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Choosing the right lawyer after a whiplash injury affects how much compensation you recover and how much of the recovery process you carry yourself. Whiplash ranges from a strain that clears up within a few weeks to a nerve, disc, or ligament injury that causes lasting pain, and how well your injury is documented will affect what the insurance company pays. Freeman Law Firm fights for whiplash victims with serious injuries in Tacoma and across Pierce County, and has decades of experience getting the compensation the injury deserves
Call (253) 383-4500 for a free consultation. There are no upfront fees and you pay nothing unless we win your case.
You have a case when another driver caused the collision and the collision caused your neck injury. Washington law calls that negligence, and a compelling whiplash case proves four elements against the other driver:
In a rear-end collision, duty and breach are usually established quickly because the collision itself is usually evidence that the trailing driver followed too closely. Causation is the element insurance companies contest most often in whiplash cases, because the injury depends on medical evidence rather than a visibly broken bone. Proving it takes an attorney who works with treating physicians and, where the case calls for it, orthopedic specialists and biomechanical experts, and who puts together a treatment record that starts soon after the collision and continues without unexplained gaps.
A low-speed collision with little vehicle damage can still produce a whiplash injury, and neck pain that starts a day or two after the crash is consistent with how whiplash presents medically, so neither fact means you lack a case. Our attorneys evaluate your case for free, and we tell you directly if the proof is not there.
Whiplash cases are decided by proof of causation and by timing, because a case valued before you finish treatment is going to be valued too low. The lawyer you choose should be able to answer each of the following questions to your satisfaction:
Make note of the answers to these questions with any attorney you are considering, including Freeman Law Firm, and compare the answers before you sign an agreement.
Our attorneys prepare each whiplash case as if it will be tried, which means your treating physician's causation opinion is secured in writing, the MRI or exam findings are explained in language a juror can follow, and the damages ledger accounts for future treatment along with the bills already paid. Adjusters read that preparation in the demand package, and in our experience it is what produces a settlement offer that reflects the injury.
In the whiplash cases Freeman Law Firm has litigated, the at-fault driver's insurance company has relied on a small set of arguments to reduce what it pays, and each one has an answer.
When your own insurance company unreasonably denies a PIP or underinsured motorist claim, that can lead to a separate case against your own insurer, apart from your case against the at-fault driver. Washington's Insurance Fair Conduct Act, RCW 48.30.015(1)-(3), allows that lawsuit for up to three times the actual damages plus attorney fees, and our attorneys use it.
Compensation in a whiplash case is divided into economic damages, which are losses with a dollar figure attached, and non-economic damages, which compensate you for the injury itself. Economic damages in a whiplash case typically consist of the following:
Non-economic damages cover neck pain, headaches, lost sleep, limited range of motion, and the activities the injury took from you. Three sources pay a whiplash settlement or verdict: the at-fault driver's liability coverage, your own PIP coverage for medical bills, and your underinsured motorist coverage when the at-fault driver's policy is too small or does not exist.
The amount you recover depends on the length and consistency of your treatment, whether your symptoms resolve within a few months or become chronic, and how the injury affected your work. Most whiplash victims recover within three months, and the ones whose neck pain and headaches continue past that point have larger cases because the injury has become part of their daily life.
RCW 48.22.085 requires every auto insurance company in Washington to offer personal injury protection coverage, and once you reject it in writing, the insurer does not have to offer it again on a renewal, supplemental, or replacement policy unless you request it in writing. PIP pays medical expenses from a whiplash injury regardless of who caused the collision, and it pays while the liability claim against the other driver is still being contested, so your treatment does not wait on the adjuster.
RCW 4.16.080 gives you three years from the date of the collision to start a lawsuit for a personal injury in Washington. The statute deadline applies to the lawsuit, and an open insurance claim does not extend it. If the vehicle that hit you belonged to a city, county, or transit agency, RCW 4.96.020 requires a claim to be presented to that government entity and a waiting period to pass before the lawsuit can be filed, so those cases need a lawyer sooner.
Washington follows pure comparative fault. RCW 4.22.005 reduces your compensation by your percentage of fault and allows you to recover even if you were more at fault than the other driver. If you were rear-ended with a brake light out and a jury assigns you 20% of the fault, you recover 80% of your damages. Insurance adjusters assign fault percentages during negotiation as well, and in our experience they assign the injured driver more fault than the evidence supports, which is one of the numbers Freeman Law Firm contests.
Neck pain from whiplash can begin right after the collision or be delayed for several days. A doctor visit within that window still connects the injury to the crash date.
Yes. An X-ray shows bone, and whiplash injures muscles, ligaments, and discs. Whiplash is diagnosed through your symptoms and a physical exam, with an MRI when your doctor suspects ligament or disc damage, and those records prove the injury.
Recovery from whiplash generally takes up to three months, and a case is not valued until treatment ends, so a settlement without a lawsuit commonly takes several months to a year. A lawsuit in Pierce County Superior Court adds time for discovery and a trial date.
No. An offer made before your treatment is complete is priced on the assumption that your symptoms will end soon, and a signed release ends the claim for any symptoms that continue.
Yes. Washington law holds the at-fault driver responsible for aggravating a pre-existing condition. Your prior medical records establish your condition before the crash, and the difference is what the driver owes.
Whiplash can damage joints, discs, ligaments, muscles, and nerve roots in the neck, and symptoms can extend beyond neck pain to headaches, dizziness, memory and concentration problems, and disrupted sleep. Some victims recover within several months, others have neck pain and headaches that continue past that point.
Most whiplash cases Freeman Law Firm takes settle before trial. Our attorneys prepare every case for trial because that preparation is what produces the best possible settlement.
Freeman Law Firm represents whiplash victims on a contingency fee. The consultation is free, and you pay no attorney fee unless we recover compensation for you.
Call Freeman Law Firm at (253) 383-4500 or visit our Tacoma office at 935 Fawcett Ave for a free consultation about your whiplash injury.
You do not have to accept whatever the insurance company decides to offer you. Freeman Law Firm has recovered compensation for whiplash victims with serious injuries in Tacoma and throughout Washington. Call (253) 383-4500 now for a free consultation, pay nothing unless we win, and put an attorney between you and the adjuster before you say another word to them.