Vancouver Personal Injury Lawyer

An injury caused by the reckless actions or negligence of another party can change a life forever. Quality of life, mobility, cognitive abilities, and income-earning capacity can all be affected in a case of serious injury.

If you or a loved one has suffered such an injury, it is imperative that your rights and interests are protected. You need legal representation from a team of personal injury attorneys with the knowledge and experience necessary to ensure that the responsible parties are held accountable. At Paulson Coletti Trial Attorneys PC in Vancouver, WA, we can help you pursue the maximum possible compensation.

When you’ve been injured in a car accident or medical malpractice incident, you shouldn’t have to worry about contacting your insurance company so you can cover medical bills. We want you to focus on healing, which is why our law firm always treats clients like family.

Vancouver Personal Injury Resources

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Why Choose Our Firm?
Common Personal Injuries
Personal vs. Catastrophic Injuries
Did You Suffer a Personal Injury?
Why Do You Need a Personal Injury Lawyer?
Damages You Can Recover in Washington
Determining Liability for Your Injury
Benefits of Hiring a Vancouver Personal Injury Attorney
Statute of Limitations for Injury Claims
Cost of a Personal Injury Lawyer
Finding the Most Suitable Attorney For Your Case
Call a Lawyer Today

Why Choose Our Vancouver Personal Injury Attorney?

Our team of Vancouver personal injury attorneys acts as your advocate and will ensure your voice is heard. Our work is built on unique strengths:

When you choose Paulson Coletti Trial Attorneys PC as your personal injury law firm, we want you to feel safe and confident. We understand that even a minor accident can leave you feeling shaken and vulnerable. Additionally, personal injury claims can seem like a daunting task when you should be focused on healing. Choose our law firm and let your worries disappear.

vancouver personal injury attorney

What Are Common Personal Injuries In Vancouver?

Paulson Coletti Trial Attorneys PC represents individuals and families in Vancouver, Clark County, and throughout Washington State who are seeking compensation in personal injury cases. We bring our deep expertise to a wide range of cases, including:

In each of these practice areas, we have extensive experience and a high success rate both in and out of the courtroom. our personal injury lawyers pride themselves on possessing a diverse range of legal skills that they will use to help you seek justice.

How Do Personal Injuries Differ From Catastrophic Injuries?

When examining the difference between a typical personal injury and a catastrophic injury, we should envision an umbrella. Consider “personal injuries” to be a larger umbrella under which sits other categories of injuries. Catastrophic injuries are one of these categories. 

Catastrophic injuries can certainly be personal injuries caused by the negligent actions of others, but they are characterized by their extreme severity.

The US Code actually gives us a good definition of what a catastrophic injury has “direct and proximate consequences” that permanently prevent an individual from working. Typically, we see that these injuries lead to long-term disabilities. Some of the most common catastrophic injuries include:

Does Your Injury Qualify as a Personal Injury in Washington?

What does it mean to actually have an injury qualify as a personal injury?

“Personal injury” is legal terminology and revolves around whether or not one individual sustained an injury caused by the careless, negligent, or intentional actions of another individual, company, or entity. Determining whether or not a personal injury case is viable involves examining the four elements of negligence:

  1. Duty. It must be established that the defendant owed the injury victim a duty of care in some way. A duty of care arises in different ways, depending on the situation at hand. For example, any person who gets behind the wheel of a vehicle has a duty of care to ensure the safety of others around them. This duty of care involves operating the vehicle within the confines of traffic laws. However, the duty of care that a property owner owes others will look different. Owners and operators of commercial establishments have a duty to ensure that their premises are free and clear from hazards that could cause harm to guests.
  2. Breach. After establishing that a duty of care is present, it must be shown that the defendant breached their duty of care to the plaintiff in some way. This breach of duty could include a driver operating their vehicle while distracted by their cell phone or another device, resulting in a Vancouver car accident lawsuit. That property owner could fail to clean up a known spill. Doctors can breach their duty of care by failing to obtain a medical history or failing to account for contraindications with prescription medications.
  3. Causation. After establishing that a breach of duty occurred, it must be shown that the breach is what caused the injury or illness in question.
  4. Damages. Lastly, it must be established that the plaintiff sustained some sort of monetary loss as a result of the injury incident.

Why Do You Need a Vancouver Personal Injury Lawyer?

If you have been injured, the decisions you make today can have a long-term impact on you and your family. The final outcome of our case will in large part be the direct result of the skills and experience of your personal injury lawyer. At Paulson Coletti Trial Attorneys PC, we take on only a limited number of cases and engage in all necessary actions, including gathering and preserving vital evidence and witness statements, and calculating the value of long-term medical and financial issues.

