Accident Injury Attorneys collaborate with experienced investigators to study your accident scene, analyze road conditions, interview witnesses, and reconstruct the event, putting you in the best position to receive full compensation for your injuries.

Wrongful Death

Wrongful death can result from a number of circumstances:

Laws concerning wrongful death are highly complex and require the knowledge and resources of a skillful legal counsel. 

Personal Injury FAQ

Laws regarding personal injury and insurance are extremely complex. Most people suffering from a personal injury have similar questions and the experienced Personal Injury Accident Attorneys at Emery | Reddy have answers. Read our personal injury FAQ to learn the answers to some of the most common personal injury accident questions that we hear from injured workers.

Is My Personal Injury Accident a Third-Party Claim or an L&I Claim?

Third-Party Claim

third-party claim is one in which someone other than your employer or co-worker is responsible for your injury. If you have been injured on the job due to someone else’s actions or negligence, you may be entitled to additional compensation through a third-party claim, which combines your L&I claim with a personal injury claim using the same facts.

Unlike workers’ compensation payments, there is no limit to the amount of compensation an injured worker may seek in third-party damages. Third-party claims are private matters and are typically litigated directly with the Washington State Superior Court.

If your personal injury leaves you out of work for an extended period of time,  you may be entitled to compensation for pain, suffering, and lost wages.

L&I Claim

An L&I claim results from a workplace injury or occupational illness. An L&I claim is monitored and managed by an L&I Claims Manager who sees the process through from initial claim filing to closure. If all goes as planned, your claim is accepted by L&I and you will receive certain benefits.

When you are injured or contract certain types of illnesses at work, you are entitled to certain workers’ compensation benefits. You can file an L&I claim in Washington state through the L&I website’s File Fast tool, by calling the L&I office at 877.561.3453, or at your doctor’s office. After you file, it is imperative that you call an experienced L&I attorney to help you navigate the L&I claims process.

Our Seattle L&I Attorneys Will Help You Recover:

  • Medical benefits: L&I medical benefits will cover all medical costs associated with your claim. This can include doctor appointments, treatments, surgeries, occupational therapy, and prescription medications.
  • Time-loss and wage replacement: If you are approved for time-loss benefits, you may receive compensation for the lost wages and vocational rehabilitation.

1. L&I disability pension: life-long benefit awarded to injured workers who will never be able to return to any gainful employment due to a severe or life-threatening injury.

2. Permanent partial disability (PPD) award: a one-time sum paid to injured workers when their L&I claim is closed. The worker can re-enter the workforce following a PPD award.

3. Claim resolution settlement agreement (CRSA): an L&I settlement option where all parties agree to close an injury claim for a specified amount. When agreeing to this settlement type, the injured worker exchanges all future L&I benefits, except medical, for the payment.

We understand that many families depend on the income of an injured worker, and our L&I and Personal Injury Attorneys are dedicated to winning the benefits and compensation you are entitled to by law. Our practice was founded on a commitment to advocating for workers’ rights, and we are proud of our record protecting the injured and disabled. Call us today to speak to an experienced Intake Specialist for a Free Case Review and to learn how Emery | Reddy may be able to help you with your claim.

HOW IT WORKS

Watch This Video to Learn More about How Employment Law and L&I Claims Work Together

Your L&I Claim Is Worth More If You Also Have an Employment Claim

A significant number of L&I — workers’ compensation claims often involve additional legal claims such as employment or third-party claims. Many people file their claims without seeking representation from an L&I attorney and thus never discover that, in addition to their L&I claim, they may be missing out on the ability to file an employment claim or a third-party claim. Pursuing additional legal action with the help of an experienced Labor and Industries attorney has the potential to significantly increase a claim’s overall compensation. At Emery | Reddy, our experienced Attorneys practice both Employment and Workers’ Compensation Law, which means we will investigate all aspects of your claim to make sure you aren’t missing out on any potential benefits.

What Is an Employment Claim?

Many injured workers find that their employer has taken, or plans to take, adverse action against them because they filed an L&I claim or they are out of work. You can file a lawsuit against your employer for several reasons, including retaliation, wrongful termination, disability discrimination, or unpaid wages. An L&I attorney who is experienced in both L&I — Workers’ Compensation Law and Employment Law can help you with your L&I claim while simultaneously filing a federal or state law claim for the violation of workers’ rights by your employer.

Who Is at Fault for a Workplace Injury?

L&I is a no-fault system, ensuring compensation for any workplace injury. However, if a third party is involved in causing the injury, you may be able to pursue legal action against them for additional compensation under third-party claims.

How Do I Know If I Have a Strong L&I Claim?

If you have an L&I claim or wonder if you have a personal injury case, ask yourself the following:

If any of the above apply to you, Emery | Reddy may be able to help.

Navigating a workers’ compensation claim can be difficult and very time-consuming, especially when you’re ill or injured. You want to focus on healing and make sure your bills are paid, but if you don’t file things properly or on time, your health, home, and job could be in jeopardy. Many individuals miss out on much-needed L&I benefits because they don’t understand what to do or how to get the most compensation for their injuries. If you are experiencing any challenges in your case, a Labor and Industries attorney can assist you. By contacting Emery | Reddy as soon as possible after you’ve been injured, we can help you avoid the common pitfalls of filing and navigating an L&I claim. Our Seattle L&I Attorneys are here for you every step of the way.

emery reddy team members discussing a claim in the emery reddy conference room

Want More Information?

To determine the value of your L&I claim, you first need to understand the different types of L&I awards offered in Washington state.

Most people suffering from a personal injury have similar questions. Read more to learn the answers to some of the most common personal injury accident questions that we hear from injured workers.

Workers’ compensation is a form of insurance that provides wage replacement and medical benefits to injured workers. Learn more about the claims process, benefits and awards, and IMEs.

We fight for you

Meet the Team

The Personal Injury Attorneys at Emery | Reddy, PLLC are passionate about helping workers with L&I claims and Employment Law issues. We Help Workers®. It’s our motto and what drives us every day.

We know how L&I and big companies think, and we understand the tactics they use. Our Labor and Industries Attorneys use that knowledge coupled with over three decades of experience to help our clients get access to the L&I benefits to which they are legally entitled and hold employers accountable when they break the law.

If you’re struggling with an L&I claim, injury, or legal issue at work, call us for a Free Case Review with an experienced Intake Specialist to learn more about how Emery | Reddy may be able to help you today.

“Emery | Reddy represented myself & my co-workers to the fullest. I feel that Emery | Reddy got us what we were owed and then some. In reality, to my surprise, I really thought that nothing was ever going to be done. I really have Emery | Reddy everything to thank for. Thank You, Emery | Reddy!”

— Elvis C.

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