Dear Clients, Neighbors and Friends,

We hope you are doing well and remaining safe. We wanted to give an update on how things look for the courts, your cases and our firm. Our firm remains operational and working hard on behalf of our clients. Like many businesses around the country, our team is working from home. We were already set up for this, so you should only see small changes as we adjust to social distancing.

Keep Healthy & Follow Up with Your Doctors

We want you to stay healthy. If you are currently treating for your injury, it is important to check in with your doctor’s office to determine whether you should continue your care during the emergency. Do not miss appointments without discussing it with your medical provider. Also let our office know if you have questions about your treatment and your case.

Please be aware, our office will not be able to help you set up a hearing loss exam during the emergency. However, we will be setting them up following the emergency.

Case Changes

As of now, the courts remain open and cases are proceeding. Our office is in regular communication with the Department of Labor and all insurance companies. However, most courts are postponing in-person hearings, jury trials and other events that require person-to-person contact. We are working to use technology to avoid delays on our clients’ cases to the maximum extent possible. This includes taking depositions, having settlement conferences and arguing motions all over the phone or internet. We do not know what the future will hold but for right now your case is moving forward as expected.

We are Fully Operational

Blue Water Legal has quickly transitioned to working remotely. We are paperless and our staff have remote access to all your file information electronically. Even our phone system is accessible remotely, so we are able to take all business calls regularly. The only difference is that we are not physically in the office.

Communicating with Us

While our physical office is closed, it is helpful if you can send things electronically. For those without a way to deliver them electronically, we remain ready to accept mail. We are expecting there may be delays with physical mail. We have reached out to all opposing counsel and insurance adjusters. We are requesting all information from them is electronically exchanged.

• Phones – Please call us at (425) 361-2054. You can also schedule a phone call by visiting us at https://calendly.com/bwl.
• Email – You can send information directly to all our staff by emailing us at records@bluewaterlegal.com. Feel free to send PDFs and pictures of information and documents you want us to have.
• Text – Contact your paralegal to get a special text number for you to text with us directly. You can even text us pictures of documents related to your case.
• Video Conferencing – For face to face communications, we can set up video conferences using gotomeeting.com if you have a computer or smartphone with a camera. Again, call us to set this up.

As a reminder, your paralegals try to pick up the phone between 9:30 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. However, if they are helping other clients, you may get our answering service. Please leave a message with our answering service; we will get back to you as soon as possible. Our office is often in meetings on Fridays, so you are more likely to get our answering services that day.

Resources for You

Here are some resources that you might find helpful in this challenging time:

• General information about the coronavirus in Washington: https://www.coronavirus.wa.gov/
• If you have lost income, please visit https://esd.wa.gov/newsroom/covid-19 for financial assistance through unemployment or Washington’s new Family and Medical Leave.
• CDC’s website about Covid-19: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html
• Washington’s Department of Health: https://www.doh.wa.gov/Emergencies/Coronavirus
• United Way has a site with community resource information: http://www.211.org/services/covid19

While we don’t know exactly what the future may hold, everyone at Blue Water Legal wants to assure you we are rallying with you and will weather this storm together. Stay safe, practice social distancing and watch out for your neighbors!

Very truly,
Amanda, Amie, Jacklyn, Megan & Natalie
Blue Water Legal PLLC