The quickest and easiest way to have your questions answered is by calling our office. We are happy to assist and consultations are free.
There is no upfront cost to retain a personal injury attorney.
We operate on a contingency fee basis similar to most personal injury lawyers. However, you will be pleased to learn that we charge our fee only AFTER medical bills have been paid. This is an important distinction.
We do not get paid unless we win. Almost all personal injury attorneys operate on a contingency fee basis, but that does not mean they charge the same fee. If we settle prior to trial or arbitration we take 33.3% of the recovery as our attorney fee. This is after your medical bills have been paid. Many personal injury attorneys take their 33.3% fee before the medical bills have been paid. This can result in the client receiving little or no compensation. If we go to arbitration or trial, our contingency fee is 40% of the recovery, again after the medical bills are paid. This results in our clients being fairly compensated with higher financial recovery.
Not before consulting with an attorney.
Insurance companies have an interest in getting you to settle your claim as quickly and as cheaply as is possible. By settling your claim, you are releasing the insurance company from any future liability stemming from the incident. It takes time for medical professionals to identify all of your injuries. If you settle your claim too quickly and then realize later on that you are suffering from a more serious injury, it is difficult, if not impossible, to hold the insurance company accountable and receive the proper amount of compensation. Also, insurance companies generally do not offer fair settlements to people who are not represented by an attorney.
As soon after you are injured as possible.
The sooner you contact and retain a personal injury attorney, the sooner they can start working for you by building your case. In order to maximize the value of your case, you need to have an attorney preparing it for trial or arbitration. In order to do this, an attorney needs to gather facts and evidence while the case is fresh. Remember, the Oregon personal injury attorneys at Johnson Law, P.C. offer free consultations. By talking with them for just a couple of minutes, you will have a clear understanding of your legal rights.
There are no up-front costs to retain our personal injury attorneys.
We do not charge our clients any costs or fees until after we have received settlement proceeds or have taken the case to trial and received a verdict. Many personal injury attorneys charge their clients for expenses like filing cases in court or paying for expert witnesses. We do not.
We expect to go to court for our clients a number of times before a reasonable settlement will be negotiated. Our fee only increases if we go to trial or arbitration on your case. This is the last step in a long sequence of events. While we enjoy going to trial or arbitration, it does not happen in most cases. Most cases are settled before trial or arbitration. Many personal injury attorneys charge a higher fee if they file the paperwork to begin a lawsuit. We do not. Again, our fee only increases if we have a trial or arbitration.
Talk to one of our lawyers. Schedule your free consultation.
Often, people who think they have a good personal injury case do not, and people who think they do not have a good personal injury case do. This is why it is vital to consult with an experienced personal injury attorney. Unfortunately, many people look at the initial offer from the insurance company and use it to gauge the value of their case. This is a horrible way to value a personal injury case. Insurance companies often offer pennies on the dollar to unrepresented victims who have been injured through no fault of their own. Please take advantage of the free consultation offered by the personal injury attorneys at Krill & Johnson, P.C. In just a couple of minutes, we can tell you whether we think you have a good case or not.
Yes, we do our best to be highly available.
We believe that it is imperative that we keep clients informed of all aspects of their cases. This keeps confusion to a minimum. Often our attorneys will provide direct contact info so you can call their cellphones or text a quick question. We can answer most questions in a minute or less, and the last thing we want is a client spending a weekend wondering about the status of their case when we can answer their question so easily.
We handle a number of different types of personal injury cases. We no longer handle family law matters.
Auto accidents, because of their frequency, are the most common type of personal injury case we handle. But we also assist victims of bicycle or pedestrian collisions. We handle cases involving slip and falls, dog bites, and construction site accidents. If you have been injured from medical negligence, we can assist you. If a loved one passes away as a result of another person’s recklessness or carelessness, we litigate wrongful death claims. Finally, we assist clients in receiving compensation because of dangerous or defective products. We represent plaintiffs (victims) in a number of other contexts as well.
Initial payments will be done by either you or your insurance, but ultimately paid for by the at-fault party.
If you are the driver of a vehicle involved in an auto collision, your own auto insurance will pay for your reasonable and necessary medical expenses for up to a year from the date of the accident. How much your insurance company will pay depends on the size of your Personal Injury Protection (PIP) policy. The minimum PIP policy in Oregon is $15,000.00. Your PIP policy also must include coverage for some of the wage loss that you suffer as a result of being injured. PIP will cover 70% of your wage loss, up to a maximum of $3,000.00 per month. However, you must miss 14 consecutive days of work before your PIP policy will pay for your wage loss.
Yes.
Often medical providers will accept what is called a “Letter of Protection” in return for not submitting outstanding medical bills to debt collectors. Letters of Protection can be a great service that personal injury attorneys can offer to their clients, but they are not necessarily needed or warranted in every circumstance. Please contact the attorneys at Johnson Law, P.C. to see if they can assist you in corresponding with medical providers to whom you owe an outstanding balance.
It depends.
Your insurance company has an interest in cutting off your PIP benefits as soon as possible. One way they do this is through IMEs. IMEs are neither independent nor medical exams. They serve one purpose, to justify cutting off your PIP benefits. IMEs should be called defense medical exams or compulsory medical exams. Please contact an attorney at Johnson Law, P.C. to discuss whether you should attend a scheduled IME. It is not always in your best interest to attend an IME.
We sue insurance companies that hide behind their insured.
Many cases are settled before a lawsuit must be filed. In some circumstances, you can directly sue insurance companies, but sometimes you must name the negligent individual in a lawsuit. This is only done so that we can sue their insurance company. We do sue individuals to go after their personal assets. We only sue individuals to access their insurance policies so that we can obtain fair compensation for our clients. If we have to sue the negligent driver, we will not bankrupt them. If we get a verdict or award above their auto insurance policy, their insurance company will be on the hook for the excess verdict, not the individual.
We represent plaintiffs in Oregon, particularly the Portland Metro area.
This means we regularly practice in Multnomah County, Washington County, Clackamas County, Columbia County, and Marion County. However, we represent clients all over Oregon.
We represent plaintiffs in the following counties in Oregon: Polk County, Hood River County, Yamhill County, Clatsop County, Wasco County, Linn County, Benton County, Lane County, Clatsop County, Tillamook County, Sherman County, Jefferson County, Linn County, and Benton County.
We represent plaintiffs in the following cities in Oregon: Portland, Salem, Gresham, Hillsboro, Beaverton, Tigard, Lake Oswego, Milwaukie, McMinnville, West Linn, Tualatin, Troutdale, Sherwood, Molalla, Aloha, Albany, Corvallis, Cascade Locks, Astoria, Wilsonville, Woodburn, the Dalles, Fairview, Oregon City, Silverton, Sandy, Rainier, Monmouth, Newberg, Keizer, Gladstone, Forest Grove, Estacada, Canby, Philomath, Newberg, Parkdale, and Seaside.
