Representing injured bicyclists statewide and helping make our streets safer for everyone.
Whether you've been doored, T-boned, rear-ended, right-hooked, left-hooked or even thrown from your bike by a road not fit for ordinary travel, the lawyers at Washington Bike Law have the experience to help.
If you were injured in a bicycle crash in Washington State, contact the bike attorneys who are committed cyclists themselves. They understand what you are going through and are motivated to help.
Can Bike Lawyers Help?
If you or someone you love has been injured on a bicycle, you've got a lot to deal with, starting with physically recovering. But there's much more to a bike crash than just getting the medical treatment you need to get better, like:
- sorting out what insurance should pay the medical bills;
- making sure the insurer that is supposed to pay actually pays bills in a timely way;
- preventing or responding to improper insurance company communications with medical providers;
- helping resolve property damage claims including loss of use;
- explaining available insurance coverage to medical providers reluctant to provide necessary care;
- helping correct the "insult to injury" of improper traffic tickets from police officers confused by the rules of the road for bicycles;
- resolving liability disputes through negotiation and alternative dispute resolution with or without filing a lawsuit;
- evaluating the reasonable value of a bike crash claim;
- negotiating to obtain the maximum settlement value;
- resolving unpaid medical bills and insurance company subrogation and lien claims;
- preventing or resolving bills that have gone into to collections;
- proving liability and damages if litigation is required; and
- appellate advocacy if a judgment is appealed.
These are some of the most common Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) we get:
How soon after a bike accident or crash should you contact a lawyer?
Can you make a claim for a bike collision if the driver had no insurance?
Does your homeowner's or renter's insurance cover accidents when you are on your bike?
Should you accept an insurance company's offer to settle your bike crash claim?
"Doored" on your bike? Is it your fault for riding too close to a parked car?
Should you call the police after a bicycle accident?
Other Questions? Ask! Consultations are free. Call 206-262-9290 or email info@washingtonbikelaw.com
Founding Attorney Bob Anderton has been a year-round bike commuter for decades.
Peer Review Rated by Martindale-Hubbell AV® Preeminent™ 5 out of 5. Bob was first rated AV in 2002 and has maintained this rating since. Bob has the highest possible ratings for:
· Legal Knowledge;
· Analytical Capabilities;
· Judgment; and
· Communication Ability
AV® Preeminent™(4.5-5.0) is a significant rating accomplishment - a testament to the fact that a lawyer's peers rank him or her at the highest level of professional excellence.
AVVO rates Bob as a 10 on a scale of 1 to 10 for experience, industry recognition and professional conduct.
Bob is a member of the American Association for Justice's Bicycle Litigation Group
Unparalleled Legal Representation Of Individual Bicyclists
Washington Bike Law's lawyers provide experienced trial court and appellate-level legal advocacy. Washington Bike Law's attorneys have the courtroom credibility to resolve most cases without filing a lawsuit. If litigation is required, Washington Bike Law has the financial resources to keep fighting until justice is achieved.
In law school, Washington Bike Law's founding attorney Bob Anderton planned to do pure public interest law work. But in 1992 Bob had the opportunity to work with acclaimed trial lawyer Tom Chambers and began representing catastrophically injured people and their families. Tom Chambers served as the President of the Washington State Bar Association and, in 2000, became a Washington State Supreme Court Justice until he retired in 2012.
After learning the best practices in the profession, Bob Anderton started Anderton Law Office. The phrase "bike law" did not exist then, but Bob had always been a bicyclist and found that he really enjoyed representing bike people.
Without ad campaigns or even a business plan, bicyclists gradually became the majority of Bob's clients. Bob advocates for individual clients and provides pro bono advocacy for bicycling and safer streets.
Attorney Jessica Cutler brings to Washington Bike Law the perspective of a professional bike racer who has also worked as a bike messenger. She offers the motivation and stamina of an athlete and applies it to the law.
Attorney Rocky (Raquel) Glassner brings the experience of living car-free in Seattle. As Washington Bike Law's newest lawyer, she is committed to incorporating more bicycling into her daily life and making Washington safer for others to do the same.
"Bob is all about cyclist' rights and cyclists' empowerment," [community activist, cycling organizer and G&O Family Cyclery co-owner Davey] Oil says, and that has gone a long way towards cementing Anderton's place as Seattle's premier bike lawyer.”
Free Consultations. Realistic Feedback.
Washington Bike Law provides free consultations and realistic feedback regarding whether it makes sense to hire a lawyer in your particular situation. Over the years, they've helped hundreds of people who didn't require formal legal representation.
