July 2004 Newsletter

Dear Friends:

We are pleased to announce and call your attention to our website, www.ZielkeLaw.com. You will be able to find out much information at ZielkeLaw.com, as well as an easy means to find telephone numbers to call us and e-mail addresses to e-mail us. Several of the staff at our offices can be easily contacted by e-mail and phone. For your convenience we have listed some of the relevant e-mails as follows:

As you are aware, web sites are an evolving form of communication. We here at Zielke Law intend to further improve our website over time, and are planning such features as an area which can only be accessed by clients with a confidential password. In this area of the website which is currently under development, we will have additional information which will be quite helpful and beneficial to our clients. Keep checking back at ZielkeLaw.com to stay up on the latest here at Zielke Law.

The ZielkeLaw.com website has been designed to be accessible to everyone, including people with disabilities. To our knowledge, we are one of the few legal sites that complies with the accessibility requirements of U.S. Section 508 and W3C’s Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0, level Double-A.

Since the driving forces at Zielke Law are care, concern, and service, we are pleased to share with you a recent communication we received from our client, Tasha Horton. Ms. Horton wrote the following:

Robert:

I just wanted to write to you and let you know what you’ve done for me in the time you’ve taken over my case. After meeting with you recently, I feel a huge weight lifted.

As you know, almost three years ago I was injured in a floatplane accident. Since then, I have endured many surgical procedures, physical therapy, numerous hospital visits and overwhelming pain. Physically & emotionally, I have never been the same person. As the plane was quickly falling from the sky (without an engine), we were frantically putting on our life jackets and I saw my life flash before my eyes. I thought of all of those I loved and how I would be remembered by them. That was the day my life changed.

I was [initially] referred to [other] Seattle-based attorneys . . . .
* * *.

Then, I found you. I finally feel I have an ally. Someone that can hear my story, understand and be in “my corner”. I didn’t realize the importance your role would play in my healing process. I only wish I had found you sooner. The day I met you, I knew that everything would be okay. For the first time, I felt compassion and empathy from someone who had either personally experienced pain or had those close to him experience pain.

Going through this experience is so much more difficult than I ever imagined. I’ve learned it is imperative to have someone on your side that genuinely cared. Thank you, Robert. I feel lucky to have found you and appreciate you giving me a soft place to fall.

Signed

/s/ Tasha

Thank you, Tasha, for your letter. All of us here at Zielke Law take our role very seriously and appreciate your kind words. We not only appreciate you as a client, but each and every one of our clients, and it is truly heartwarming to receive such a kind letter of appreciation from you.

Most of you know that we handle a substantial number of automobile collision cases. Motor vehicle collisions produce a large number of injuries, catastrophic injuries, and death cases in the United States. We know that in the United States, the number of fatalities on the highway each year is substantially similar to the number of men and women we lost in the Viet Nam War. When you look at it in this light, you can see the catastrophic nature of these losses that occur on our roadways. In addition to the substantial number of deaths that occur on our roadways, even a larger number of people suffer injuries and significant injuries as a result of motor vehicle collisions. We here at Zielke Law pride ourselves on the care, concern, and service we provide in obtaining the best potential results we possibly can on behalf of those people who have suffered physical, economical, emotional, or permanent losses in motor vehicle collisions.

