Colburn Law
Case Results
$2,000,000
Our client was injured in a car accident. The cause, severity and permanency of our client’s injuries was heavily disputed by the defendant’s insurance company.
By utilizing all sources of evidence, treating medical providers and highly qualified experts, we succeeded in obtaining a recovery that can truly improve our client’s quality of life.
Total Settlement: $2,000,000
$1,800,000
A motorcyclist was driving on Dexter Avenue in Seattle, Washington, when a truck made an illegal left turn causing the motorcycle to t-bone the truck.
The motorcyclist suffered a Schatzker Type VI Right Tibial Plateau Fracture that required emergency surgery at Harborview Medical Center. During the motorcyclist’s three-week hospital admission at Harborview Medical Center, he also required Open Reduction Internal Fixation (ORIF) of the Tibial Plateau Fracture.
The motorcyclist developed postoperative infection requiring surgical implantation of antibiotic PMMA beads. Ultimately, the injured motorcyclist underwent seven surgeries and has permanent functional impairments and disabilities.
Total Settlement: $1,800,000
$1,125,000
A pedestrian was hit by a drunk driver speeding through a dormant construction area just after midnight. The drunk driver had minimal insurance coverage. We litigated claims against the construction company and the municipality for failing to maintain the roadway in a condition safe for ordinary travel, specifically travel for pedestrians..
Total Settlement: $1,125,000
$1,000,000
A semi-truck hit a disabled car on Interstate 90. The young man driving the disabled car was ejected and transported to Harborview Medical Center with life-threatening injuries, including a Traumatic Brain Injury, Concussion, Loss of Consciousness, Humerus Fracture, Scapula Fracture, Rib Fractures, and Pelvis Fractures.
Total Settlement: $1,000,000 Policy Limits
$1,000,000
While turning left with a green circular traffic light at a controlled intersection, our client, a motorcyclist, was t-boned by another motorcyclist traveling straight in the opposite direction. Our client had a passenger on his motorcycle. Both drivers and the passenger were seriously injured. Only our client had automobile insurance, which included uninsured/underinsured motorist (UM/UIM) coverage. Our client's insurer, State Farm, initially denied our client's claim for Uninsured Motorist benefits claiming our client was 100% at fault. We retained an accident reconstruction expert to show that the other motorcyclist was speeding at nearly double the speed limit as he traveled uphill towards the crest of the hill where the intersection was located creating a visual obstruction for our client. With the accident reconstruction report and formal opinions obtained from our client's medical providers, vocational expert and functional capacity expert, we successfully convinced State Farm to enter into a seven-figure settlement .
Total Settlement: $1,000,000
$1,000,000
A construction worker was injured after falling from a roof. The roofing subcontractor failed to provide safety equipment or protections. The construction worker suffered severe injuries to both of his feet which required multiple surgeries and left him wheelchair bound for approximately two years.
Total Settlement: $1,000,000
$800,000
A delivery driver arrived at his stop, but failed to have the proper equipment to unload heavy items. The delivery driver asked our client, a sales person, for help. While our client helped the delivery driver, the load fell causing our client to awkwardly step backwards and suffer a fractured ankle requiring surgery. Despite allegations by the defendant, as well as our client's own employer, that our client was at fault, we successfully negotiated a settlement with Travelers Insurance.
Total Settlement: $800,000
$750,000
An 18-year old young woman suffered Third Degree Chemical Burns to her scalp at a salon after a hairdresser negligently applied hair coloring during a Balayage treatment. She developed a serious infection and required skin grafting performed at Harborview Medical Center. The salon was insured by Farmers Insurance.
Total Settlement: $750,000
$750,000
Our client was injured by medical providers' failure to timely diagnose and treat her condition.
$620,000
A woman was walking to work at Starbucks Corporate in SODO. While crossing the intersection of South Lander Street and 1st Avenue South, she was hit by a driver turning left. She was walking in a marked crosswalk with the pedestrian light in her favor. A recovery was made against the at-fault driver, as well as the City of Seattle for negligently designing and maintaining the intersection.
Total Settlement: $620,000
$500,000
A dog bite to the face of a woman resulted in permanent scarring. The dog owners were strictly liable under Washington's dog bite law. We successfully recovered the dog owner's $300,000 homeowners insurance policy with MetLife Insurance, and an additional $200,000 from the dog owner's excess insurance policy with The Hartford Insurance.
