Wells Trumbull

$5

Construction Accident

Mr. Walter was working in a trench to replace a sewer pipe and directing the excavator with hand signals. The excavator operator stopped looking at Mr. Walter’s hand signals, continued to operate the excavator, and crushed Mr. Walter’s legs with the excavator bucket. He was rushed immediately to the hospital; the immense pain caused blur vision and difficulty breathing. Mr. Walter’s mother testified that the doctor told her he was lucky because most accidents of this type require amputation or result in death. Before the crushing, Mr. Walter loved to go snowboarding and actively played with his son. Mr. Walter has worked hard with his doctor’s recommendations. Through surgery, rehabilitation and personal strength, he has regained use of his legs but still has ongoing knee pain. Because of his injuries, he became incapable of living the life he had before the incident.

$4M

Construction Accident

Court of Appeals refused to disturb a $4,050,000 judgment entered in favor of my client, finding the trial court appropriately instructed jury on lighting up and refused to instruct jury on assumption of the risk. Case: Walter v. Spee West Const. Co, 504 P.3d 878 (2022)

$2

Car Accident

In March of 2020 a man was driving to work. He was driving a Ford F350 truck. As he drove toward an intersection located south of Seattle, he dropped his coffee cup on the floor, and it landed near his feet. He reached over to grab it and when he sat back up, he was entering an intersection on a red light. He felt his truck shake and he came to a stop. Waiting at the intersection was an African American man driving a Nissan Altima. He patiently was waiting for the light to change. It changed to green, and he proceeded out into the intersection. Without any warning he heard an explosion, hit his head and felt his car spin a complete circle and come to a stop. He was dazed for several minutes. After talking to the police, he went to work. After an hour he began to vomit. He went to the hospital and was diagnosed with a head injury, post-concussion syndrome and injuries to his neck, back and shoulder. He was released and went home. He began treating with a chiropractor. The treatment lasted 13 months. He then did not treat for 4 months. Due to his ongoing pain, this law office referred him to a top-notch physical medicine doctor in Seattle. He received trigger point injections, nerve injections and physical therapy to treat his neck and back. Eventually, our office referred him to a speech therapist to evaluate him and treat him for ongoing cognitive problems since the crash. He was also evaluated by 3 neck surgeons. None of them said neck surgery was required but one said neck surgery was inevitable. The insurance company for the fault driver offered $40,000 to settle. The offer was rejected, and a lawsuit was filed. Trial began in late November 2023 in Seattle. The Insurance Company hired a legal team that was very aggressive and even claimed that the man driving the car was 60 years old and his pain is from being old and having a physical job as a dump truck driver, that he had severe neck pain a year earlier and his current pain was from a pre-existing condition. They also claimed that the driver of the car committed fraud when he filled out a renewal for his commercial driver’s license. On the questionnaire he filled out they claim he lied about his physical condition, and it was inconsistent with what he testified to in court. The driver agreed that he had lied so he didn’t lose his job. He needed his job to support his family and pay his mortgage payments, among other things. At the end of the case the Insurance company lawyers argued that the jury should only award $10,000-50,000. Our office showed the jury the full story and asked that the jury award $16 million dollars. The jury reached a verdict of 2.1 million dollars.

$4

Construction Accident

Jury verdict in King County.

$3

Personal Injury

Jury verdict in Snohomish County.

$4

Personal Injury

Jury verdict in Snohomish County.