If you’re involved in an out-of-state accident, there are a couple options you can explore, legally.
First, if there were injuries caused by the accident, you would have most likely already received medical treatment in the state of the accident. Once stable, you would be cleared to continue back to your home state. At that point, you should contact an attorney.
It’s important to do your research when looking for an attorney, and look specifically to see if they practice law in multiple states. At Larson Griffee & Pickett PLLC, for example, Bill Pickett is licensed to practice law in Washington, Oregon, and Alaska. Although, our physical office is in Washington, Bill is equipped to completely review your case in other states to determine how he can help.
What should I do?
Immediately following an accident, you should call the police, seek medical attention, swap information with the other party involved, take photographs, and then contact an attorney.
If your attorney is not licensed to practice law in the state in which the accident occurred and the case requires litigation, there are two mechanisms by which the case can be handled.
One is through pro hoc vice admission, which is a specialized admission where an out-of-state firm would be admitted to handle just your case. The other option is simply to associate a specific attorney who is licensed in that jurisdiction to initiate the case to jurisdiction. We have a network across states for these types of situations so we can work with trusted attorney allies.