Kirk Bernard

If you have been injured in a Washington auto accident, obviously, you need to get medical treatment right away. If you ignore your injuries and they get worse, you may not be able to claim compensation for treatment because the insurance companies will maintain that you allowed your injuries to get worse by failing to obtain prompt treatment. However, as a skilled auto accident attorney, Kirk Bernard knows that the question that arises immediately after an injury accident is usually: “How do I get my medical bills paid?”

The answer to that question is that if you have received any type of medical treatment after the accident, you will be held responsible for the payment. You will have to deal with medical bills and health insurance claims as well as auto insurance claims. If you have “personal injury protection” (PIP) on your auto insurance policy, that coverage will primarily help pay for your accident-related medical expenses. If you do not have such coverage, then your health insurance company will be the primary payer for those medical bills.

If you lack any type of insurance, then the medical provider will bill you personally. Please remember that even if the other driver was at fault, his or her insurance company will not pay for your medical bills upfront. However, some medical providers will provide treatment upfront and then put a lien on your case. Such liens will have a condition that the providers will be paid back when the case settles, before you get any part of that settlement. Such liens have helped many patients secure much-needed medical treatment they may not otherwise be able to afford.

In serious injury cases, medical expenses and hospital bills can pile up quicker than you can handle them. That is why, especially in serious auto accident cases, you should take immediate action. It would be in your best interest to contact an experienced Seattle auto accident lawyer to find out more about your legal rights and options. Please contact the reputed Washington personal injury lawyers with The Bernard Law Firm at 1-800-418-8282 or e-mail us at info@bernardlawgroup.com to schedule your FREE, comprehensive and confidential consultation. We can also send you our FREE brochure, which has useful, educational information to help you better understand your rights. Get in touch with Kirk Bernard and his skilled legal team today.

The law defines personal injury as any type of harm you may have suffered as a result of an accident or intentional infliction. In working with personal injury victims in Washington, Kirk Bernard has seen first-hand that these injuries can include physical injury, emotional suffering or distress and psychological trauma sustained. When you are injured in an auto accident, your injuries may be classified as minor, moderate, major or catastrophic.

Minor and moderate injuries are injuries such as strains, sprains, broken bones, bruises or lacerations. These may be painful injuries involving substantial medical expenses, but these are also injuries that will usually heal quickly and completely. Some types of moderate injuries such as neck or back sprains can take a longer time to mend and may require extended physical therapy. Soft tissue injuries such as injuries to nerves, muscles and connective tissue also fall under this category. Some of these injuries can result in chronic pain and disability. Sometimes, even moderate injuries may prevent you from keeping a job or caring for your loved ones.

Major and catastrophic injuries are the types of injuries that can change your life in the long run or permanently. Examples of such injuries are head injuries, traumatic brain injuries, burns, loss of limbs, or spinal cord injuries that could lead to paralysis. These are also very often, the types of injuries that could leave you disabled for the rest of your life or unable to keep a job and earn a living. The damages you receive in your Washington auto accident case will depend on the nature and severity of your injuries and how those injuries have affected your life.

If you or a loved one has been injured in a Washington auto accident, please contact the reputed Seattle personal injury lawyers at The Bernard Law Firm at 1-800-418-8282 or e-mail us at info@bernardlawgroup.com to schedule your FREE, comprehensive and confidential consultation. We can also send you our FREE brochure, which has useful, educational information to help you better understand your rights. Get in touch with Kirk Bernard and his skilled legal team today.

Washington State has a “mandatory auto insurance law.” What this means is that the state requires anyone driving a motor vehicle in Washington to have an insurance liability policy, a certificate of deposit or a liability bond up to the required limits. Under this law, you must have a liability policy with a minimum of $25,000 for injury to another person; $50,000 for injuries to all other persons; and $10,000 for damage to another’s property. As a skilled auto accident attorney in Washington, Kirk Bernard suggests that it would also be highly advisable to add uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage, which covers you if you are struck by a hit-and-run driver or a driver who lacks auto insurance or sufficient coverage.

