Frequently Asked Questions
Is Chemnick Moen Greenstreet the right firm to handle my claim?
Chemnick Moen Greenstreet only represents clients who have been seriously injured as a result of poor medical care, harmful drug therapy, or other catastrophic injuries. This includes serious injury from deficient medical, nursing, and hospital care, and adverse effects from inappropriate or defective drugs. Examples of serious injuries are those that result in loss of life or limb; require expensive long-term hospitalization and treatment; and/ or leave the victim with a significant permanent disability.
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What will it cost me?
We represent clients on a contingency fee basis, which means you pay a fee only if we win a favorable verdict in court or succeed in settling your claim for an amount you wish to accept. Other than fees for attorney services, the out-of-pocket costs of litigation are ultimately the client's responsibility but such costs are usually paid from settlement or jury awards. It is our practice to advance those costs as appropriate to ensure the effective presentation of our clients' claims.
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Is my claim worth pursuing?
Every case must be evaluated on its own merits. This requires a careful history of the facts, review of the applicable medical records, and analysis by experienced personnel who have access to appropriate sources for research such as we have in our office and online. We can often evaluate your claim and advise you on the apparent risks, benefits, and costs of pursuing your claim without cost. However, often these cases look different as new information becomes available during the litigation process. Sometimes the claim becomes stronger as more favorable information comes to light; other times the claim appears weaker. It is our policy to constantly re-evaluate our clients' claims and keep them informed about new developments through good communication. We do not waste our clients' money or our efforts on less than meritorious claims. We view our client relationships as partnerships in the pursuit of fair and just resolutions of their claims.
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How long will it take?
We can better estimate how much time it may take to resolve your claim after our initial evaluation. The majority of cases we handle result in settlements and less than 5 percent go to trial. However, cases are sometimes settled only after both sides have discovered what evidence the other side is prepared to present at trial. Since the discovery process can take a long time in complex cases, and since the trial date may be 1 1/2 to 2 years or more in the future, some settlements are not reached much earlier than that. However, many of our clients' claims are resolved by settlement within a year.
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What is the truth about medical negligence claims?
Deaths and serious injuries resulting from preventable medical errors are a major problem in this country. Independent studies estimate 90,000 people die each year in hospitals alone because of such medical errors. This toll in human loss is the equivalent of 600 airplanes, with 150 passengers each, crashing every year. If only a fraction of such crashes occurred, it would be treated as a major national tragedy leading to a huge public effort to prevent such human losses in the future.Despite this enormous human toll, the number of medical negligence cases filed each year in Washington State total only about 450. (more)
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