Tacoma Personal Injury Lawyer

If you have suffered devastating injuries through no fault of your own, you may be entitled to compensation. With help from a highly experienced Tacoma personal injury lawyer from Puget Law Group, you can hold the responsible party accountable for your injuries.

With a 97% win rate and over 150 years of combined experience, you can rely on our team to prioritize your best interest when you contact our law office to request a free consultation.

How Personal Injury Cases Unfold

A personal injury occurs when two or more persons or entities interact with one another, resulting in a bodily injury. Personal injury can harm a person’s body, mental status, reputation, financial interests, and property. Although a personal injury can seem straightforward, many injuries can be complicated by the damage suffered by one or more parties, the legal relationship and expectations of the parties involved, and the facts of each event that caused the injury.

Only an experienced personal injury attorney in Tacoma can truly understand the implications of these interactions and sort through the complexity. At the Puget Law Group, your experienced personal injury lawyer in Tacoma, WA, will understand this complexity and work tirelessly to ensure the best possible outcomes for our clients. When we review the specific details of your case, we can determine the strength of your case.

Types of Personal Injury

Tort law (commonly referred to as personal injury law) covers numerous types of injuries that could lead to an actionable personal injury claim under RCW §4.28.360. The most common forms of personal injury claims can be categorized into negligence, strict liability, or intentional acts.

Negligence

In most personal injury claims, negligence caused harm. Under a simple negligence theory, the party that caused the injury failed to adhere to a reasonable standard of care when performing an action or set of actions that led to the injury. All negligence claims arise out of a standard set of facts that must adhere to a four-factor test established by law, which includes the following factors:

• Duty – Did the defendant owe the plaintiff a duty of care?
• Breach – Did the defendant breach their prescribed duty of care?
• Causation – Did the actions of the defendant cause the plaintiff to suffer harm?
• Damages – Did the plaintiff actually suffer any harm?

Strict Liability

Under a theory of strict liability, parties accused of causing personal injury will be held liable regardless of whether or not their actions were negligent or intentional. Unlike negligence, where the plaintiff must determine whether the defendant owed them a duty of reasonable care, strict liability assumes the party that caused harm has already assigned a duty to the plaintiff. For example, a manufacturer of goods is strictly liable for the harm caused by any defects in their products.

Intentional Acts

Some personal injury claims can result from intentional acts. These often mean the defendant intended to cause harm. Although less common than negligence, intentional acts encompass many claims, including the following:

• Battery – Battery occurs when a defendant causes harmful or offensive physical contact with the plaintiff.
• Assault – Assault occurs when the defendant’s actions cause the plaintiff to believe the plaintiff is in reasonable apprehension (“belief”) of imminent harm. Physical contact is not required for a defendant to assault a plaintiff.
• False Imprisonment – Confining or restraining a person to a restricted area without reasonable means for the person being confined to leave or escape.
• Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress (IIED) – Under an IIED claim, the plaintiff must show that the defendant’s actions intentionally or recklessly caused them to suffer severe emotional distress by outrageous conduct. IIED is challenging to prove because defining “outrageous conduct” and “severe emotional distress” are considered subjective standards.
• Trespass to Land – A person trespasses on another person’s land when they physically invade it, thereby violating the owner’s private property rights.
• Trespass to Chattel – Trespass to chattel occurs when a defendant interferes with another’s private property, which is anything but physical land. A chattel is usually a physical and moveable object but is often used as a catch-all for property other than land or a physical space like a dwelling.
• Conversion – Similar to trespass to chattel, conversion occurs when a person intentionally trespasses against someone’s chattel but intends to deprive them of ownership of their chattel.
• Defamation – Defamation occurs when one party intends to harm another person’s character by using written statements (libel) or spoken statements (slander).

Common Types of Personal Injury Claims

No two personal injury claims are the same. Every personal injury claim is different, whether it is the type of injury suffered, the circumstances that led to the injury, or the parties involved. Below are the most common types of personal injury claims our firm often tackles when representing our clients.

Automobile Accidents

The most common personal injury is an automobile accident. These occur when one or more vehicles are involved in an event or series of events that led to a driver, passenger, or pedestrian’s harm. Automobile accidents can occur between cars, trucks, vans, buses, utility vehicles, drivable construction equipment, and bicycles.

Some of the most traumatic accidents can cause injuries like whiplash, traumatic brain injury (TBI), spinal cord and back injuries, broken limbs, paralysis, and death. However, the type of injury you suffer will not necessarily determine whether you can file a claim. The severity of your injuries and their impact on your life are the most important things.

Child-Related Injuries

A child-related injury can result in harm to a child or any harm caused by a child. These cases can be tricky to address because the parent or guardian of a child may be held personally liable for their child’s actions and well-being. Some negligence theories, like the attractive nuisance theory, arise when a person or entity creates certain conditions causing a child to be reasonably attracted to the condition, like when a neighbor fails to tear down a broken and dangerous trampoline easily accessible by passersby.

Medical Malpractice

Medical malpractice occurs when a doctor or medical professional causes a patient injury, according to RCW §4.16.350. The cause of the injury could be related to a failure to diagnose an illness or condition, harmful conduct during treatment, failure to reasonably inform the patient of complications post-treatment, or side effects arising out of poor treatment. Most medical malpractice cases arise from the theory that the medical professional acted negligently.