Total Settlement: $500,000
$485,000
Our client suffered injuries due to a motor vehicle collision. Although the defendants challenged the connection between the collision and our client's injuries, ultimately we persuaded the defendants' insurers to agree to compensate our client for their injuries.
Total Settlement: $485,000
$450,000
Our client was injured by the recklessness of a drunk driver. Adding insult to injury, the DUI driver was uninsured. We made a claim for Uninsured Motorist ("UM") benefits. The claim successfully resolved in litigation through the use of mediation.
Total Settlement: $450,000
$385,000
Our client was injured in a T-bone style collision at an uncontrolled intersection. The at-fault driver had minimal insurance coverage of only $25,000. Despite our client having an extremely complex medical history, we successfully negotiated a significant settlement for Underinsured Motorist ("UIM") benefits.
Total Settlement: $385,000
$350,000
Our client was injured in a rear-end collision. Four days before the collision, our client complained of increased tinnitus and hearing loss during a medical appointment. Our client had a history of hearing issues. In the days and weeks after the collision, our client's tinnitus and hearing loss significantly worsened. Despite the significant history of hearing issues, we successfully negotiated settlement during litigation.
Total Settlement: $350,000
$310,000
Our client was riding a skateboard when he was hit by a car. Through effective litigation strategy we overcame the defense denial of fault and recovered a successful outcome for our client's leg injury.
Total Settlement: $310,000
$300,000
A minor child was attacked and bitten by a dog. We successfully made a claim against Liberty Mutual Insurance for the dog owners’ homeowners insurance policy limit.
Total Settlement: $300,000 Policy Limits
$300,000
A young woman was involved in a car accident and suffered a mild Traumatic Brain Injury. We successfully made a claim against State Farm Insurance for her Underinsured Motorist policy limit.
Total Settlement: $300,000 Policy Limits
$300,000
A young girl was bitten by a pit bull. While playing in her grandmother's front yard, the child saw a man walking a dog towards her. She walked toward the man and his dog, stopped, and asked to pet the dog. The man told her that it was okay, but to be careful. As the child reached to pet the dog, the dog lunged and bit her on her cheek.
Law enforcement was notified and responded to the scene. Animal control investigated the incident and, initially, issued a Dangerous Dog Declaration to the dog owner. However, for unexplained reasons, Animal Control changed its determination and ruled that the young child provoked the dog.
The bite caused a two-inch laceration on the child's cheek. She underwent medical care, including plastic surgery treatments, totaling approximately $18,000. Despite Animal Control's ridiculous determination, we successfully recovered the dog owner's $300,000 homeowners insurance policy with Allstate Insurance.
Total Settlement: $300,000 Policy Limits
$300,000
Client was injured while walking through a worksite near her residence. Client suffered a foot and ankle fracture. Despite significant problems with fault against our client, we negotiated a successful pre-trial personal injury settlement.
Total Settlement: $300,000
$267,800
A left turning driver failed to yield the right of way and caused a serious car accident. Our client suffered a rotator cuff tear that required surgery. State Farm insured the negligent driver and paid its $100,000 bodily injury limit. Our client had Underinsured Motorist (UIM) coverage with PEMCO Insurance.
Total Settlement: $267,800
$260,000
Our client purchased a crib on OfferUp. When our client visited the seller's home, the seller failed to clear his steep driveway of snow and ice. The seller refused to bring the crib down to the street or dismantle the crib. Our client could not drive up the driveway due to the slippery conditions. As our client carried the crib to his car, he slipped and injured his ankle. Despite the denial of liability from the seller's insurer, Allstate, we successfully achieved a $260,000 settlement.
Total Settlement: $260,000
$250,000
Our client was stopped for a red light when she was hit from behind. The rearend car accident was caught on dash cam which demonstrated a low speed collision with minimal property damage to our client's car. The defendant driver was insured by Farmers Insurance, which initially responded to our client's notice of claim by stating, "Based on our investigation and our review of the responding officer's body camera footage it does not appear there was any mechanism for injury to your client resulting from this collision. Since our investigation suggests the low-velocity impact would not cause the injuries claimed, we contest them on our insured's behalf and deny liability for bodily injury alleged from this accident." Previously, our client had been in two other motor vehicle collisions with a history of neck and back injuries and treatment. In this collision, she also suffered neck and back injuries. She required a low back fusion surgery (specifically, L5-S1 right transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion). We persuaded Farmers Insurance to pay its insured's policy limits of $250,000, despite Farmers' initial denial of any and all liability.
