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Seattle Broken Bones Attorney

You shouldn’t have to worry about mounting expenses when you’re recovering from a broken bone. A Seattle broken bones lawyer can help you recover financially from the at-fault party. You shouldn’t have to pay for someone else’s mistake.

Are you suffering from a broken bone? Broken bones are painful and require intensive aftercare and rehabilitation to return to your normal level of functioning. Depending on the type and severity of the broken bone you could be out of work for six to twelve weeks. When you’re out of work, you’re not getting paid and your bills aren’t getting paid.

Seattle Broken Bones Attorney

The Fang Law Firm Can Help

  • We win. We have won 98 percent of the 10,000 cases we’ve litigated.
  • Attorney support from day 1. We don’t pass you off to our support staff like other personal injury law firms.
  • No up-front costs. We work on a contingency basis which means you don’t pay our Seattle personal injury attorneys unless we win.

What Damages Can I Recover for My Broken Bones?

A fracture quickly becomes expensive, with imaging tests, medical procedures, special equipment, and many follow-up appointments. You may also miss days or even weeks or more of work, depending on the type of work you do and the location of the broken bone. Multiple broken bones and complicated fractures are even more costly, sometimes causing financial hardship for the whole family. A successful personal injury claim through the advocates at The Fang Law Firm can bring compensation for damages including:

  • Medical expenses
  • Future medical expenses for further care, physical therapy, and other injury-related expenses
  • Lost income and future income loss
  • Pain and suffering
  • Trauma, PTSD

When the damages from an injury cause financial stress long after the broken bones heal, the ripple effects impact the entire family. A successful claim with the help of a broken bones attorney in Seattle can minimize financial damages while you focus on healing from the physical damages.

How Can I Recover Damages After Suffering Broken Bones?

From Insurance

If your broken bone resulted due to another person’s negligence, a Seattle broken bone attorney can help you recover financially from the at-fault party. Whether you broke your bone in a car accident, at work, or in a slip & fall situation, you can file a claim with the at-fault party’s insurance company.

Insurance companies will do anything they can to prevent you from receiving the settlement you deserve. They may even outright deny your claim. When an insurance company denies your claim it may seem like you have no other options. However, a Seattle broken bone lawyer from The Fang Law Firm knows all the insurance companies tricks and can help you gather and present evidence to combat the insurance company’s underhanded tactics.

In Court

In the event that the insurance company denies your claim or refuses to settle for the amount you deserve, a Seattle broken bone attorney can help you file a personal injury lawsuit in Washington State court. The court process is lengthy, however if a judge or jury find in your favor you may be entitled to economic and non-economic damages.

  • Economic damages include your cost of medical and rehabilitative bills and lost wages.
  • Non-economic damages include payment for pain and suffering.

How Long Do I Have to File an Injury Claim?

A bone fracture victim should file a claim against the party at fault as soon as the full scope of their damages becomes clear. Waiting too long to file a claim can impact the ability to file a lawsuit if necessary to secure compensation. Seattle personal injury claims for broken bones typically end in a settlement with a payout from the at-fault party’s insurance. Only when an insurance company refuses the claim or seriously undervalues it with a lowball settlement offer does the case proceed to a lawsuit in court.

In that case, your attorney will file the lawsuit in a timely manner within Washington’s 3-year statute of limitations for personal injury claims. This time limit ensures that evidence is still available and witness testimony remains reliable when a case comes to court.

In cases of delayed diagnosis, the statute of limitations begins on the day of discovery.

Who Can Be Held Liable for Broken Bones?

When an individual, business, or manufacturer of a defective product commits an act of negligence or wrongdoing that directly causes injury to someone else, they are liable for damages—usually paid through an appropriate insurance policy like auto insurance or premises liability insurance. In Washington and other comparative negligence insurance states, the burden of proving liability falls on the injury victim and their attorney, including in broken bone injury cases in Seattle and the surrounding area.

After a thorough investigation of the accident or incident reveals the party at fault for the accident, your attorney from The Fang Law Firm must establish their liability by demonstrating the following through documented evidence:

  • The party at fault owed a duty of care to you and others to prevent injury; for example, a driver’s duty to avoid distraction or a manufacturer’s duty to produce safe products
  • They breached this duty through an act of negligence, recklessness, or wrongdoing
  • Their breach of duty directly caused broken bone injuries
  • You’ve suffered significant economic and non-economic damages due to the injury

Once the evidence clearly proves liability on the part of the at-fault person or business, your attorney can craft a compelling case and send a demand package to the insurance company to seek damages.

Causes of Broken Bones

Fractures occur when a bone sustains a greater amount of force than it can take, resulting in a break. Most human bones are weakest during an impact that simultaneously twists the bone. Falls, twists, pressure, and direct impacts cause most broken bones.

Broken bones can result from a variety of accidents. Sports injuries and playground accidents are common causes of injuries, but a broken bone lawsuit only recovers the injury victim’s damages when someone else is clearly at fault in the accident and liable for damages. Common causes cited in broken bone claims in Seattle include the following:

Broken bones and fractures are extremely common. In fact, every person will experience at least two broken bones in their lifetime, but when the injury was preventable and occurred only because someone else committed an act of negligence, recklessness, or wrongdoing, the at-fault party is accountable for the damages.

