BC Residents Choosing a Seattle Personal Injury Attorney?

By Greg Samuels

A review of historical Washington judgments and settlements reveals that some Vancouver and lower mainland residents hire Seattle personal injury attorneys for their cross border claims.   While some of the Seattle lawyers were probably retained from recommendations by local British Columbia counsel, the ease of internet “searchability” allows a prospective plaintiff to find a lawyer in any location.  The search engine Google actually tracks the words used to search for lawyers, and remarkably, “Seattle personal injury attorney” is used by British Columbians to find lawyers suited to their cases throughout Washington.

Unlike British Columbia, where a personal injury lawsuit can be commenced in any registry throughout the province (most likely the one convenient to the lawyer), Washington law requires that the lawsuit be started in either (1) the county where the conduct causing the injury occurred, or (2) the county where the person causing the injury resides.  Therefore, when searching on the internet for a Washington lawyer, one could simply add the county of injury or county of defendant’s residence to the list of search terms to find a lawyer close to the courthouse where the action has to be commenced.

Of course, the reason that “Seattle” is being used as a search term has more to do with the assumed expertise of counsel than to the lawyer’s proximity to the courthouse.  But big city does not necessarily mean good lawyer.  There are good personal injury lawyers in Seattle and not so good personal injury lawyers in Seattle.

When a BC resident is searching for a Washington lawyer to handle his or her personal injury or wrongful death claim, these are the factors which should influence that decision:

• Does the lawyer spend the majority of his or her time dealing with personal injury claims?
• Does the lawyer have an established track record of significant settlements and judgments?
• Is the lawyer familiar with the subtle nuances and procedures unique to Canadians in Washington courts?
• Can the lawyer deal with both ICBC and the American insurance company in resolving the claim?
• Is he or she qualified as a personal injury lawyer in both British Columbia and Washington State?

Likewise, a proper search would include such terms as “Canadian, American, Cross Border, Personal Injury, Wrongful Death,  ICBC and Washington”.