Many, many lawyers claim that they can handle injury or wrongful death cases. Sometimes they advertise. Sometimes you know a divorce lawyer, or a real estate lawyer, or some other lawyer, who is willing to take on your injury case. Sometimes they really know what they're doing, but sometimes they don't.

Going to a lawyer who does not have extensive experience in handling injury claims is like going to a foot doctor for a headache. He or she might get lucky and help you, but the result probably would be less than ideal. The truth is, personal injury and insurance law are complex, and there is no substitute for skill and experience.

Before deciding which lawyer to hire in an injury case, ask these questions:

1. What is the lawyer's experience with these cases?

We have been practicing in Washington State since 1982, and we have handled thousands of injury and wrongful death cases. With that much experience, we almost certainly have handled cases just like yours.

2. Is the lawyer willing and able to go to court?

Sometimes getting the best result means an out-of-court settlement. Sometimes getting the best result means going to trial and winning. If your lawyer isn't prepared to follow the path that gets you the best result, then you are operating at a serious disadvantage. Some lawyers will never go to court. Insurance companies know who they are, and won't offer those lawyers the best settlement because they know that lawyer ultimately is bluffing.

We can settle a case out of court, and we can go into court and win. We have done plenty of both. We will do what will get you the best result. The insurance companies know this, and we believe we get better settlement offers for our clients because of it.

3. What do other lawyers think about your lawyer?

A lawyer's reputation is built on years of experience and hard work. Both David Heller and Andrea Darvas have earned "AV" ratings from the Martindale-Hubbell law directory. Martindale-Hubbell is the most respected and impartial source of information about lawyers in the United States, Canada and world-wide. The AV rating means that both David Heller and Andrea Darvas have very high to preeminent legal ability, and very high ethical standards.

Check out our resumes. We have given scores of lectures to groups of lawyers, and written dozens of articles for the journals lawyers read, teaching them how to handle injury and insurance cases. Other lawyers call us up and ask us questions about their cases. They want us to teach them because they know we know what we're doing.

Call us for a free consultation.