Common Types of Broken Bones

  • Collarbone fracture
  • Wrist fracture
  • Ankle fracture
  • Vertebral fracture
  • Hip fracture
  • Forearm fracture
  • Shinbone fracture

A “fracture” is a complete or partial break in a bone. Most fractures are closed fractures that don’t break the skin, but when the force of a breaking bone causes sharp ends to puncture through the skin, the result is an open fracture or “compound” fracture. Other types of fractures include:

  • Greenstick fractures: one part of the bone breaks and an adjacent part bends
  • Transverse fractures: a clean break in a straight line across the bone
  • Avulsion: when a fractured bone also separates part of a tendon or ligament
  • Oblique fracture: a diagonal break across the bone
  • Segmental fracture: a bone breaks in two places so one piece is detached or “floating”
  • Comminuted fracture: a bone breaks into 3 or more pieces with bone fragments separating from the break
  • Compression fracture: a bone becomes crushed, causing a flattened or widened appearance

Simple transverse fractures with a clean straight-line break heal more easily than bones broken in multiple places, crushed, or involving damage to a tendon or ligament. Some badly broken bones may lead to temporary or permanent disability as well as other complications. Older individuals who suffer fractures are at greater risk of complications and life-altering consequences.

Person getting arm wrapped in cast

Symptoms of Broken Bones

  • Visibly misshapen or out of place limb or joint
  • Swelling, bleeding, or bruising
  • Intense pain
  • Numbness and tingling
  • Inability to bear weight

If you are experiencing any of these symptoms you should seek medical attention right away. Failing to treat a broken bone can have very serious consequences such as:

  • Permanently broken bone
  • Reduced mobility and functionality
  • Infection
  • Nerve damage
  • Death

All broken bones are medical emergencies, but compound fractures when a bone breaks through the skin’s surface are especially dangerous, with an increased risk of severe bleeding, infection, and sepsis as well as shock.

Broken Bones Statistics

Broken bones are common serious injuries in the United States with around 2 million people suffering fractures each year. More startling statistics on broken bones include the following:

  • The average person experiences two broken bones in a lifetime
  • Around 850,000 broken bones each year occur in those over the age of 65
  • An average of 300,000 elderly people are hospitalized in the U.S. for hip fractures each year
  • Hip fractures in elderly individuals have the most devastating effects of all fractures, causing death within 6 months in 20% of sufferers
  • In 2019, there were 178 million reported fractures worldwide with 102 million fractures occurring in males and 76.4 million in females
  • In 2019, the most common fractures were lower leg fractures of the patella, tibia, fibula, or ankle
  • Broken bones are among the most common work-related injuries
  • Broken bones are common injuries suffered in car accidents, including fractured limbs, clavicles, hips, ribs, back, pelvis, and skull fractures. Skull fractures are common causes of traumatic brain injuries in accidents

Fractures can be dangerous if not treated promptly. Complications that may develop include shock, infection, long-term nerve damage, and permanent deformity.

What to Do After You Break a Bone Due to Someone Else’s Negligence, Recklessness, or Wrongdoing?

Breaking a bone is painful and traumatic. When it occurs due to someone else’s actions or negligence, it’s even more distressing because the pain and expense would have been preventable if only someone else had taken reasonable precautions. If you or a loved one breaks a bone, taking specific steps can help with both physical and financial recovery later. After a break, do the following emergency actions:

  • Use your cell phone to call 911 and request emergency services at your location
  • Stop any bleeding with a clean cloth and gentle pressure
  • Keep the injured area immobile, but don’t try to realign the bones or make a splint unless you’ve had medical training in this area
  • Apply ice packs if available to minimize swelling
  • Treat for shock by keeping warm and elevating the legs if they are not the location of the break
  • Use your phone or ask an uninjured person to use it to take photos of anything relevant to the injury, such as damaged vehicles after a car accident or a broken stair railing in a business
  • Snap photos of the fractured area if possible
  • Add the contact information of anyone involved and any eyewitnesses
  • Ask for a police report or business accident report

At the hospital, ask for a detailed medical report with X-ray images of the broken bone, your doctor’s treatment recommendation, and the prognosis. Then, call the Fang Law Firm for a free consultation before speaking to insurance company representatives. Avoid posting on social media until after you complete the claim process or lawsuit. Insurance companies sometimes use social media posts against injury victims. Even if you are smiling through the pain at a child’s soccer game, photos and other social media posts can be a source of misrepresentation in a personal injury claim.

Contact Our Seattle Broken Bone Lawyers Today

Our broken bone and fractured bones attorneys are highly skilled in broken bone injury litigation. We have decades of experience negotiating with underhanded insurance companies. We will work with you to determine the best path for financial recovery. Call us today at (206) 489-5140 for a free case consultation.

The Fang Law Firm offers 100% remote and contactless meetings & representation.