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Areas of Practice
Attorneys in the Sumner Law Center provide legal services in a broad range of practice areas:
Attorneys in the Sumner Law Center provides a broad range of legal representation in the area of bankruptcy. They provide legal advice and representation for both creditors and debtors, which include the following:
Creditor Representation: We represent creditors who are defending their claims when a customer files for bankruptcy. We are experienced in obtaining relief from the bankruptcy stay in order to recover property from the debtor, and to defend priority claims for payments made to creditors before the debtor filed for bankruptcy.
Debtor Representation: We represent individuals, companies, partnerships and real estate ventures in bankruptcy reorganization and liquidation proceedings.
Workouts Outside of Bankruptcy: We advise both creditors and debtors in debt restructuring and financial workouts.
Contact(s): Klaus O. Snyder Dana M. Ryan Return to Top
The Snyder Law Firm provides full service business representation. We provide general legal counsel in a broad range of areas, including entity formation, business acquisitions and sales; reorganizations and dissolutions; business and financial contracts. For example:
- Formation of Corporations, Limited Liability Companies and Professional Services Organizations
- Partnerships and Joint Venture Agreements
- Business Acquisition and Sale Agreements
- Non-Profit Corporation Formation and IRS Certification
Contact: Klaus O. Snyder <Return to Top
The Snyder Law Firm has broad experience in the needs of our clients in the construction industry. The firm represents owners and small contractors, subcontractors, in construction-related matters. We regularly advise and represent our clients on matters relating to public contracting issues, contract negotiations and disputes, liens, bonds, government projects, litigation, including collection and lien foreclosure, and alternative dispute resolution.
Contact: Klaus O. Snyder Return to Top
This area of law includes counseling and advice in planning for death or disability, including drafting wills, trusts, powers of attorney, directives to physicians, prenuptial and post-nuptial agreements, and other estate planning instruments. The attorneys have significant experience in asset preservation and estate planning, including integration with business ownership and transition considerations.
Contact(s): Klaus O. Snyder Aileen Novess Return to Top
LMN LAW OFFICES provides representation for Family Law matters. This area of law includes marriage dissolution and other domestic relationships such as paternity actions and living together arrangements.
- Marriage Dissolution
- Paternity Actions
- Complex property settlement agreements, including division of pensions by Qualified Domestic Relations Orders
- Establishment and modification of Parenting Plans
- Establishment and modification of Orders of Child Support
- Stepparent adoptions
- Domestic partnership and living-together property litigation and agreements
Contact: Aileen Novess Return to Top
The below information focuses generally on the issue of “insurance bad faith” in the context of automobile liability insurance, Personal Injury Protection (PIP) coverage, and Underinsured (or Uninsured) Motorist (UIM) claims. If you have specific questions about your situation, please call a Lawyer at the Sumner Law Center.
The basic principal in the law is one that imposes something called the "duty of good faith and fair dealing" on the parties to a contract. In Washington State, ALL motorists are required, by law , to maintain at least minimum automobile liability insurance (currently $25,000/person & $50,000/occurrence). It is this insurance policy that is your “Insurance Contract” with your insurance carrier. In the area of insurance, the "duty of good faith and fair dealing" is a two-way street, requiring both the insurer and the insured to act reasonably and fairly with each other.
If your insurer has delayed paying your claim for no good reason or has taken a position on your coverage that is contrary to the plain language of your insurance policy, your insurance carrier may indeed be acting in bad faith. However, each case has a different set of facts and circumstances, and thus, without knowing more about a specific case, it is hard to determine if your carrier’s actions actually constitute “bad faith” that may provide you with a “cause of action” (i.e., a “claim”) against your carrier.
You likely have Personal Injury Protection (PIP) coverage on your vehicle(s). This is “first party coverage” that provides many benefits to you, including coverage for medical expenses, loss of income, household services, and the like. If you insurer denies coverage based on a claim that you “waived PIP”, they must have on file, a signed PIP waiver that they can produce. If they do not have such a waiver on file, then they are obliged to extend PIP coverage to you, but are entitled to charge retroactively for such coverage. Denial of PIP coverage without any signed PIP waiver may constitute bad faith. (NOTE: If you waived PIP before, you should strongly consider re-instating it right away, as it is very important coverage to have, if you are in any automobile accident.)
For an insurer, bad faith implies something worse than a simple breach of the Insurance Contract. An insurer acts in bad faith when it willfully ignores ones rights under the policy or takes a position on the claim or the meaning of policy language that is "unreasonable." Bad faith can be exhibited by unfair and unjustified refusals to pay claims or unreasonable payment delays when sufficient information in available for the insurer to settle the claim, or, at a minimum, make an offer.
Not every claim denial constitutes bad faith, however. For example, it is not bad faith for an insurer to decline to pay a claim that arises out of action or conduct that is specifically not a covered benefit under the Insurance Contract. Nor is it bad faith for an insurer to deny a claim based on a reasonable but ultimately incorrect interpretation of the law or facts that apply to the claim.
Insurance carriers do NOT like bad faith claims, and most work very hard to train their personnel to handle their claims in compliance with the statutes (RCWs ) and regulations (WACs ). When the insurance personnel (usually the “adjusters”) do not act in compliance with the statutes and regulations, you as their insured may have a claim against them, which claim could entitle you not only to your actual “damages” but also the legal fees and expenses you incur in pursuing and protecting your rights.
If you believe that you may have a claim against your (or perhaps another parties’) insurance carrier, feel free to call a Lawyer at the Sumner Law Center.
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The Snyder Law Firm provides legal services in the areas of non-judicial foreclosures, real estate contract forfeitures and complex, contested judicial foreclosures. We represent individual lenders, sellers and purchasers. See also Construction/Lien Foreclosures for foreclosure on construction claims.
Contact: Klaus O. Snyder Return to Top
If a person has been seriously injured due to the negligence of another they have a legal right to recover fair compensation for their injuries. Klaus O. Snyder has helped hundreds of people recover from the devastating losses that can follow a serious injury. Klaus O. Snyder has represented people with claims for injuries arising out of auto accidents, product defects, premises defects, and a variety of other claims. Cases are taken on a contingency fee basis; there is no charge for attorney's fees unless there is a recovery.
Contact: Klaus O. Snyder Return to Top
Probate Administration
This area of law involves the administration of an estate after a person dies, whether or not they had a will. This includes handling complex estate administration, including disclaimers, tax planning, any necessary litigation involved in collecting the assets and distributing them. See also Estate Planning & Asset Preservation.
Contact(s): Klaus O. Snyder Aileen Novess Return to Top
The Snyder Law Firm provides full service in real estate matters, including purchase and sale, leasing and management, dispute resolution and Escrow Services (see RAINIER VALLEY ESCROW below). We provide general legal counsel, negotiation and drafting, and litigation/arbitration. Examples are:
- Purchase and Sale Agreements
- Landlord/Tenant Representation
- Commercial and Residential Representation
- Boundary Disputes
- Easements
- Construction & Lien Law
- Foreclosures and Forfeiture
- Leases
- Options
Contact(s): Klaus O. Snyder Denise F. Manning (Legal Asst.) Return to Top
RAINIER VALLEY ESCROW (a division of the Snyder Law Firm), provides full Escrow Services for Residential and Commercial real estate transactions.
Contact(s): Klaus O. Snyder Denise F. Manning (Legal Asst.) Return to Top
This area of practice relates to the special needs of representing students in school-student discipline proceedings, free speech issues, and related Juvenile Court criminal proceedings arising out of the conduct in question. See also Criminal Law (Juvenile).
Contact(s): Klaus O. Snyder Dana M. Ryan Return to Top
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