Navigating Car Accidents and Legal Advice with Josh Brumley

Joshua Brumley

[00:00:00] Ed Watters: To overcome, you must educate. Educate not only yourself, but educate anyone seeking to learn. We are all Dead America, we can all learn something. To learn, we must challenge what we already understand. The way we do that is through conversation. Sometimes we have conversations with others, however, some of the best conversations happen with ourselves. Reach out and challenge yourself; let's dive in and learn something new right now.

[00:01:01] Today we are speaking with Josh Brumley, he is the CEO at Brumley Law Firm. Josh, could you please introduce yourself and let people know just a little more about you, please?

[00:01:14] Joshua Brumley: Sure. My name's Josh Brumley, I, uh, live and work out of the Seattle area in Washington State. And I'm a car crash attorney and, uh, we love working on any car accident cases in the state of Washington.

[00:01:32] Ed Watters: It's interesting, your story, how you got into being a lawyer. Would you please go over the beginning and how you got, become a lawyer for our listeners, please?

[00:01:47] Joshua Brumley: Um, yeah. I went to law school and then three years later I graduated and then I took the bar exam. It was, it was a, a long story actually. Um, I never really had any desire to be a lawyer, but I met my father much later in life and, uh, he was a lawyer and he sort of encouraged me to become one as well.

[00:02:18] Ed Watters: So do you have any regrets becoming a lawyer?

[00:02:23] Joshua Brumley: No. I think, uh, it was, it was the best career path I, I could have taken. And, um, every day I'm excited to jump in the car and drive to the office and go to work. I work every weekend and it's not because I have to, it's because I desire to.

[00:02:39] Ed Watters: That's big right there when we can desire what we do. It makes the world such a better place, that's for sure. What are the main mistakes that people make when it comes to dealing with a car [00:03:00] crash? When you become a victim of a car crash, a lot of people mess up and they do the wrong things. Could you tell us what the proper way to deal and handle a car crash would be?

[00:03:15] Joshua Brumley: Sure. I think, um, the first thing that people, uh, sort of goof up is not knowing that you can get an attorney without paying an attorney upfront. So people just assume that attorneys are expensive and they don't want to go the route of having an attorney, even if it's a, a, a minor fender bender all the way up to a really serious case. They think I, I'll just, I'll, I'll negotiate with the insurance companies and then I'll see how it goes.

[00:03:43] Um, insurance companies know that a, a non-attorney person, uh, we call them pro se, it's Latin for just alone. Um, a pro se individual doesn't have the ability to file a lawsuit and that's the teeth you need during negotiations. So you're going to get much worse, uh, settlement offers for your claim. Um, another big pitfall to be aware of is calling police as soon as the accident occurs.

[00:04:15] I think a lot of people are scared to call police and have police involvement or, um, you know, get that, that additional third party involvement. They think, you know, it's not that serious. And what happens is the defendant, the person who crashes into you, will say, Don't call the police, don't call the police.

[00:04:32] And then as soon as you leave, they call the police. And when they call the police, they say you were a hit and run driver and they can say whatever they want. And the, the person who is actually the injured party is nowhere there to, to make an argument to the contrary. So I always encourage, get that police report while you're on scene. That officer will determine liability so that, um, so that you don't have to argue about it with the insurance company later on.

[00:05:04] Ed Watters: That's very interesting. You know, it reminds me. I was living in Salt Lake City, I was really new to the area and I wasn't really used to driving in the snow and I came off of the freeway and I hit the off ramp a little over forty-five, for sure. And I hit my brakes to slow down and I ran right into the back end of somebody. I don't even know who it was because when I ran into them, it wasn't really hard, but I hit them and I was ready to get out and exchange information and all of that. And the people just drove off really fast.

