Established in 1954 in the heart of the nation’s capital, our flagship office in Washington, D.C., marks the beginning of our esteemed history. Founding Partner and Washington, D.C., personal injury attorney Joseph Gelb led our firm for nearly 40 years, achieving national recognition for the personal injury cases he handled decades ago in Washington, D.C. His son, Roger Gelb, has been with the firm since 1991. He has continued to grow our practice in D.C., Maryland, and the surrounding area. Licensed to practice in multiple jurisdictions, Mr. Gelb has handled thousands of cases, primarily in Washington, D.C., and Maryland.
For a comprehensive personal injury case evaluation in DC, contact our knowledgeable lawyers for a free consultation.
When looking for the best Washington, DC, personal injury lawyer, you must look beyond a firm’s understanding of the law. The truth is, most attorneys in the District understand the law. The critical characteristic to seek is how a lawyer treats their clients. If you cannot expect an attorney to respond swiftly to questions from clients, who is to say they will respond to important deadlines related to your case?
Voters of numerous law journals have voted us a top personal injury law firm in Washington, D.C. Specifically, The Wall Street Journal and Washingtonian Magazine call Managing Partner Roger Gelb a “leading lawyer in D.C.” Further, The National Law Journal recognizes our firm as one of the district’s top three personal injury law firms. The Legal Times also recognizes us for our many achievements in personal injury law. Washingtonian Magazine calls Roger Gelb “one of Washington’s best – most honest and effective – lawyers who sue.”
We make time for our clients. With many personal injury law firms, you may find it challenging to contact your attorney if you have a question or concern. We take a more serious approach. First, our phone lines are open 24/7. Second, even on the weekend, our DC personal injury attorneys will answer you if you ask a question. We understand that dealing with a personal injury is difficult. You may now lack transportation because of your accident. Or, your injuries may not allow you to work due to a physically demanding job. These are all issues we have seen thousands of times before. We will fight for you as you seek personal injury legal services in DC.
With over 70 years of experience practicing personal injury law in Washington, D.C., our expertise spans car accident injuries, slip and fall incidents, medical malpractice cases, and more, making us the go-to accident lawyers in DC for comprehensive personal injury representation. This is important for several reasons.
A third benefit to having a Washington, DC, personal injury lawyer with experience is familiarity with the insurance companies. When you make a claim for negligence against a defendant, for example, there is a high probability you will be dealing with the defendant’s insurance provider. The defendant’s insurance company will provide legal counsel for the defendant, and communication will go through them. The defendant generally does not have sufficient assets to cover your loss anyway. So, the defendant must have insurance. However, insurance companies can be deceiving. They, too, have decades of experience handling these claims. And their goal is to pay you as little as possible for your injuries. This makes retaining an attorney with equal experience crucial.
A dedicated legal team is critical when making a personal injury claim. A DC personal injury lawyer dedicating time to you will allocate the resources necessary to uncover vital evidence and win your case. The more time and resources your DC personal injury lawyer spends on your case, the better the outcome will likely be. Some firms will put you through a maze of assistants and paralegals. At Gelb & Gelb, if you have a concern, you can contact your attorney at any time, and our phones are open 24/7.
Sometimes, the information you have for your attorney dictates whether you win your case. How quickly you can deliver that information to your attorney and how fast he is willing to listen is critical. We understand the importance of extracting all the information we can get and building the most robust case possible. Our team also works hard to ensure no stone is left unturned when investigating your case. This is another benefit of having a legal team dedicating itself to your case. When necessary, we hire investigators, expert witnesses, or anyone else who may benefit your ultimate recovery.
Once we finish collecting all valuable information, we construct your case. Then, we present your case to the relevant insurance company for settlement. We can usually agree to a settlement at a value that represents your injuries. We always communicate with our clients to ensure they are happy with the final offer before proceeding. Suppose you are dissatisfied with a settlement offer, or we believe it does not fully represent the extent of your injuries. If that is the case, we will move forward to trial.
Our legal expertise spans all of Washington, D.C.’s communities, from Georgetown to Capitol Hill, offering premier accident and injury legal representation. As a leading Georgetown personal injury lawyer and Dupont Circle injury attorney, our firm proudly represents clients across all of Washington, DC’s neighborhoods.
This is a common point of confusion. The rules of civil procedure allow a plaintiff to sue a defendant in a given state in a few different ways. This is an issue of personal jurisdiction. First, a plaintiff may bring suit against a defendant where the defendant resides. For example, if the accident occurs in the District, but we decide it would be more beneficial to file suit in Maryland, that is plausible. Our attorneys are licensed to practice in D.C. and Maryland. Maryland is a better venue to bring suit due to a more efficient court system. However, this is fact-dependent and worth consulting with your attorney before proceeding.
