Questions? Contact me directly at chill@cthlaw.com

Oregon Personal Injury Lawyer | Oregon Business Lawyer

Christopher T. Hill, PC

A Professional Corporation
503-227-4330

Practices (by subject)

• Car Wreck
• Bicycle Wreck
• Motorcycle
• Pedestrians
• Trucking
• Uninsured Motorist and Underinsured Motorist (UM/UIM)
• Fire
• Products Liability
• Professional Negligence
• Wrongful Death
  
  

Practices (by injury)

• Disc
• Head/Brain
• Knee
• Shoulder
• Whiplash
• Diminished Value
  
  

1. Car Wreck
   

   Car wrecks are one of the more common ways for people to get injured. Rear-end car accidents are often the result of the driver behind not paying enough attention, following too closely, speeding, and or distractions like talking on a cell phone or looking for addresses or streets. Those collisions are not accidents in the true sense of the term, but rather are driving errors for which the drivers should be responsible.  Damages from car accidents include medical expenses, wage loss, pain and suffering, and impairment and inconvenience to normal and usual activities.
   

2. Bicycle Wreck

   Car drivers are often scanning the road for other cars and trucks, and are not looking for bicyclists.  When drivers do not look for bicycles they will often get into accidents with them by turning into the bicyclist or turning in front of the bicyclist so that a collision is inevitable. When Oregon drivers do not see things which are plainly visible, that' a failure of lookout and makes the driver liable for negligence.  Bicyclists may have trouble getting their medical expenses paid as they go unless they have health insurance or have insurance coverage available under an Oregon automobile insurance policy.  Bicyclists also tend to have more severe injuries because of their direct exposure to the car hitting them and the roadway and curb.
   

3. Motorcycle

   Car drivers are often scanning the road for other cars and trucks, and are not looking for motorcycles. The classic case is the car turning left in front of the motorcycle. Car vs motorcyle accidents like that are often mostly the responsibility of the car driver for the failure of lookout.  Because motorcycle insurance does not require a medical payments coverage in Oregon and most automobile insurance policies exclude coverage while operating a motorcycle, most medical expenses are paid by health insurance first and ultimately recovered in part from the bad driver's insurance company. Motorcyclists tend to have more severe injuries because of the speed and weight of the vehicles involved and because their hands and legs are exposed to direct contact with the car, motorcycle, and pavement.

4. Pedestrians

   Like bicycle and motorcycle riders, pedestrians are often not seen by drivers who are scanning the roadways for other cars instead of pedestrians. The same duties of lookout apply to drivers who hit pedestrians. Pedestrians injuries tend to be more severe injuries than car passenger injuries, and pedestrians are often literally knocked out of their shoes by the impact.

5. Trucking

   Commercial trucks have another layer of rules and regulations beyond what ordinary drivers are required to do. The three primary considerations include their hours of service for interstate and intrastate trips, keeping a distance pad to allow for the extra time it takes to brake with heavy trucks, and being aware of blind spots, especially for small cars on the right side of the truck.  Simply because of the sheer weight of the trucks, severe injuries and death can result from trucking accidents.  The trucking industry knows this and depending on the severity of the wreck, they may have investigators, risk managers, and attorneys on the scene or on the case within hours of the collision, no matter what time of day or night the injury happens.

6. Uninsured Motorist and Underinsured Motorist (UM/UIM)

   Oregon automobile insurance policies require coverage for uninsured motorists (UM) and for underinsured motorists (UIM). In Washington, UM and UIM coverage is optional and must be rejected in writing by the insured.  UM comes into play when a car is hit by a driver who has no insurance, who does a hit-and-run, or when there is an accident because of a phantom vehicle which does not make contact with any other vehicles and leaves the scene.  Hit and run and phantom vehicle cases have certain witnessing and government reporting requirements.  The insured has a claim against their own insurance company for UM benefits, which are the damages that the uninsured motorist owes to the insured up to the insured's policy limit.
   
   UIM comes into play when the damages caused by a driver exceed that driver's policy limits and there is a UIM policy available on the car which was hit or on the person who is making the UIM claim. There are some statutory legal requirements for UIM claims to make sure that the insured perfects the UIM claim. Once perfected, the insured can recover the rest of the damages owed by the underinsured motorist up to the insured's policy limit.

7. Fire

   When a house fire happens, the insured is often a prime suspect of the special investigations unit of the insurer. In some cases that may be warranted, but in many others, the insured needs quick compensation for the devastating loss of a home while the insured's bills keep mounting and the insurer tries to delay payment to help coerce the insured into a settlement. Early processing of claim papers will help get the fire case resolved faster, whether the claim is accepted or denied, and some insurers need to be pushed to do the right thing.