Once you have been in an auto accident, one of the first things you should do is call your auto insurance company. Of course, first, you should seek medical care and make sure you recover from the initial effects of the accident. However, it is critical that you make that call to your insurance company as soon as you reasonably can. Calling promptly after an accident is part of your obligations under the contract you signed with your insurance company when you purchased the policy.

The main purpose of your first call is to give the insurance adjuster the basic facts about the accident, such as, what occurred and details about the other driver, including his or her insurance company and policy number. During this call, you may also be asked who was at fault or who was to blame for the accident. Never accept blame or admit during this call that you were at fault. It is important that you get all the information including a police report before you determine who is at fault.

If you believe that you were injured in an auto accident as a result of someone else’s negligence, you need the services of an experienced Seattle car accident lawyer who will remain on your side, fight for your rights and make sure you are fairly compensated for your injuries and loss. Please contact the experienced Washington personal injury attorneys of The Bernard Law Group at 1-800-418-8282 or info@bernardlawgroup.com for a FREE, comprehensive and confidential consultation. We can also send you our FREE brochure, which has useful and educational information to help you better understand your legal rights and options. Get in touch with Kirk Bernard and his skilled legal team today.

Personal Injury Protection, or PIP as it is commonly known, is an optional coverage on your auto insurance policy, which you can choose to have or not. What does PIP cover? In the event of an auto accident where you are injured, PIP will become the primary payer of your medical expenses. It will pay a limited amount of medical costs, wage loss, funeral expenses and loss of services after an auto accident. The major advantage of having Personal Injury Protection coverage is that it will be available to you irrespective of whether the accident is your fault. Having this type of coverage can be very helpful after an injury accident because the insurance company for the at-fault driver will not pay your medical expenses until you are ready to settle the entire claim.

Skilled Seattle personal injury attorneys know that having PIP coverage can be very important, especially at a time when healthcare costs are astronomical. Having PIP coverage for a small monthly payment will ensure that your medical bills will be taken care of up to the available limit. Remember that PIP coverage not only covers the one who is insured but also all passengers who are in your vehicle at the time of the accident.

If you have PIP coverage, you will also be covered if you are a passenger in another vehicle or if you are a pedestrian who has been struck and injured by another vehicle. The other question most people commonly have is if their insurance rates will go up if they use this PIP coverage. The answer is: If you need it, you should use it. The insurance company cannot and should not raise your rates if the accident was not your fault.

If you or a loved one has been injured in a Washington auto accident, please contact the experienced Washington personal injury attorneys with The Bernard Law Group at 1-800-418-8282 or info@bernardlawgroup.com for a FREE, comprehensive and confidential consultation. We can also send you our FREE brochure, which has useful, educational information about Washington car accident cases to help you understand your legal rights and options. Get in touch with Kirk Bernard and his skilled legal team today.

Could the government – a city, county, state or even the federal government – be held liable for your accident or injuries? Yes. However, as an experienced Seattle personal injury attorney, Kirk Bernard is familiar with how the filing of this potential claim depends on the circumstances of an individual’s specific situation. To begin with, a number of Seattle auto accidents occur due to dangerous or defective roadways. Every year in the United States, thousands of motorists are killed or badly injured because of improperly maintained roadways. Remember that each and every roadway in Washington State is maintained by a governmental agency, be it a city, county or state agency. However, when these roadways are not maintained properly with the required safety features or signage, then the injured victim can file a claim against the governmental entity.