On the other hand, let’s say a resident of New York gets into an accident with you, a D.C. resident. You can sue the New York resident in a D.C. Superior Court. Serving process may be an issue, but we employ process servers who can handle this. Located near the iconic White House, our downtown Washington, D.C., office is conveniently situated for all our clients, offering proficient accident lawyer services in the heart of the city. There are excellent coffee options in Tatte Bakery, La Colombe Coffee, Compass Coffee, and others. Or, we can speak over the phone.
Do you have to go to trial? It depends on whether your DC personal injury lawyer can negotiate a fair settlement. We can handle your case without you ever having to come to our office or see the inside of a courtroom. This is how the vast majority of our cases go. Only about 3% of personal injury cases ultimately result in a final judgment.
If we file suit on your claim, there is no guarantee that you will go to trial. Sometimes, cases settle after we file suit but before trial commences. This is because there is a long time between filing suit and the commencement of trial. Accordingly, if something changes in those several months to a full year of waiting, it may convince the defendant to make a more reasonable settlement offer.
Settling a case is a form of alternate dispute resolution (ADR). This is simply an alternative way of resolving your case that does not involve going to court. Negotiating a settlement is a standard alternate dispute resolution in a personal injury case. However, we also lead many others, and they can be faster than going to court.
One that many have heard of is mediation.
A second alternative is an arbitration. This involves either a neutral arbitrator or, less commonly, a panel of arbitrators. This is a less formal, faster version of the trial. But otherwise, it behaves in much of the same way. We still go through opening and closing statements and present evidence. It can be either binding or non-binding.
In general, taking a settlement offer is advantageous for several reasons. For one, it almost always allows you to access your compensation far quicker than through the court system. More than anything else, this is because waiting from the point of filing suit until trial commences can take several months to about a year. Of course, if we come to a reasonable settlement to fully compensate you for your injuries, we will cut out this massive waiting period. Additionally, settlement can cut out excessive fees and costs associated with going to trial.
When we file suit on a case, we must pay court fees. Our Washington, DC, personal injury lawyers will advance these fees for you. However, they come out of the ultimate recovery contingent on the success of your case. This means that if we fail, then you do not have to worry about these fees. But if we prevail in your case, you will ultimately be responsible for these costs.
In addition to the court and filing fees, there are costs associated with witnesses. An expert witness is sometimes required to establish an element of your claim. While it may not be essential for a more rudimentary car accident case to prove liability, it can still be crucial to establish the extent of your injuries. For example, it may require an expert witness to prove the damages you suffered if you can no longer work. This is because lost wages are an element of damage. You may be able to recover for future lost wages as well, but we must prove that before it happens. Expert witnesses are one way to do this.
A third advantage to settling is you are guaranteed an outcome. In court, especially with a jury, but even with a judge, you never know what will happen. Juries are unpredictable. This is true no matter how well your attorney performs during trial. There may be one juror who escapes through voir dire and is prejudiced against plaintiffs. A good injury attorney in D.C. looks to control as many variables as possible. When in a trial, it is impossible to be totally in control. However, when you settle a case, you can agree with opposing counsel to exact terms. You can specify that the defendant is liable for your injuries and come to a fair agreement to compensate you for your injuries. Lastly, unlike a judgment following a trial, settlements are not appealable. The finality element can put your mind at ease.
Our firm and most personal injury lawyers operate on a contingent fee. In general, the payment will be one-third of the recovery. If the case goes to trial, the fee bumps up to 40%. However, the legal fee is contingent on the success of the case. So, if we do not win your case, there is no fee.
Also, we can advance all costs for the client. However, these costs, like filing fees and expert witness costs, will eventually be paid for by the client, contingent on our success.
Our DC personal injury lawyers offer free consultations. We work on a contingent fee basis. This means we only charge a fee if we win. Thus, no retainer or hourly rate offers a huge benefit to clients.
We may be able to help you if you are injured because of a third party’s negligence or intentional conduct. Our cases extend beyond traditional car accident cases; as seasoned DC accident lawyers, we also excel in representing victims of truck accidents, motorcycle accidents, and pedestrian incidents.
You may have a case if you get injured due to someone else’s conduct and are not at fault. And regardless of your type of injury, if there is no win, there is no fee.
Our DC law firm’s personal injury expertise has grown significantly since 1954, making us the go-to attorneys for everything from medical malpractice to auto accident cases in the Washington, D.C., area.
We want you to know that you are in experienced and reliable hands from here on out. Contact our knowledgeable team for a free case evaluation on any personal injury claim in Washington, DC, from auto accidents to wrongful death cases.