The attorneys at Washington Bike Law have also seen many bicyclists who didn't think they needed a lawyer whose situations kept getting worse and worse without representation. They helped them, but could have provided more help had they been retained earlier.
Getting a free consultation early on is an easy way to protect yourself.
While Washington Bike Law's lawyers often provide injured bicyclists with free legal advice, other times they take cases through trial or on to the appellate level. While some cases go on for years, most cases are resolved before trial.
Washington Bike Law's experience and track record can help bicyclists resolve their cases fairly and with a minimum of hassle. The bike attorneys at Washington Bike Law understand what it is like to be a bicyclist on Seattle streets and have ridden on roads across Washington State. They've been injured themselves and they know how to help when you've been injured on your bike.
Some personal injury lawyers only take cases involving catastrophic injuries. Washington Bike Law focuses on bike law, regardless of the value of a claim. Washington Bike Law will represent an injured bicyclist whenever its lawyers believe that legal representation is in that person's best interest.
Washington Bike Law is different.
Washington Bike Law is still working to make the Missing Link reasonably safe for people on bikes
Beginning in 2001 Bob Anderton represented multiple bicyclists injured on the dangerous diagonal railroad crossing under the Ballard Bridge on infamous Missing Link of the Burke-Gilman Trail in Seattle's Ballard neighborhood. (Ballard News-Tribune) The City refused to resolve these claims out of court and in 2004 Anderton Law Office obtained the first verdict against the City of Seattle for its negligence there (King Case No. 03-2-27338-4SEA).
Sadly, two decades later people are still regularly crashing on the same railroad tracks and, despite many plans and compromises to complete the Burke-Gilman Trail and mitigate this known danger, the Missing Link remains dangerous, and the Burke-Gilman Trail remains incomplete. Because of this, in 2021 Washington Bike Law again began representing multiple people who crashed on these tracks.
After filing a lawsuit and litigating in both state and federal courts, in 2022 Washington Bike Law obtained monetary settlements for all of its clients who were injured on the Missing Link. This time, however, in addition to the money to make up for the harm to its individual clients, with their permission Washington Bike Law negotiated a separate settlement agreement to benefit our entire community. The City of Seattle agreed to take specific actions on the Missing Link by certain dates.
Although Washington Bike Law did not have a hand in developing the specific plans for the Missing Link, the office made this agreement with the hope that this area would finally become reasonably safe for ordinary travel by bicycle. The first phase of this agreement is complete. The second phase must be completed (and the bicycle lanes reopened) by December 31, 2023. If this does not occur, Washington Bike Law now has the power to file another lawsuit to force Seattle to take the agreed actions.
Washington Bike Law hopes that the City will implement the Second Phase much sooner than the agreed deadline to prevent more people being seriously injured by this known danger. Meanwhile, however, this area remains dangerous.
If you are someone you know was seriously injured or killed on the Missing Link's dangerous diagonal railroad track crossing within the past three years, contact Washington Bike Law for a free consultation. Washington Bike Law intends to continue to represent people who crash on the Missing Link until it is finally made reasonably safe and, unfortunately, it is still not reasonably safe for ordinary travel by bicycle.
Washington Bike Law works to eliminate wheel-swallowing parallel drain grates like this.
Washington Bike Law has represented many people injured in bike crashes because of unsafe infrastructure. Several clients injured on unsafe drain grates offered to settle their injury claims for no money or attorney's fees if the City of Seattle agreed to inventory and replace these grates (Seattle PI).
The City refused and fought the claims instead. The City argued that bicycling is merely recreational and that it had no duty to replace the grates or even to know where they were. It lost those arguments in court.
Years later, as Bob Anderton suggested, the City final began inventorying and replacing the grates (Seattle PI).
The danger these old grates cause is still lurking. Recently Washington Bike Law successfully represented a person who crashed at the entrance of a school parking lot on the sewer grate shown below that was largely hidden by an incline.
Our client noted at the conclusion of his case:
"I'm glad that I was compensated for my injuries, but I really appreciate that Washington Bike Law got the school district to replace all of the grates in the parking lot with a bike-safe design that will keep kids-- and everyone riding bikes-- safe."
(F.K., December 2020)
For a free consultation, call (206) 262-9290 or email info@washingtonbikelaw.com.
A long time bike commuter himself, Anderton is Seattle's premier bike lawyer who represents cyclists in and around Seattle.
Washington Bike Law has a record of success in helping make Seattle and other cities in Washington safer for bicyclists.