[00:05:53] Now, for myself, I was really shocked and [00:06:00] I was ready to get a ticket. And at the time I was driving without a driver's license, no insurance, and it was really bad for me. But what happens if somebody just drives off after you hit them? Should you call the police and report it? Or should you just do what I did and say, Well, my day's not over, let's continue?

[00:06:28] none: I honestly, I've never heard of that situation happening before. And if it had happened to me, I probably would have done the exact same thing you did. But, but I just, I, I think it's more common for the person who caused the accident to flee the scene than the person who was, you know, uh, not at fault to flee the scene. And so that person was probably doing something that they didn't want anyone to know they were doing. And, um, or they were just some young kid who just didn't know what to do. Um, but yeah, I've, I've never heard of that happening ever.

[00:07:07] Ed Watters: You know, I often wonder about how you are going to deal with the onset of autonomous vehicles on the road with insurance and all the legal implications. What do you see coming down the pike for this? And are you already seeing cases involving autonomous vehicles?

[00:07:35] Joshua Brumley: I haven't seen a case for an autonomous vehicle, but there are, um, I think the last statistic I read was, uh, 130 accidents that have been reported for just autonomous vehicles, um, hitting other cars or hitting people. Um, and then something of, uh, above

[00:08:03] Ed Watters: Wow.

[00:08:04] Joshua Brumley: that for partially autonomous vehicles that are still hitting other cars and hitting other people, pedestrians. So, I don't think we have the technology yet to say that that's going to do away with my entire career. But it's possible. Um, it's possible in this lifetime that we see such self driving, uh, cars that, that are so safe that I don't have a career anymore. That'd be a great thing for society, tough thing for me, but a great thing for society.

[00:08:37] Ed Watters: Well, in your instance, you have a MBA to fall back on and that's a good thing because you can always start a business doing something else, Josh, that's for sure.

[00:08:51] Joshua Brumley: Yeah, I'll, I'll find something. Let's strive for safety in, in the automotive world and then, and then we'll worry [00:09:00] about my career.

[00:09:04] Ed Watters: That's right. Uh, in, in your type of law there's two components involved, the liability and the damage, can you explain that to us? And how, how do you actually determine who's liable and what the damages are going to be for the different aspects of things?

[00:09:31] Joshua Brumley: Yeah. I think, I think just dealing with so many of these car accident cases, I get a lot of different questions from friends and family and the, the people that, that kind of cold call my firm and hear about us. And, um, these questions are all really similar and, and they're always focused on how much money am I going to get? How am I going to get my car fixed? How am I going to pay for all this? And they don't really consider that, that first threshold issue, which is I know that my client wasn't at fault,

[00:10:02] but does the insurance company agree? And if the insurance company disputes whether my client was at fault or not, then liability is, is the first issue you have to figure out before you can ever talk about any of the money. And so determining liability is really fact specific. If you're hit from behind, if you're rear ended, liability is usually accepted by the insurance company. But we see cases where it's not still, even though that's ridiculous. You're stopped at a stoplight, some car slams into the back of you and the insurance company says, Well, they had time to get out of the way or, or something ridiculous like that.

[00:10:39] So, um, what we, what we see more often is like sideswipe accidents where liability is not clear because one person says, Oh, they changed lanes into me and the other person says, Oh, they changed lanes into me. And there are no other witnesses to argue about the contrary. And so what we do in, in my firm's we use accident reconstruction specialists to, uh, help make videos of how our client would testify at trial about how the accident occurred. And the insurance company usually overturns their liability decisions based on that, that feedback. And we use, uh, a lot of different companies for that work.

[00:11:21] Ed Watters: So that makes me wonder how important it is to use like cameras, those dash cams and things. And should you have a forward facing, rear facing camera? What's your suggestions on that?