Dealing with the aftermath of a motor vehicle collision, let alone trying to recover from injuries or deal with other losses, is difficult. Add on the additional factor of trying to deal with pushy insurance companies, adjusters who do not care, and claims representatives who do not wish to pay out a fair sum for the losses that have been incurred, makes the process even more trying and more difficult. In all automobile collision cases, we here at Zielke Law take the burden off your shoulders, step in and take the brunt of the insurance contact and the insurance dealings once a motor vehicle collision has occurred. With our knowledge and understanding of insurance law, coverage issues, and other legal factors, we are able to help people obtain benefits under personal injury protection coverage, provide notification to insurance companies of the motor vehicle collision, balance personal injury protection coverage with medical insurance coverage, deal with Medicare and Medicaid, deal with subrogation rights of various insurance companies making payments, prepare cases for potential settlement or trial, negotiate and deal with insurance companies to obtain a fair and just settlement for the injuries and damages that have occurred, resolve property damage claims, arbitrate, mediate, or actually try these cases to a verdict. Of course, along the way, we keep you advised and informed of what is going on, work with you to make sure the strategy developed is the best for you and your unique circumstances, and make sure that your interests and your health are protected to the best extent possible. This allows you to seek the medical care and treatment you need to recover and have the peace of mind knowing that your case is being handled by Zielke Law to protect your interests and result in the best possible recovery for your injuries and damages.

You can refer with confidence your friends, family, and acquaintances to us, knowing that their personal injury case, whether caused by a motor vehicle collision, or other type of injury case, will be handled with the care, concern, and the best interests of the person. We welcome your referrals of automobile collision cases and other injury cases, and will do our best for each and every person whom we represent. Feel free to pass along our name and our 800 number (1/800-682-1610) to those you refer to us, and we again will provide care, concern, and service to resolve their legal matter as quickly, expeditiously, and professionally as possible and practical.

One question that often arises is when should a person retain an attorney following a motor vehicle collision? The answer to that question is quite simple: as soon as one can following the collision. Why is this the case? The reason is this: once a person has been involved in a motor vehicle collision, insurance companies are notified. Once the notice of a loss has been processed, all insurance companies involved in the motor vehicle collision start contacting the people who were involved. They attempt to use this situation, and talk to people while they are injured or stunned, and obtain statements from them which are recorded, try to get people committed to what happened, as well as the insurance company is trying to protect its own interests to the extent that it can. Many times, people who have suffered injury in a motor vehicle collision are stunned, and unable to think clearly when they are contacted by the insurance company. The best advice that we can pass along is to decline or refuse to engage in a recorded statement or provide information to the insurance company until one has contacted an attorney and received legal advice. This protects the injured victim and the injured victim’s rights until the victim is in a position physically and mentally to give a response to the insurance company and otherwise have an attorney present so that the questions that are asked are fair and reasonable under the circumstances. Often following a motor vehicle collision, the injured victim should seek immediate care and treatment for the injuries, and once they know that they are stable, contact an attorney so that their rights can be protected from the very beginning of the case until it is resolved in a fair and just manner.

Insurance issues following a collision make it quite harrowing for an individual to handle on their own. We stand ready to assist any person who has been injured by the negligence of others through this process, and take the weight off one’s shoulders regarding all legal and insurance issues, allowing him or her to seek medical attention, focus on recovering, and deal with the changes that often occur in one’s life following a motor vehicle collision and the injuries that follow. Since almost all injury cases are done on a contingent fee, the injured victim does not need to come up with cash out-of-pocket to retain and hire an attorney to receive the advice of the attorney and the representation of the attorney at the beginning of the case. One need simply sign a contingent fee agreement with the attorney to begin the representation and the attorney is paid an attorney’s fee based upon the amount recovered on behalf of the injured victim.

Again, we stand willing, ready, and able to serve your legal interests and needs, especially with regard to referral of your friends, family, and acquaintances who have been injured in a motor vehicle collision. We will utilize our knowledge, our skill, and our expertise, as well as provide care, concern, and service in dealing with your friends, family, and acquaintances.

Finally, we are pleased to announce that Robert A. Zielke has been honored in an article in the King County Bar Association Bulletin. We are pleased to provide a copy of this article along with this newsletter for your information. Upon being profiled, Mr. Zielke commented that he was not only honored by the recognition, but humbled as well. We hope you enjoy this article.

We look forward to delivering care, concern, and service with a massive dose of integrity. We also welcome and appreciate your referrals.

Robert A. Zielke