Can I Switch Slip and Fall Lawyers in Washington?

Changing lawyers on a Washington premises case

Washington clients can end their lawyer’s work at any time, and the lawyer has to step aside under RPC 1.16. If no suit is filed, a written notice is enough. If one is, the substitution goes through Civil Rule 71. Our Washington switching guide has the full step list.

Slip and fall clients often contact us because the case went quiet after the first letter to the store. That quiet can be costly in a premises case. The proof usually sits with the property owner, and nobody outside the business knows how long they keep it.

Still on the fence? Start with can you change lawyers in the middle of a case.

What Washington law requires you to prove

In Iwai v. State, the Washington Supreme Court applied the Restatement standard for business visitors. A landowner is liable when it knows of a dangerous condition, or would discover it with reasonable care, and fails to protect visitors. The court said Washington generally requires the plaintiff to show actual or constructive notice of the unsafe condition. Iwai involved ice in a parking lot, and the court rejected a rule that would have treated natural accumulations of snow and ice differently.

There is an exception. In Pimentel v. Roundup Co., the court held that when a store’s way of operating makes unsafe conditions reasonably foreseeable, the shopper does not have to prove the store had notice of the specific hazard. The shopper still has to show the store failed to use reasonable care. Pimentel involved a paint can falling from a shelf in a self-service store.

So a new lawyer has to figure out early which path fits your case, because it changes what evidence matters.

Slip and fall evidence that disappears quickly

• Surveillance video. Many stores overwrite footage on a cycle. Unless someone asked in writing to save it, it may already be gone. Ask your current lawyer whether a preservation letter went out and when.
• Inspection and sweep logs. These show when staff last checked the aisle, which goes straight to notice.
• The incident report. Stores usually write one the day of the fall. Get the report number if you can.
• Your shoes and clothing. Keep them as they were.
• Photos of the hazard. Spills get mopped and broken steps get fixed. Weather records matter for ice cases.
• Witness names, including employees, who may change jobs.

If you fell at a big-box store, our Washington store slip and fall page goes into those claims in more detail.

Questions that tell you where your slip and fall case stands

Before you switch, ask your current lawyer:

• Did we send the property owner a written request to save video, and did they confirm it?
• Do we have the incident report and the sweep or inspection logs for that day?
• Is our theory that the owner knew or should have known, or that the hazard was foreseeable from how they operate?
• Who owns the property, and who managed or maintained it? Sometimes the store, the landlord and a cleaning contractor are three different companies.
• Was this public land, and if so, was a claim form presented?

If the answers are clear and the work is moving, staying may be the right call. If the lawyer can’t say whether the video still exists, that is a problem worth fixing fast. Under RCW 4.22.070, a jury can assign fault to a company that was never sued, so missing the right defendant can shrink what you collect.

Public property, parks and recreation land

Falls on public property follow extra rules. Before suing a city, county or other local agency, a standard claim form must be presented and you generally wait 60 days under RCW 4.96.020. Claims against the State go to the Office of Risk Management under RCW 4.92.100, with a 60-day wait under RCW 4.92.110.

Falls on trails, parks or other land opened to the public for free outdoor recreation can be blocked by Washington’s recreational use statute, RCW 4.24.210. It has exceptions, including a known dangerous artificial latent condition with no warning signs posted. A new lawyer should check where you fell and whether a fee was charged.

Fault and deadlines

Stores often argue the hazard was obvious or that you weren’t watching. Under RCW 4.22.005, any fault on your part lowers the award by that percentage but doesn’t end the claim. The general deadline to file suit is three years from the fall under RCW 4.16.080(2). If the injured person was a minor, RCW 4.16.190 generally pauses the clock until they turn eighteen. If you fell at work, you may also have a workers’ compensation claim, which works differently. See workers’ comp vs. personal injury.

Falls in apartment buildings, parking garages and on icy walkways raise their own questions about who controlled the area. A lease, a property management contract or a snow removal contract can decide which company is responsible. Those documents rarely surface without a request, so a new lawyer should ask for them early. Weather data from the day of the fall can also help in ice and rain cases.

What you pay if you switch

Switching to us does not raise your fee. Whatever the first lawyer is owed for their time, and Washington courts generally limit that to reasonable value under Ross v. Scannell, is paid out of our fee. Costs they advanced are usually reimbursed from the recovery. If we don’t recover anything, you owe nothing.

If the store’s insurer already has your signed release and the case settled, a new lawyer generally can’t undo that, and we can’t take the case.

Sources

1. Washington RPC 1.16, declining or terminating representation (courts.wa.gov)
2. Washington Superior Court Civil Rule 71, withdrawal and substitution (courts.wa.gov)
3. Iwai v. State, 129 Wn.2d 84 (1996) (courtlistener.com)
4. Pimentel v. Roundup Co., 100 Wn.2d 39 (1983) (courtlistener.com)
5. RCW 4.96.020, local government claim and 60-day wait (app.leg.wa.gov)
6. RCW 4.92.100, claims against the State of Washington (app.leg.wa.gov)
7. RCW 4.92.110, 60-day wait before suing the State (app.leg.wa.gov)
8. RCW 4.24.210, recreational land use immunity (app.leg.wa.gov)
9. RCW 4.22.005, contributory fault reduces but does not bar recovery (app.leg.wa.gov)
10. RCW 4.16.080(2), three-year limit for injury actions (app.leg.wa.gov)
11. RCW 4.16.190, tolling for minors and incapacity (app.leg.wa.gov)
12. Ross v. Scannell, 97 Wn.2d 598 (1982) (courtlistener.com)