[00:11:38] Joshua Brumley: I think cameras can be the difference between, um, having a slam dunk case and having to go to trial. Um, you know, they're not super expensive. Uh, there's discussion in my office of, all, all the time of, do the staff have them in their cars to protect themselves? Um, I think [00:12:00] it's up to the person, you know, you hope that a front facing and a backwards facing camera will be able to capture wherever the accident occurs. But the, the last major accident I was in, um, it might not have, you know? It's just, you never know. And it's better to have something to rely on than not have it. But, um, I don't want to say it's going to save the day 100 percent of the time, even if you spend the money on two cameras.

[00:12:29] Ed Watters: Yeah, that, that's interesting. You know, there's, there's a lot of technology coming down that helps us control those factors. And actually, you know, those black boxes that they use, like in ships and airplanes,

[00:12:46] Joshua Brumley: Yeah.

[00:12:46] Ed Watters: there, there's now technology similar to that in cars. Does that help you in cases at all?

[00:12:57] Joshua Brumley: Yeah. Um, the black box data is actually something that we can take out of a car to help understand when, uh, the impact occurred, when the airbags were deployed, what speed the person was potentially going, uh, before they were in the accident, when they braked compared to when the accident occurred. Um, there's a lot of data that can come from those black boxes, but you have to have an expert to, to understand that data and to gather that data and that can be incredibly expensive. But it's possible on almost all vehicles since, like, I think 2010, um, to, to pull that data out.

[00:13:35] Ed Watters: Oh, wow. I, I was not aware that they already established it in the car, I thought you had to have a plugin. That's interesting. So what, you're a podcaster and you're a very good podcaster, I, I love what you're doing there, how does podcasting come into play with helping you in your law practice?

[00:14:10] Joshua Brumley: Well, I think it's really like, um, the idea of marketing myself as, as, uh, uh, an attorney in my community and, um, an entrepreneur, is really the goal with the podcast. It's just to help educate people and to see me as like a lightning rod for other ways that they could learn to make their career better. So I don't claim to have all the answers but the questions that I ask, I feel like a lot of other people are probably asking too.

[00:14:39] So I said, Why don't I record these conversations and put them up on the Internet for anyone to listen to? And so I, I have guests who are much smarter than me, much more established, um, in their careers as attorneys or careers as, um, uh, business professionals and entrepreneurs. And, and I asked them [00:15:00] questions that I think will help me become a better business owner or a better attorney.

[00:15:07] Ed Watters: That's why I love podcasting right there, Josh. You know, you, you find so much wisdom and it's like therapy for me because I, I get to ask those questions that I'm curious about and the professionals always have great answers for me. And no matter how high up the ladder you go, it seems to be a trend in podcasting that we always look to our peers for support and it's a great way to accumulate that support. You've written a book, tell us

[00:15:45] Joshua Brumley: I have.

[00:15:45] Ed Watters: about the book. What's in the book? Who's the book for? And why did you write the book?

[00:15:51] Joshua Brumley: So, um, as we begin to, to grow to the level we're growing to, I'm personally not the person, um, in my firm, there are other attorneys, other staff members, who answer a lot of these questions that staff have. And I thought, What if I just wrote down really well thought out answers to all of the common questions that I've gotten over the many years I've been doing this. And so it's really like a self help style education book for car accident cases and it's called, Protect Your Neck. Um,

[00:16:25] Protect Your Neck is, is going to be free for all of my clients, so they'll get a copy of it as soon as they sign up with us, we'll mail them a copy of the book. And that comes out in September, and it's honestly super helpful, I think, for anyone dealing with a car accident case to understand the process better. Whether they're in Washington State or somewhere else, but it's meant for people who are in Washington State.

[00:16:49] Ed Watters: Interesting. So, now, what, what is the most incredible story that you've actually heard of involving a car accident?

[00:17:09] Joshua Brumley: I hear incredible stories involving car accidents all the time. I, I think it's, it's wild to, um, to hear about how serious some of these car accidents can be. And how people flee the scene.