Dangerous roadway cases may be filed under the following circumstances:

• When there is an obvious dangerous condition on the public right-of-way
• If the injury is caused directly as a result of that dangerous condition
• If the governmental agency knew about the unsafe road conditon, but did nothing to fix it
• If the governmental agency could have fixed the dangerous condition within reasonable time and expense, but failed to do so

Examples of dangerous roadways include:

• Uneven pavement
• Lack of crosswalks
• Lack of guard rails
• Visual obstructions
• Potholes or badly maintained roads
• Lack of shoulder or bike lane
• Improperly marked construction zones

If you or a loved one has been injured as the result of a dangerous or defective roadway or intersection in Washington State, please contact the experienced Seattle personal injury lawyers with The Bernard Law Group at 1-800-418-8282 or info@bernardlawgroup.com for a FREE comprehensive and confidential consultation. We can also send you our FREE brochure, which has useful educational information to help you understand your legal rights and options. Get in touch with Kirk Bernard and his skilled legal team today.

There is no question that a driver who allows himself or herself to get distracted while driving is exercising a form of negligence that may have serious consequences. Some of the best advice I could ever give is to tell motorists to devote their full and undivided attention to the road while driving. Doing this is not only the law, but it is one of the best ways to help prevent an auto accident (and a resulting injury claim or lawsuit) from happening in the first place.

Examples of such negligent activities include talking on a handheld cell phone while driving, texting, eating, using a laptop or applying makeup while driving. Anything that takes your eye or attention from the road is a distraction. If you are displaying similar negligent behavior while driving and cause an accident as a result, you can be held legally responsible for the accident and injuries.

According to recent research and studies performed by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), driving while using a cell phone can pose serious cognitive distraction and degrade driver performance. NHTSA estimates that driver distraction from all sources contributes to 25 percent of all police-reported traffic crashes. A number of states have passed laws that make both driving while using a handheld cell phone as well as texting while driving illegal. Yet, many drivers still do it.

If you have been injured in an auto accident caused by a distracted driver, you could seek compensation to cover medical expenses, lost earnings, cost of treatment and other related damages. If you or a loved one has been injured in a Washington auto accident, please contact the experienced Seattle personal injury attorneys of The Bernard Law Group at 1-800-418-8282 or info@bernardlawgroup.com for a FREE, comprehensive and confidential consultation. We can also send you our FREE brochure, which has useful and educational information to help you understand your legal rights and options. Get in touch with Kirk Bernard and his skilled legal team today.

If you have been injured in a Washington auto accident, you are probably in the process of filing a claim. When you do so, one of the most important things you need to do as a claimant is to make a complete, thorough and comprehensive list of all your injuries, damages and expenses. Below are some important things to include in your records:

• Property damage: Include photographs wherever possible.
• Injuries: Include documentation wherever possible.
• Medical expenses: Include documentation like receipts and emails.

It is also recommended that you maintain a daily journal:

• How do you feel?
• How has the accident affected you?
• Have you been able to go to work?
• How many days of work did you miss?
• Which pre-accident activities are you unable to participate in after the accident?
• Has there been a significant emotional toll?
• What is the extent of pain you feel?

It is important to write this down in the weeks following the accident, if you are in a position to do so. This is because after the weeks and months pass, you may forget the finer, yet important details.

It is also important that you provide these details to your personal injury Seattle attorney, so he or she will be able to better assess the value of your claim. The success of your personal injury claim depends on the timeliness of your actions and the extent of detail you can provide – be it from the accident scene or in the days immediately after the accident.

If you or a loved one has been injured in a Washington auto accident, please contact the experienced Seattle personal injury attorneys of The Bernard Law Group at 1-800-418-8282 or info@bernardlawgroup.com for a FREE, comprehensive and confidential consultation. We can also send you our FREE brochure, which has useful and educational information to help you understand your legal rights and options. Get in touch with Kirk Bernard and his skilled legal team today.

When you get in a Washington car accident that was caused by someone else’s negligence, that individual could be held liable for the accident and your injuries. In such car accident cases, as a plaintiff, you would file a claim for compensation with the at-fault driver’s insurance company. If that individual does not have insurance, then you would file a claim under the uninsured/underinsured motorist clause of your own insurance policy. However, in a car accident case, your compensation is limited to the extent of insurance coverage available.

