#83 Sep/Oct 2006
The Washington Free Press Washington's Independent Journal of News, Ideas & Culture
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TOP STORIES

Fidel Decides US Presidential Elections
Election by popular vote would ensure that the Florida Cuban vote doesn't have undue influence
by Steven Hill

Five Years on
opinion by Todd Huffman, MD

Mothers Day at the Bangor Trident Base
personal account by Jan Prichard-Cohen

Pierce County to Vote on IRV
editor

FREE THOUGHTS

READER MAIL
Liberal in Religion (Except for Catholics?); Impeach Bush Now

A Violent & Hopeless Course
Seattle shooting ought to trigger questions about American foreign policy
opinion by Joel Hanson

Today's 'Bad' Immigrant is Tomorrow's 'Good' Immigrant
by Domenico Maceri

Can you fill in the blanks in these headlines?
by Doug Collins

FOOD

The Cholesterol Myth Part 2: The dangers of low blood cholesterol
by Barry Groves, PhD

CHOLESTEROL THEORY WIPES OUT HUMAN RACE
'Regret at the waste of a fine planet'
from the Weston A. Price Foundation

MEDIA

MEDIA BEAT
Digital Hype: A Dazzling Smokescreen?
by Norman Solomon

Remodel at the Seattle Weekly
by Doug Collins

Just Looking For Something Fun To Do On Saturday Night?
from the editor

CIVIL RIGHTS

Judge: No Ban on Apartment Door Signs
Housing agency appeals verdict
opinion and photos by Keith Gormezano

Defending Free Speech Rights of Lt. Ehren Watada
Brief filed for Fort Lewis officer facing court martial for opposition to Iraq War
from the ACLU of WA

POLITICS

Fishing for a Good Candidate
opinion by Doug Collins

Thank Republican Congressmen Ron Paul and Walter Jones for Speaking Truth
by David Swanson

Republicans, Please Stand Up
opinion by Jim Sullivan

BOOKS

BOOK NOTICES
Tire Grabbers; The Revenge of Gaia; This is Burning Man

What's your favorite book?
Write about it!
from the editor

LAW

BOB'S RANDOM LEGAL WISDOM
The Long Road to Justice: One Client's Story
by Bob Anderton
plus Bob's Random Lawyer Joke

HEALTH

Charity at the Wrong End
Drugstores charity and pharmaceutical solutions
by Doug Collins

Vaccination Update
Pharmaceutical companies might lose out if common sense held sway
by Doug Collins

Disposing the Diaper
Part 2: How my wife and I potty-trained pretty darn early. Our kids, I mean.
by Doug Collins

CONTACTS & ACTIVISM

DO SOMETHING CALENDAR

NORTHWEST NEIGHBORS

ENVIRONMENT

Bush Fiddles While the World Burns
As global warming sets new and dangerous records, the US sets new records in pollution
by Don Monkerud

RIGHT BRAIN

Some Thoughts
by Styx Mundstock

THE WANDERINGS AND THOUGHTS OF KIPP KELLOG
by Vincent Spada #7

PUMPKIN EDDIE'S LIGHTNING POEMS
by Vincent Spada

Mourning and Moving On
poem by Robert Pavlik

WORLD RECORDS DEPT.
Transcendental Poem
by Vincent Spada

BOB'S RANDOM

LEGAL WISDOM


by Bob Anderton

The Long Road to Justice: One Client's Story

Justice is often slow, but sometimes justice prevails. This is the story of justice prevailing after six long years.

An Anderton Law Office client was injured when a pickup truck ran a stop sign and broadsided her mini-van in 1999.

The client was injured in the crash, but got better after a few months of chiropractic treatment. She continued to have back pain, however. Eventually, she had an MRI that showed she needed back surgery.

Luckily, she had not settled her case when she first began to feel better. Unfortunately, when the client underwent back surgery, she had complications and was placed in a nursing home for assistance while she recovered.

The client required strong pain medication following the invasive surgery and was still completely unable to walk. The nursing home determined that she required two people to assist her in and out of bed. After being helped out of bed by a single person, she was left alone when the attendant decided to go on break.

The client then fell face-first, breaking open one of her eyes. She underwent emergency eye surgery but lost all vision in the injured eye.

Meanwhile, she filed suit against the pickup truck driver because, in Washington State, negligence claims must be settled or a suit filed within three years.

We negotiated with the driver's insurance company, but it took until just before the originally scheduled trial for the insurer to agree to pay the limits of its insurance policy.

Because of the seriousness of her injury, the client's car insurance company paid the limits of its UIM or underinsured motorist coverage. But the client was nowhere near being fully compensated for her injuries. She was still recovering from her back injury and would never recover from her eye injury.

Anderton Law Office sued the nursing home when it refused to negotiate or even communicate regarding its responsibility. The parties did participate in a formal mediation to try and settle the claim before trial, but the nursing home refused to pay more than $50,000.

Six years after her car accident, the client's case finally went to trial. And the verdict? The jury awarded her $850,000.

What's the moral of this story? If you have a claim for personal injuries, be sure you are fully recovered before you settle. Justice can be slow, but real injustice can result from careless driving.

Bob Anderton is a bike commuter and represents bicyclists and other good people with serious injury claims. See www.washingtonbikelaw.com for more bicycling information. You can contact Bob at (206) 262-9290 or bob@andertonlaw.com.

Bob's Random Lawyer Joke

Questionable Fees

A man walked into a lawyer's office and inquired about the lawyer's rates.
"$150 for three questions," the lawyer replied.
"Isn't that awfully steep?" asked the man.
"Yes," said the lawyer, "and what was your third question?"

There is a joke about lawyer jokes that goes, "the thing about lawyer jokes is that lawyers don't think they're funny and the rest of us don't think they're jokes."

In six years of printing lawyer jokes I've discovered a shocking fact: there really aren't that many of them! I try to select jokes that are specific to the profession. If you can substitute "Norwegian" for "lawyer" that's not really a lawyer joke. If you have a good one, please send it to me at bob@andertonlaw.com .