[00:17:23] Um, I had a case where a pedestrian was hit by a car just crossing the road and the car drove away and, um, the pedestrian was a minor. He had to go to the hospital, um, he was in really, really bad shape. And the police actually posted on, like, their social media, clips of the car. And we're like, Does it, Has anyone seen this car? Can anyone identify this?

[00:17:49] Ed Watters: Yep.

[00:17:49] Joshua Brumley: And they actually found the guy and arrested him from their social media posts. And I was like really impressed by that because I didn't think that would be a successful way for, [00:18:00] for the police to find somebody. But, um, but apparently it worked and, uh, someone reached out and was like, Hey, I think that car is in my neighbor's driveway or something like that. And, and then, um,

[00:18:12] Ed Watters: Yeah.

[00:18:14] Joshua Brumley: and it was incredible that that guy was able to get justice because of social media.

[00:18:21] Ed Watters: Yeah. I've, I've heard of those instances myself and, you know, that's really community justice work right there and people that care. And we need more people aligned in that mindset, that's for sure. So is there anything that you need to share with people that they need to know about what you do that's vitally important?

[00:18:54] none: I think calling an attorney is vitally important no matter what kind of situation you're in. And I didn't really realize that until I went to law school. But all attorneys understand, you know, we think we're very important, but becoming an attorney and understanding the difference between someone who fights on their own behalf or someone who has experience fighting for someone else, um, I'll hire an attorney for everything that I go through for the rest of my life, where there's an attorney that does it. Um, I think it, it does not make sense for me to try to learn my way through something that's going to affect my entire life, rather than pay someone who's experienced enough. It's, it's like doing surgery on yourself to save money, no one would do that.

[00:19:46] Ed Watters: Yeah, that's true. You know, it's interesting that people don't like to contact lawyers because it's part of the law system and for some reason they feel that the law is against them. But In reality, the law is there to protect and defend us. And if you use an attorney, that's where you actually get the representation that you need during those critical times in your life. Is it not?

[00:20:23] Joshua Brumley: Yeah, yeah.

[00:20:25] Ed Watters: So tell us about how you came up with your mantra, Josh. Uh, Car Crash, Call Josh.

[00:20:35] Joshua Brumley: So thank you, yeah. The, um, rhyme as a reason effect is, uh, a cognitive bias. Um, it's also known as the Eaton-Rosen phenomenon that, uh, basically says when sayings or aphorisms, um, are perceived more accurately or truthful if they [00:21:00] rhyme. So, apples prevent illness?

[00:21:03] Ed Watters: No.

[00:21:05] Joshua Brumley: Is not the same as an apple a day keeps the doctor away. Because our brains think that an apple a day keeps the doctor away will be more true than apples prevent illness. It stays in our brain better. So Car Crash, Call Josh was my attempt at a rhyme as a reason effect. And, um, people always say it's, it would have to be car crosh or call Jash, but, um, but I got as close as I could, you know?

[00:21:38] Ed Watters: Right on. Hey, that's part of that, uh, MBA marketing scheme stuff going on. So do you have a call to action for our listeners today, Josh?

[00:21:52] Joshua Brumley: Yeah. I would love it if anyone who is, um, interested can drop me a follow on social media, Brumley law firm on Instagram, um, @ ironmind. podcast and, uh, send DM's of any of your legal questions. And even if they're not car accident related, we'll connect you to resources that can help.

[00:22:15] Ed Watters: Josh, it's always a pleasure speaking with people with a bunch of knowledge in a particular area. And, you know, car crash victims, they really need help from the onset of their problems. So thank you for doing what you do because people get scared and they do need that help out there. So thank you for that and being part of the Dead America Podcast today.

[00:22:46] Joshua Brumley: Thank you.

[00:22:51] Ed Watters: Thank you for joining us today. If you found this podcast enlightening, entertaining, educational in any way, please share, like, subscribe, and join us right back here next week for another great episode of Dead America Podcast. I'm Ed Watters, your host, enjoy your afternoon wherever you may be.