However, if your car accident or injuries were caused by an auto product defect, then you have an auto products liability case. Examples of vehicle defects include seatbelt failure, tire tread separation, airbag failure and seatback collapse. In such cases, the auto maker or the manufacturer of the defective auto product can be held liable for the injuries caused. Auto makers could also be held responsible for design defects. In such car accidents, it is critical that the vehicle, which is the main piece of evidence, be preserved without any alterations so it can be examined by an expert for auto product defects.

If your loved one has been seriously injured by a defective auto, please contact the reputed Washington auto products liability lawyers at The Bernard Law Firm to find out about your legal rights and options. Please call us at 1-800-418-8282 or e-mail us at info@bernardlawgroup.com to schedule your FREE, comprehensive and confidential consultation. We can also send you our FREE informational brochure about Washington auto product defect cases, which has useful, educational information to help you understand your rights. Get in touch with Kirk Bernard and his skilled legal team today.

The importance of being straightforward and honest with your Washington personal injury attorney cannot be stressed enough. If you are not completely honest about your case with your personal injury lawyer, you may not get the compensation you rightfully deserve. The following list includes several ways you can ensure you get rightful compensation:

• Answer questions about the accident scene thoroughly and honestly. Provide photographic documentation wherever possible.
• Be aware of the kind of injuries you sustained in the accident.
• Be aware of the type of property loss you suffered.
• Be aware of your prior medical history and injuries from other accidents.

If you deliberately withhold information from your attorney or simply “forget” to mention something thinking that it may not be critical to the case, it might become detrimental to your case.

Remember that insurance companies and defense attorneys can access all information any time they want. In fact, they are constantly looking for ways and means to negate your claim or reduce the value of the claim. It may not take them long to discover what you do not tell your attorney or hide from your personal injury lawyer. They will go to any lengths to get this information, even if it means pursuing due diligence in your social networking pages such as MySpace, Facebook or Twitter.

Always remember that your personal injury attorney is the one person aside from you who stands to benefit from your victory. Your injury lawyer is the one person who is on your side. So, be honest, and let him or her fight your case and pursue your rights ethically and aggressively.

If you or a loved one has been injured in a Washington auto accident, please contact the experienced Seattle personal injury attorneys of The Bernard Law Group at 1-800-418-8282 or info@bernardlawgroup.com for a FREE, comprehensive and confidential consultation. We can also send you our FREE brochure, which has useful and educational information to help you understand your legal rights and options. Get in touch with Kirk Bernard and his skilled legal team today.

When you are involved in a Washington State auto accident, one of the focal points of the investigation is who or what caused the accident. If you caused the accident, then you could be held liable for the other person’s injuries. Similarly, if the accident was caused by the negligence or reckless actions of the other driver, then he or she could be held liable for the accident and resulting injuries. But sometimes, a car accident case is not black and white. There may be gray areas. Both you and the other driver may have contributed to the accident.

In such cases, the question that comes up is whether you still have a case if you were partly at-fault or responsible for the accident. Some states have a contributory negligence system. What this means is that the injured person can recover for his or her injuries only if there was absolutely no fault on his or her part. In other words, he or she should not have contributed to the accident in any way. However, that system does not exist in Washington State. What we have here is a system of comparative negligence. This means that you will be compensated depending on what your contribution was to the accident. This essentially means that if you were 50 percent responsible for an accident, the damages awarded to you will simply be reduced to 50 percent.

An experienced Washington auto accident lawyer will be able to guide you through these issues and make sure that you are fairly compensated for your injuries and loss. If you or a loved one has been injured in an accident caused by a reckless driver, please contact the experienced Washington personal injury attorneys of The Bernard Law Group at 1-800-418-8282 or info@bernardlawgroup.com for a FREE, comprehensive and confidential consultation. We can also send you our FREE brochure, which has useful and educational information to help you better understand your legal rights and options. Get in touch with Kirk Bernard and his skilled legal team today.