Total Settlement: $250,000
$250,000
Our client suffered road rash and lacerations as the result of a driver's negligence. Although she received medical treatment, her medical expenses were small relative to the extent of her injuries. The total personal injury settlement was more then thirty-five times her medical bills.
Total Settlement: $250,000
$226,000
A dangerous dog attacked a 9-year old boy as he played with friends at the neighborhood park in Sammamish. The child was bitten on his upper left arm causing deep, tearing wounds.
Despite initially accepting fault for the dog bite, the dog owners hired an attorney to challenge King County Animal Control's dangerous dog declaration and to defend the personal injury claims of the boy.
Our investigation revealed that at the request of King County Animal Control and the dog owners' attorney, the dog underwent a behavioral assessment that determined the dog should not be unattended with visitors in its home, people in the community, and especially children.
At mediation, the case settled for the dog owners' State Farm homeowners insurance policy limits plus a significant personal cash contribution.
Total Settlement: $226,000, including cash contribution from dog owners
$225,000
A car accident at an intersection in Bellevue, Washington, resulted in a female passenger losing consciousness. She was transported to Overlake Medical Center and diagnosed with a Traumatic Brain Injury, including diffuse axonal injury, Concussion, and traumatic cranial nerve palsy.
We successfully recovered policy limits from both drivers. We argued that the driver insured by GEICO ran a red light. We argued that the driver insured by American Family Insurance failed to slow and stop for a yellow light.
Total Settlement: $225,000 Policy Limits
$225,000
The employee of a subcontractor was injured when the general contractor failed to provide a worksite free from recognized hazards. The general contractor violated its non-delegable duty to protect against specific hazards, including but not limited to fall hazards, which resulted in serious personal injuries.
Total Settlement: $225,000
$200,000
Our client was t-boned at the intersection of Highlands Drive NE and NE Discovery Drive in Issaquah, Washington. Despite patiently waiting for the double left turn arrow, as our client proceeded to turn left a distracted driver on southbound 9th Ave NE caused a significant t-bone collision. As a result, our client suffered injuries to his back. The other driver's insurer, Liberty Mutual, initially denied any fault. However, we successfully recovered the at-fault driver's $100,000 bodily injury policy limit from Liberty Mutual, along with our client's $100,000 Underinsured Motorist policy limit from PEMCO.
Total Settlement: $200,000 Policy Limits
$202,000
Our client was a young girl attacked by a dog at a friend's house. Despite the dog's history of aggression, particularly towards small children, the dog owner allowed her dog to approach and contact our client.
$200,000
A motorcyclist was driving on SE Issaquah-Fall City Road approaching the intersection with Klahanie Drive SE when a truck driver attempted a left turn causing a collision. We represented the motorcycle rider who suffered a Traumatic Brain Injury and pelvis fracture. The truck driver's insurer, USAA Insurance, initially blamed our client. By gathering witness statements and recreating the accident, we were able to show that our client had no comparative fault. We successfully recovered USAA's $100,000 bodily injury limit, as well as our client's $100,000 UIM limit from American Family Insurance.
Total Settlement: $200,000 Policy Limits
$200,000
An elderly gentleman tripped on broken curbing at an apartment complex. He fell to the ground suffering fractures to his femur and pelvis. Our client had a prior history of multiple slip-and-falls and trip-and-falls which complicated the issue of fault. Even so, based upon the negligently maintained premises and our clients injuries, a successful settlement was achieved.
Total Settlement: $200,000
$200,000
Our client was bitten while at work by a customer's dog. The dog owners claimed our client provoked the attack and also denied their dog had any history of aggression. After filing a lawsuit against the dog owners, discovery revealed the dog had a history of aggression. We successfully negotiated a settlement for our client's hand injuries.
Total Settlement: $200,000
$200,000
Our client was hit by a semi-truck when the commercial truck driver made a sharp right turn. The impact pushed our client's car over the curb and onto the sidewalk. She was taken by ambulance to Valley Medical Center and later received treatment at University of Washington Medical Center for concussion, and injuries to her neck, back, and shoulders.
