Personal Injury Lawyer Serving Central Oregon
Wherever in Central Oregon you were hurt, your attorney comes to you.
Areas We Serve
Bend (home office)
Redmond
Cases we handle across Central Oregon
Hurt while visiting Sunriver, Sisters or the mountain passes
A large share of the people hurt in Central Oregon do not live here. A crash on US-97 near Sunriver, a fall at a Sisters rental or a collision on Santiam Pass is an Oregon case under Oregon law, filed in the county where it happened, even if you flew home the next week. We handle those cases by phone and video, gather records from your doctors at home, and travel when the case needs a person in the room. Nothing about your claim requires you to come back to Bend.
The Central Oregon roads where most of our clients were hurt
US-97 is the spine of the region. It runs from Madras through Redmond, into Bend as the Parkway, and south past Sunriver to La Pine, carrying commuters, freight and visitors on the same two and four lanes. US-20 comes over Santiam Pass through Sisters into Bend and continues east. OR-126 links Redmond to Prineville. Most of the crash cases we handle happened on one of those three highways or on the city streets that feed them.
Each corridor produces its own kind of case: commercial trucks and rear-end collisions on 97, winter and pass conditions on 20, rural speed on 126. ODOT publishes crash data by highway and county, and we use it when fault or road conditions are disputed. If you were hurt on one of these roads, tell us the milepost or the nearest cross street on the first call.
The first week, wherever in Central Oregon it happened
Whether the crash was in Redmond or the fall was in a Prineville store, the first week is the same. We request the report from the responding agency, whether city police, the county sheriff or Oregon State Police, and send preservation letters to every party who may hold evidence. We photograph the scene ourselves. Jill sends letters of representation to the insurers and opens your PIP claim. If you were transferred from Redmond, Prineville or Madras to Bend for a higher level of care, she requests records from both hospitals.
Your part is simpler. Keep treating. Keep every bill and letter. Do not give a recorded statement to the other side’s insurer. Oregon requires a DMV crash report in many collisions; the DMV explains when and how to file it, and we help with it. If you are still at St. Charles, a family member can make the first call for you, and we will come to the hospital.
Three counties, three courthouses, one approach
Deschutes County cases are heard in the Deschutes County Circuit Court in Bend, Crook County cases in the Crook County Circuit Court in Prineville, and Jefferson County cases in the Jefferson County Circuit Court in Madras. The jury in each is drawn from that county, and an insurer’s view of a claim shifts with it. We have appeared in all three, and the file is prepared the same way for each: as if that county’s jury will see it.
One more county-level detail: if the responsible party is a city, a county road department or a school district, the claim requires a written tort claim notice within 180 days (ORS 30.275). That applies to a fall on a Bend sidewalk, a crash with a Redmond city vehicle or a defect on a Crook County road. We check it on every case.
Coverage that applies no matter which town you live in
Every Oregon auto policy carries personal injury protection, which pays at least $15,000 of medical bills for one year regardless of fault (ORS 742.520 to 742.524), and uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage, which pays when the other driver has no insurance or too little. Both belong to you and both are used in most of the crash cases we handle in Central Oregon. The Oregon Division of Financial Regulation explains the required coverages in plain terms.
The other rule that follows you everywhere is comparative fault (ORS 31.600): your recovery shrinks by your share of the blame and disappears if that share exceeds half. That is why we photograph the scene, find witnesses and preserve video in the first week, in whichever town it happened. The evidence that beats a fault argument is gathered in the first week or not at all. Call 541-948-8830 and tell us where.
Seasonal traffic and travel on Central Oregon roads
Central Oregon’s roads change with the calendar. Winter puts ice on Santiam Pass, on the Parkway through Bend and on the stretch of US-97 south toward Sunriver and La Pine. Summer brings visitor traffic, trailers and bicycles on the Cascade Lakes Highway and holiday-weekend crowds in Sunriver and Sisters. Fault does not change with the season: a driver who could not stop on ice was going too fast for conditions, and a driver who did not see a cyclist was not looking.
What changes is the evidence. Ice melts, tire marks vanish under the next storm, and seasonal workers and visitors go home. ODOT’s winter travel page describes the conditions drivers are expected to prepare for; our part is to get to the scene, pull the weather and road records for that day and find witnesses before the season turns. If a road defect or missing signage played a part, a public body may be involved and the 180-day notice clock starts (ORS 30.275).
What to bring to the first meeting, wherever it happens
Whether the meeting is at the office on Mount Washington Drive, by video from Madras or at a bedside at St. Charles, the same short list makes it useful: your auto insurance declarations page, the police report number, photographs, the names of every provider you have seen and any letter from an insurer. If you do not have all of it, come anyway. You leave knowing whether there is a claim, which deadlines apply and what the first month looks like. The decisions that matter, from filing suit to accepting an offer, stay with you throughout.
Frequently asked questions
Which Central Oregon towns does Precision Litigation Northwest serve?
Bend, Redmond, Sisters, Sunriver, La Pine, Prineville and Madras, which covers Deschutes, Crook and Jefferson counties. Most of our clients were hurt on US-97, US-20 or OR-126, or on property in one of those towns. We also take serious-injury cases from anywhere in Oregon. Our one office is in Bend.
Do I have to come to Bend to work with you?
No. Your attorney comes to you. First consultations happen by phone or video, and we meet clients at home, at a rehabilitation facility or at the hospital when travel is hard. Depositions and mediations can often be arranged closer to you. The office at 745 NW Mount Washington Drive is open to you whenever you would rather come in.
Will you visit me at St. Charles if I’m still in the hospital?
Yes. St. Charles has hospitals in Bend, Redmond, Prineville and Madras, and we meet clients and families at all of them. Early conversations matter: evidence disappears and insurers start calling within days. If you are the family member of someone who can’t call yet, you can call for them.
Where would my case be filed if I was hurt in Redmond, Sisters or La Pine?
Those towns are in Deschutes County, so a lawsuit is filed in Deschutes County Circuit Court in Bend, ten minutes from our office. Prineville cases go to Crook County Circuit Court and Madras cases to Jefferson County Circuit Court. Most cases settle before trial, but the venue shapes how the insurer values a claim, and we know each of these courts.
Does the deadline to file change depending on which town I was hurt in?
No. Oregon’s two-year statute of limitations for personal injury (ORS 12.110(1)) applies statewide, and wrongful death claims have three years from the injury (ORS 30.020). What changes is who was involved: a claim against a city, a county, a school district or a transit agency requires a tort claim notice within 180 days (ORS 30.275). Call 541-948-8830 and we will confirm which deadlines apply.