Damages You Can Recover in Washington

The damages in a personal injury case can involve a wide range of costs from the financial to issues impacting the quality of life and the ability to earn a living. The damages pursued in your case may include:

Medical Costs

Treatments, surgery, medications, ongoing therapy, tests and evaluation, in-home care, home refits for medical equipment and other associated costs.

Lost Income

Lost wages due to absence from work and loss of earning capacity.

Pain and Suffering

This is often the highest value portion of a settlement or jury award.

Determining Liability for a Personal Injury Incident

Determining liability after a personal injury incident can be challenging and usually takes multiple routes of evidence gathering. For example, there may be a significant amount of evidence gathered at the scene of an incident. This can include individuals using cell phones or other devices to take photographs of the causes of the incident, the injuries, and property damage. Individuals can obtain the names and contact information of any eyewitnesses to the incident.

However, fully determining liability after a major injury incident typically involves digging deeper. A skilled personal injury lawyer in Vancouver can look into other aspects surrounding the particular case. For example, if the incident involved a vehicle accident, an attorney may need to obtain vehicle black box data or mobile device data. For incidents involving premises liability claims, an attorney may need to obtain the property owner safety history records, training and background of the employees, and video surveillance footage from nearby cameras. 

Benefits of Hiring a Vancouver Personal Injury Attorney

Personal injury claims in Vancouver can become incredibly complicated, particularly when it comes to investigating every aspect of the claim and recovering fair compensation. The insurance carriers involved in these cases will likely work to pay as little as possible to the claimant. They may even try to shift some or all of the blame onto the plaintiff.

When you work with a skilled personal injury lawyer, you will have someone by your side with the resources necessary to investigate every aspect of the incident. Not only will they handle the investigation, but they will also take over all communication with the insurance carriers and any other party involved. This will occur while simultaneously ensuring their client is evaluated by trusted economic and medical professionals who can help adequately calculate total losses.

Ultimately, an attorney will fully prepare your Vancouver personal injury case for trial in the event the insurance carrier refuses to offer a fair settlement.

How Long Do You Have to File a Vancouver Personal Injury Case?

Individuals in Washington have a limited amount of time to file these claims in court. The personal injury statute of limitations in this state is set at three years from the date an injury occurs. If a personal injury victim does not file their lawsuit against the alleged negligent party within this time frame, they will not be able to recover compensation for their losses.

Depending on the situation at hand, there will likely be insurance carriers involved. Each insurance carrier will have its own reporting deadline that the claimant needs to be aware of. Failing to promptly report an injury to the appropriate insurance carriers could result in significant delays or even a claim denial.

We encourage you to work with a skilled Vancouver personal injury attorney as soon as possible. Your lawyer will get to work quickly examining the different deadlines related to the claim to ensure the case is filed on time and appropriately.

How Much Does a Vancouver Personal Injury Attorney Cost?

At Paulson Coletti Trial Attorneys PC, we handle Vancouver personal injury cases on a contingency fee basis. This means that our team will not collect any legal fees until after successfully recovering the compensation you need for your losses. In the event we do not win, you pay absolutely no legal fees. Additionally, you will not pay any upfront or out-of-pocket costs as your case goes along.

The final legal fees will be an agreed-upon percentage of the settlement or jury verdict obtained on your behalf. This final percentage will be determined before any work begins on your case so there will be no surprises along the way.

Vancouver Personal Injury Attorney

Finding the Most Suitable Attorney For Your Case

We understand that one of the main pain points in finding the right personal injury attorney for your case is that you likely have not dealt with lawyers very often. It can be overwhelming when you start the search. If you do a simple Google search for “personal injury lawyers in Vancouver” or “injury attorney near me,” you will see hundreds of possible attorneys pop up in the search results.

One of the first steps we encourage individuals to take is to ask friends or family members if they have ever had to work with a personal injury attorney and whether or not they would recommend anyone. Referrals from someone you know are always beneficial.

If you are relying on an internet search, we encourage you to dig deeper than just the initial search engine results. Maybe select around ten individuals you want to talk to, but do some digging first. Look into the reviews (Google, Yelp, etc.) available for each attorney to see if this is someone you might want to work with.

When you go speak to an attorney for a free consultation, be ready to ask some important questions that can help guide your ultimate decision. Some of these questions can include:

Contact a Vancouver Personal Injury Lawyer Today

If you or your loved one has been injured due to the reckless or negligent actions of another party, contact the Portland personal injury lawyers at Paulson Coletti Trial Attorneys PC today for a free case consultation.