Working With Us
WARNING: If you believe that you or a family member has been injured by someone else’s negligence, do not delay in consulting an attorney. Do not assume that you have plenty of time to call a lawyer. The above is only general information and may or may not apply to your case. Also, Congress and/or the state legislature may change the statute of limitations at any time. Conversely, even if it has been several years since you were injured, do not assume the limitations period has run. Call us and we will evaluate whether your claim can still be pursued.
A: When you contact us, we will discuss your claim during an in-depth phone conversation. A full evaluation of your case includes a thorough review of your medical records, legal and medical literature research, and consultation with medical and other professional experts.
We decide who may have been negligent (it is often more than one person or entity), the nature and extent of the injury, and whether mistakes or errors caused the injury. There is no charge for our initial consultation and review.
A: We are advocates for injured people. To help those whose lives are changed forever, we work to identify and assure responsibility for that negligence. We stand out because of our experience and our results. At Morrow Kidman Tinker, we focus our entire practice on a specific type of case—serious personal injury—and we have been doing it well for decades. Our attorneys work as a team. Each of our clients enjoys the pooled knowledge and expertise of the entire firm behind his or her case.
A: We represent clients from all over Washington and our lawyers have handled cases in ten states.
In the last three years, we represented clients from Seattle, Tacoma, Bellevue, Issaquah, Lynnwood, Everett, Shoreline, Anacortes, Port Townsend, Port Orchard, Silverdale, Bainbridge Island, Longbranch, Gig Harbor, Puyallup, Enumclaw, Buckley, Olympia, Long Beach, Ellensburg, Omak, Moses Lake, Spokane, and Kennewick.
We often travel to meet with our clients.
A: We do not charge an hourly fee. Instead, we work on a contingency fee basis. In other words, we get paid only if we succeed on your behalf. Our fee is a percentage of the amount we recover. The percentage depends on the type of case.
A serious personal injury case can also require substantial out-of-pocket costs, including everything from postage to hiring expert witnesses. Our typical practice is to use our own money to advance those costs. The costs are then usually reimbursed to us out of any settlement or verdict we obtain for you.
A: In the early evaluation stage of your case, we collect the facts and, if necessary, locate and retain favorable experts. This may take some time.
After your case has been filed, the court sets (or we will ask for) a trial date. Typically, there is a lengthy wait for a trial date. In King County, for example, civil cases are ordinarily set for trial roughly eighteen months after they are filed.
Although many cases settle before trial, it is often only after we’ve built a case requiring a significant amount of work. Many times, after we’ve prepared the necessary work for a trial, the defendant will be open to settlement negotiations.
A: Yes. For every type of case there is a timeframe for filing your claim with the court. These timeframes are called “statutes of limitations” and they are determined by state and federal law. You must file your claim within the applicable statute of limitations or your case will be forever barred—no matter how badly you’ve been injured or how negligent the conduct of the defendant.
In general, the statute of limitations that applies to most personal injury and wrongful death cases occurring in Washington is three years. In some medical negligence cases, there are exceptions that may extend the time.
The limitations period applicable to lawsuits against the United States government is different, even if the case arises in the state of Washington. In general, a claim for personal injury against a United States government agency or anyone working for the government (for example, the VA Hospital and physicians working there) must be filed within two years of the negligent act causing injury. Again, exceptions extending the applicable limitations periods may exist.