Total Settlement: $200,000
$170,000
Our client was a young boy attending a swim camp to learn how to swim. During the camp, our client lost track of his position in the pool during open play and found himself in an area too deep for him to stand. Our client sank to the bottom and started to drown. Between 20 and 30 kids were in the pool with only one lifeguard, a student to lifeguard ratio significantly higher than the one advertised. Luckily, another student spotted our client who ultimately was saved and spent the night in the hospital for observation.
Total Settlement: $170,000
$160,000
An auto accident in Seattle resulted in a concussion and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder to our client. Although our client reported to officers and Emergency Department physicians that she did not lose consciousness, we worked with our client's neurologist to establish that the car accident caused a mild traumatic brain injury. The total settlement was approximately nine times the medical bills.
Total Settlement: $160,000
$153,710.11
Our client and her family visited the Downtown Seattle Association's Photo Wall. She stood behind the wall with her young grandson and other family members for photographs. As she turned to leave her focus was on helping her grandson when suddenly she tripped on an anchor for the wall. She fell to the ground and suffered shoulder injuries.
Total Settlement: $153,710.11
$150,000
Our client was riding his bicycle along East Lake Sammamish Parkway when a worker suddenly backed out from a large hedge, swung around and hit our client with a large branch. As a result of the impact, our client suffered injuries to his clavicle. We successfully negotiated a settlement with the contractor's insurer, Chubb Insurance Company.
Total Settlement: $150,000
$126,000
Our client was driving his motorcycle when a USPS driver turned left causing a t-bone collision. The injured motorcyclist initially hired a Seattle personal injury law firm; however, the United States Parcel Service only offered $35,000 for neck injuries and medical bills of approximately $22,000. We were hired to litigate the motorcycle accident injury claims in federal court against the United States. As a result of aggressive advocacy, USPS agreed to make our client whole with a $126,000 settlement.
Total Settlement: $126,000
$125,000
Our client suffered a low back injury in a car accident. Three years before the car wreck, she had undergone major surgery on her low back due to chronic pain. We successfully obtained all available insurance policy limits despite our client's underlying condition. In addition, although our client's medical insurer claimed reimbursement of more than $78,000 from the settlement, we successfully negotiated a full waiver.
Total Settlement: $125,000 Policy Limits
$100,000
An 11-year old boy was attacked by his friend’s dog. Our client knocked on his friend’s front door. When his friend opened the door, the family dog attacked our client biting his upper right arm. The dog bite required plastic surgery to treat the bite wound. The dog owners had renters insurance with State Farm. Despite nearly $30,000 in medical bills, State Farm initially offered only $15,000. We filed a lawsuit against the dog owners and obtained a full $100,000 policy limits settlement from State Farm.
Total Settlement: $100,000 Policy Limits
$100,000
A young man was assaulted by a security guard at the Log Cabin Pub in Sumner, Washington. The bouncer attacked and punched our client causing him to fall backwards hitting his head on the pavement. Our client suffered a concussion. Through investigation, we learned that the security guard had a criminal history that included convictions for assault. Based upon claims of negligent hiring, training, and supervision, the Pub's insurer agreed to settle rather than risk litigation.
Total Settlement: $100,000
$100,000
While jogging through her neighborhood, our client was attacked by a pit bull mixed breed dog. She suffered a fractured fibula, puncture wounds, and PTSD.
The dangerous dog's owner was staying at his sister's home. Unfortunately, the dog owner was unemployed, uninsured, and without assets. However, our investigation established that the dog owner was residing at the home and therefore an insured under his sister's USAA homeowners insurance policy.
Further, we established that the homeowners were harboring a known dangerous dog and therefore liable for the dog attack.
Total Settlement: $100,000 policy limits
$100,000
A car accident resulted from a teenage driver’s failure to yield. Our client suffered a concussion and depression.
Total Settlement: $100,000 Policy Limits
$50,000
Our client suffered psychological injuries as the result of a car accident. Although he did not sustain any physical harm, the emotional trauma of the car wreck caused serious psychiatric injuries resulting in anxiety and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Our client was hospitalized and continues to suffer from PTSD. We obtained the insurance policy limit of $25,000 from the at-fault driver's insurer, GEICO. In addition, we successfully recovered our client's $25,000 Underinsured Motorist limit from his insurer, GEICO.
Total Settlement: $50,000 Policy Limits