The Law Office of Joann L. Pheasant
Aggressive & committed, real people, real issues
By hiring a skilled personal injury attorney like Joann, who knows how to evaluate and document your claim, you can be sure that you will recover what you deserve. An accident and personal injury lawyer can best determine all available insurance benefits, communicate with your health care providers and review all information presented to the insurance company.
You heal while your personal injury attorney handles all the paperwork and investigation required.
I am committed to a thorough and accurate investigation for any client on whose behalf I undertake representation.
Unlike most personal injury firms, I have a full-time investigative staff whose job it is to go into the field and thoroughly investigate every reasonable claim. Gathering the facts and evidence as soon as possible can be critical to the success of your case and offers all my prospective clients unparalleled resources to that end.
Practices
Is it too late to sue?? Understand the time limits for filing a personal injury law suit.
Filing your lawsuit on time is critical. Here's what you need to know.
How long do I have to file my lawsuit?
No one-size-fits-all answer exists. Every state has its own time limits, called statutes of limitations, and even within a state the period of time within which you must file a lawsuit varies according to the type of claim. For example "personal injury (such as a car accident or slip and fall) you may have three years in Washington, or two years in California. Once we've figured out the deadline.... Remember the sooner you act the less likely you are to lose your case by missing a deadline or technicality you never knew existed. It's our job to stay on top of the technicalities and rules for you.
When does the clock start ticking for statutes of limitations?
Once you've figured out what statute of limitations applies to your case, your next step is to determine when the clock starts ticking. In most situations the time starts to run on the "date of harm" -- that is, on the date when you were injured, your property was harmed, or a contract or agreement was violated.
However, a huge exception to this general rule exists. The exception protects plaintiffs in situations where they may not be aware for months or even years that they have been harmed. In such situations, statutes of limitations may start the clock ticking either on the "date of discovery" of the harm or on the date on which the plaintiff "should have discovered" the harm. In short, for some types of legal actions the statute of limitations clock can start ticking at three different times!
- Earliest: The date of harm.
- Later: The date on which the plaintiff reasonably should have discovered the harm. This refers to the date when a judge considers it fair to say that the plaintiff should have known about the harm, even if the plaintiff didn't actually know about it.
- Latest: The date on which the plaintiff actually discovered the harm.
The Law Offices of Joann L. Pheasant services includes:
- Asset Protection
- ADA Americans with Disability
- Auto Accidents
- Bankruptcy
- Civil Litigation
- Consumer Advocacy and Protection
- Contracts
- Divorce
- Employee Benefits
- Family Law
- Harassment
- Incorporation
- Personal Injury
- Probate
- Product Liability
- School Law
- Wills and Trusts
- Wrongful Death
Law Offices of Joann L. Pheasant * Experience you can trust
Please take a moment to review my areas of practice. This website is designed to be easy to navigate for my clients, while also giving them a basic overview of the areas in which I practice. However, because each client's situation is specific, I urge potential clients to call me so that I may better assist them.
