About
We’ve been helping Seattle area residents receive compensation for their injuries since we opened our doors. At Colburn Law, our main goals are getting you back on the road to recovery and helping you gain the financial security you need.
What Is a Workers Compensation Claim?
Workers compensation claims provide insurance benefits for on-the-job injuries and occupational diseases. The Industrial Insurance Act compensates workers for acute injuries or occupational disease. Benefits available to an injured workers include: medical benefits; wage replacement benefits; permanent partial disability; permanent total disability (also known as a “pension”); vocational assistance; vocational rehabilitation; mileage reimbursement; interpretative services; and, death benefits, including some burial expenses.
How Do I File a Workers Compensation Claim?
A workers compensation claim is initiated by the filing of a “Report of Accident (Workplace Injury, Accident or Occupational Disease)”. Injured workers can file their L&I claim online. If the injured worker’s employer is self-insured, the claim should be filed directly with the employer. Care should be taken to ensure that the claim is properly and timely filed.
What Is a Personal Injury Lawsuit?
A personal injury lawsuit is a type of civil action. You may seek this type of legal recourse for your injuries even if the party responsible is facing criminal charges. For example, if you were injured in a car accident with a drunk driver, you may be able to file a car collision lawsuit above and beyond his or her criminal penalties. Contact a car accident lawyer in Seattle if you need more information on steps to take following your injury.
The civil court system plays a vital role for those who are struggling with medical bills, lost wages, and other expenses that occur after a serious injury or accident. With a personal injury lawsuit, victims of accidents can gain the financial security to move on, even when they feel they’ve run out of options.
How Do I File a Lawsuit?
While it’s possible to file a lawsuit by yourself, we recommend seeking the help of a Seattle personal injury attorney. Each case has different filing deadlines and a series of complicated steps to follow, so it’s essential to have a prior knowledge of the civil court system.
Negotiating a Settlement
The reality is that the majority of personal injury cases settle before they go to trial. This helps save money on attorney’s fees from litigation, but it also requires negotiation skills. We won’t accept a low-ball offer from an insurance company or any other entity – we’re committed to securing the settlement you deserve.
Generally, personal injury settlements have two different parts:
- Economic damages are fairly easy to calculate because they are tangible. Examples of economic damages, also called “special” damages, include medical bills, lost wages, loss in earning capacity, and rehabilitation costs.
- General damages cover any intangible losses you may have suffered because of your injuries. Examples include emotional distress, mental anguish, loss of partnership (in the case of a wrongful death lawsuit), and pain and suffering.
- In rare cases, such as those involving gross negligence, we may be able to pursue punitive damages. The courts designed this compensation to punish the defendant for wrongdoing and to discourage it in the future. An example where we might pursue punitive damages is if a pharmaceutical company was offering kickbacks to physicians for prescribing their drug off-label.