These cases hinge on whether the medical professional adhered to their prescribed duty of care as a medical professional. Because many medical professionals undergo a combination of education, residency, licensure, and continuing education, their actions during medical treatment rise to a higher standard. According to the 2022 Annual Medical Malpractice Report by the Washington State Office of the Insurance Commissioner, claimants won or settled more than 100 medical malpractice claims.

Product Defects

Product defects fall under the theory of strict liability. Because the producer of a product is in the best possible position to understand how their products may adversely impact others, they have a heightened duty to prevent harm. Product liability can fall under one of three categories, depending on the product’s defect:

1. Design Defect – Design defects are caused by issues with the overall design or engineering of the product, which makes the product unreasonably hazardous for the average consumer.
2. Manufacturing Defect – These defects occur during the manufacturing process. This usually includes using hazardous materials in product production or improper assembly.
3. Marketing Defect – Marketing defects occur when producers fail to warn consumers of possible dangers related to the use or operation of the product. For example, many children’s toys have choking hazard labels to inform consumers of small pieces easily swallowed by children.

The actual harm caused by a product can vary among the parties involved and the nature of the product. For example, one of the most common product defects occurs in pharmaceutical medication, where certain active ingredients cause diseases or conditions like cancer. Another example could include the pharmaceutical company failing to adequately warn users of specific side effects caused by the consumption of the drug.

Talk to a Tacoma product defect lawyer for help.

Dog Bites and Other Animal-Related Injuries

Virtually all injuries caused by animals fall under a theory of strict liability according to RCW §16.08.040. Here, the theory is that the owner of an animal can reasonably foresee the animal causing harm to another. A Tacoma dog bite lawyer can help you fight for damages.

The animal’s owner is strictly liable for that animal’s actions via a dog bite claim. This is without regard to the circumstances that led to the animal harming another. For example, if a person kept a significant and harmful dog in their backyard, and the dog escaped and bit someone, the owner would likely be liable.

Proving Fault for a Tacoma, Washington Personal Injury Claim

Unlike criminal cases, where the prosecution has the burden of proof to show that the criminal defendant has committed the crime beyond a reasonable doubt, civil cases are different. Instead, the person the plaintiff must show the defendant caused the harm. In most civil cases involving personal injury, the plaintiff only has to show that the defendant is liable for the harm inflicted on the plaintiff by a preponderance of the evidence, according to WAC §192-100-065.

When addressing negligence claims, Washington State adheres to a pure comparative fault theory for negligence under RCW §4.22.070. For negligence cases, a plaintiff may be liable for their actions regarding the event that led to their catastrophic injury. Whatever percentage of fault is assigned to the plaintiff is the amount of monetary damage subtracted from their overall damage calculation, so if a plaintiff is 25% at fault for $100,000 in damages, they are only entitled to $75,000, which a Tacoma catastrophic injury lawyer can help you fight for.

Understanding Damages for a Tacoma, Washington Personal Injury Claim

Unfortunately, plaintiffs seeking apologies, a law or policy change, or criminal punishment should not expect much from a civil lawsuit. The result of a successful personal injury claim revolves around the payment of monetary compensation to address the financial hardship caused by the injury. Below are the damages a plaintiff can expect from the successful litigation or settlement of a personal injury claim.

Compensatory damages are designed to compensate a plaintiff by making them financially whole. In all cases, damage calculations will consider an actual or perceived loss incurred by the plaintiff due to their injury. Compensatory damages are generally divided into two distinct forms of compensation: economic and non-economic.

Economic Damages

Economic compensatory damages address the calculable economic loss suffered by the plaintiff. They are easily verifiable through financial records. These types of damages can include:

• Current and future medical expenses
• Treatment expenses like physical, occupational, and psychological
• Loss in actual and future wages
• Property damage
• Loss of earning capacity
• Travel expenses incurred during litigation

Non-Economic Damages

Non-economic compensatory damages can be considered a catch-all for certain damages that may not be easily calculated but can still significantly impact a plaintiff’s life. Their value is often entirely subjective. These types of damages can include:

• Pain and suffering (general physical discomfort and emotional distress and anguish caused directly by the personal injury)
• Disability and disfigurement
• Loss of life enjoyment
• Loss of consortium (inability of an injured person to engage in intimate or social activity with their spouse and the family)

Punitive Damages

Like many states, Washington prohibits punitive damages in most civil actions according to RCW §42.17A.780. In rare circumstances, specific statutes allow a plaintiff to seek punitive damages, but a judge can cap punitive damages by statute or discretion. An experienced personal injury attorney in Tacoma, WA, can help determine how best to assess damage calculations and determine if punitive damages are possible to pursue.

Contact a Tacoma Personal Injury Lawyer Today

If you have recently been involved in an accident resulting in a personal injury, please contact the Puget Law Group for a consultation with a reputable Tacoma personal injury attorney. Our team of legal professionals has handled numerous personal injury matters and can provide exemplary representation for various claims. Complete our quick contact form or call us to schedule your free, no-obligation consultation as soon as today.