Washington Birth Injury Lawyers

About 83,000 babies were born in Washington State in 2024, according to the state Department of Health, and most of them arrived safely. When something goes wrong in the delivery room — a fetal monitor that was not watched, a C-section that came too late, a baby pulled too hard — the injury can last a lifetime, and Washington law gives the family a way to hold the hospital accountable.

This guide explains the injuries we see most, the deadline for a child’s case, the claim process for public hospitals, and why Washington puts no cap on damages. Beverly Law is a Los Angeles firm; in Washington State we take birth-injury cases through licensed local counsel. Every page is general information; the honest answer for your family comes from a free review of the actual delivery records.

Birth injuries we handle

Deadline to file in Washington

In Washington State, a medical malpractice case must be filed within the time set by RCW 4.16.350: three years from the act or omission, or one year from when the injury and its cause were discovered or reasonably should have been, whichever expires later. For a child, that clock is generally paused until age 18. In Schroeder v. Weighall (2014), the Washington Supreme Court struck down the law that denied minors this pause in malpractice cases, and the Legislature removed it in 2023. For a baby hurt during labor or delivery, that usually means the child’s own case can be filed until about the 21st birthday. The old eight-year outer limit was struck down in Bennett v. United States (2023). Parents’ own claims are not paused, and claims against public hospitals add a required step, so it is safer to get advice early.

Some Washington babies are born at public hospitals, and a claim against them starts with paperwork, not a lawsuit. The University of Washington, which runs UW Medical Center, is part of state government: under RCW 4.92.100 and 4.92.110, a claim on the state’s standard tort claim form must be presented to the Office of Risk Management, and no lawsuit may be filed until 60 days after that. Public hospital districts, such as Valley Medical Center in Renton and EvergreenHealth in Kirkland, are local government entities: under RCW 4.96.020 the claim goes to the agent the district has appointed, within the time limit for the lawsuit, followed by the same 60-day wait. Harborview Medical Center is owned by King County and operated by UW Medicine, so a claim may need to go to more than one public body. The filing deadline is paused during the 60 days, but a missing or misdirected claim can put a case at risk.

Washington no longer requires a 90-day notice or a certificate of merit before a malpractice lawsuit. The Washington Supreme Court struck down the certificate-of-merit rule in Putman v. Wenatchee Valley Medical Center (2009) and the 90-day notice in Waples v. Yi (2010); the Legislature deleted the notice from RCW 7.70.100 in 2013 and repealed the certificate law, RCW 7.70.150, in 2023. What remains is mandatory mediation: under RCW 7.70.100, health care injury cases must be mediated before trial unless an exception applies, and court rule CR 53.4 requires it to begin no later than 30 days before trial. Separately, under RCW 7.70.110, a written, good-faith request for mediation made before filing suit pauses the filing deadline for one year.

Damages in Washington — no cap on pain and suffering

Washington does not cap damages in a medical malpractice case. In Sofie v. Fibreboard Corp. (1989), the Washington Supreme Court held that the state’s limit on non-economic damages violated the right to a jury trial in article I, section 21 of the state constitution, and in 2023 the Legislature repealed that old limit (RCW 4.56.250). A jury can award the full amount of a child’s losses: economic damages such as lifetime medical care, therapy, equipment, home modifications and lost earning capacity, and non-economic damages such as pain, suffering and loss of enjoyment of life, with no statutory ceiling on either. Under RCW 4.24.010, parents can also recover their own losses, including the child’s medical expenses and the injury to the parent-child relationship. Any settlement for a child must be approved by a court.

Related pages

Birth injury guides · Birth injury news · Accident news (Law Blog)

Important: This page is general information about birth injuries and Washington law, not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship with Beverly Law. Every case is different — talk to a lawyer about your own situation. Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. No fee unless we win. Last reviewed: 2026-09-30.