8. Products Liability

   Oregon's law of products liability follows the consumer expectations test, which says basically that a product which does not meet a reasonable consumer's expectations is defective, and the product manufacturer and sellers are liable for the damages caused by the defect.  It is strict liability in that the end user or purchaser needs to show the product was defective rather than to show that the manufacturer acted unreasonably. Products liability runs the gamut of products from the Ford Pinto and GM sidesaddle gas tank pickup trucks, to pharmaceuticals like thalidomide, fen-phen, and vioxx, to machines in the workplace without interlocks or guards to prevent injury.
   

9. Professional Negligence

   Oregon lawyers, doctors, chiropractors, accountants, and other professionals all make mistakes. When that mistake is a breach of the standard of care for the particular profession, and that mistake causes damages to the customer, the customer has a case against the professional for negligence.  For lawyers whose mistake involved a case in litigation, showing causation involves the case within a case, that is, showing that the client would have won the case which the lawyer hindered or destroyed.

10. Wrongful Death
    

    When a wrongdoer causes a death, the dead persons spouse, children, and parents have a claims for their economic losses and their loss of society, companionship and services of the dead person. The claims are asserted through the personal representative of the estate which must be set up in the probate department in circuit court. There are some additional evidence and practical issues when dealing with a death case, but other than that, the laws which make the wrongdoer responsible for the death are similar to any other case, whether it's a car wreck, products liability, or professional negligence case.
    
    

Practices (by injury)

1. Disc
   

   A herniated disc is a painful injury which often requires surgery to fix. The nucleus of the disc is pushed out through a fissure or hole in the annulus, where the nucleus material then irritates the spinal cord and spinal nerves. This can cause pain, numbness, tingling, weakness, and in extreme cases, wasting away of the muscle tissue. With a delayed presentation of the herniation, an insurance company may try to dispute the relationship of the herniation to the injury, and it often becomes a matter for the doctors to sort out.
   More common but also less easy to confirm are injuries to the annulus which do not cause a full herniation. In these cases, MRI films may show disc bulging but will not show any disc material in the spinal canal. Sometimes there is a prior MRI to compare to, but often it becomes an issue of clinical diagnosis to relate the ongoing neck or back pain to the disc level or to the disc bulge seen on the MRI.

2. Head/Brain
   

   Closed head injuries, concussions, and other brain injuries are classic cases of the invisible injury. They often will not show up on ordinary MRI's or CT scans which only show brain structures, although they may show up on more expensive PET and SPECT scans which show brain activity. Neuropsychological workups can help to identify functional limitations, and certain brain exercises can be done to help rebuild the neural pathways. Closed head injuries can cause headaches, irritability, light sensitivity, and functional problems with short term memory, long term memory, the ability to process information and track conversations, the ability to find words, and the ability to do higher brain functions.

3. Knee
   

   Tears to the meniscus, ACL, PCL, and the collateral ligaments can be very painful injuries. Sometimes they will recover with conservative non-surgical treatment, and when they linger, arthroscopic surgery is often required. With rehabilitation, good results can often be obtained for ligamentous knee injuries. As with many injuries, the doctor's testimony is key to showing that the injury and the medical bills are related to the trauma.

4. Shoulder
   

   The shoulder is a unique joint because it is suspended in space. Because of the lack of support around it, shoulder injuries can significantly limit arm function, especially when it comes to overhead lifting or movement with the arms. The muscles, tendons, and ligaments that make up the rotator cuff are also a common injury with jolting hits to the arms and shoulders. Rehabilitation often helps with shoulder injuries but surgery may be required. The doctor’s testimony is key to showing that the injury and medical bills are related to the trauma.

5. Whiplash
   

   Neck and back strains and sprains are probably the most common injury in car accidents, and are even more prevalent in rear-end collisions. They can cause pain in the neck, back, shoulders, buttocks, and hips. There are occasionally other temporary symptoms like numbness and tingling. Most strain and sprain injuries resolve in fairly short order, but I've seen a number of clients who have neck and back injuries which last 6 months to several years. They are invisible injuries in the sense that xrays and MRI's will not show the injury or the pain, but they are very real to the people who live with the neck and back pain every day. A thorough exam early on while the injury is acute can help prove the injury's existence, and relating the injury to the trauma is often a matter of clinical diagnosis from the doctors.

6. Diminished Value
   

   When cars or other vehicles are damaged and repaired, they may still have a lower market value or actual cash value than they did before the damage and repair. The diminished value of the car is often referred to as market stigma because some car buyers may not want a damaged-and-repaired car, while others will want to pay less for a damaged-and-repaired car. Diminished value is part of the damages which compensate for a loss, and are recoverable against others who damage your property and sometimes against your own insurer under collision coverage.