ATTORNEY REFERRALS & CO-COUNSEL
Attorney Referrals for High Stakes Injury & Wrongful Death Cases
When a case requires deeper investigation, additional resources, or trial ready support, Defiance Injury Law works with referring attorneys to evaluate the evidence, strengthen the litigation team, and pursue the best available path for the client.
Our attorneys review catastrophic injury, wrongful death, medical malpractice, complex trucking, and other serious cases throughout Washington and in collaboration with counsel in other jurisdictions.
Attorney-to-attorney inquiries are handled promptly and confidentially, subject to a conflicts review.
Strong Cases Are Built Through Strong Partnerships
Referring a client or bringing another firm into a case requires trust. The client’s needs must remain central, responsibilities must be clearly defined, and communication between counsel must stay consistent.
Defiance Injury Law approaches every referral with respect for the attorney-client relationship that already exists. Depending on the case, we may serve as referral counsel, co-counsel, consulting counsel, or additional trial support.
Any working relationship, division of responsibilities, and fee arrangement will be confirmed in writing and structured according to applicable professional rules.
Referral Matters We Evaluate
Catastrophic Injury
Cases involving brain injuries, spinal cord damage, amputations, permanent impairment, extensive medical treatment, or lifelong care needs.
Catastrophic Trucking
Serious and fatal crashes involving motor carriers, commercial fleets, unsafe drivers, negligent operations, and potentially responsible freight brokers or logistics companies.
Wrongful Death
Fatal incidents involving commercial vehicles, medical negligence, unsafe facilities, defective products, maritime activity, or other preventable conduct.
Medical Malpractice
Complex cases involving delayed diagnosis, surgical errors, medication mistakes, birth injuries, hospital negligence, and failures to provide appropriate care.
Elder and Nursing Home Abuse
Cases involving neglect, falls, pressure injuries, medication errors, understaffing, abuse, and preventable death in long-term care settings.
Trial and Complex-Litigation Support
Matters requiring additional investigation, expert coordination, damages development, motion practice, appellate analysis, or trial preparation.
How We Can Work Together
Case Referral
When the referring attorney doesn’t intend to remain actively involved, Defiance can evaluate whether to assume primary responsibility for the matter. The client will receive clear information about the proposed representation, and any referral arrangement will be documented in accordance with applicable rules.
Co-Counsel
For cases that would benefit from shared resources or complementary experience, we can explore a defined co-counsel relationship. Responsibilities may include investigation, discovery, expert development, depositions, motion practice, mediation, trial preparation, or trial.
Consultation & Trial Support
Some attorneys want a second perspective without transferring the case. Depending on the matter, Defiance may be able to assist with case evaluation, strategy, damages analysis, expert issues, briefing, or trial preparation.
Experience Across Trial, Appellate, Medical, and Complex Litigation
Defiance Injury Law brings together attorneys with experience in catastrophic injury, wrongful death, medical malpractice, commercial trucking, appellate advocacy, and high-stakes civil litigation. Their prior work includes publicly reported verdicts and settlements involving serious injuries, fatalities, professional negligence, and complex liability claims.
Defiance Injury Law Attorneys
Nick Andrews
Managing Partner
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A catastrophic case can expose an uncomfortable truth: the loss is devastating, the liability is clear, and the insurance is nowhere close to enough.
I understand the lawyer standing in that gap.
You have a client whose life has been permanently changed. You earned that client’s trust, and now you must explain why the available coverage may not pay for even a fraction of what was taken from them. You know the case demands more, but bringing in another firm means trusting someone with your client, your reputation, and a relationship you built.
As managing partner of Defiance Injury Law, I have built our firm for that moment.
We don’t accept the policy limits as the value of the case. We investigate why the coverage failed.
What risks were disclosed?
What coverage was requested?
What should the broker have recommended?
Were other policies, responsible parties, or sources of recovery overlooked?
When the insurance doesn’t match the loss, we find out who was responsible for the gap.
We also protect the relationship that came through the door. Referring lawyers are not an obstacle to work around. They are part of the team. Roles should be clear, communication should be direct, and the client should see lawyers working together instead of fighting over territory.
Catastrophic cases are too important for ego, guesswork, or a quick surrender to the policy limits. They require resources, pressure, and lawyers willing to keep digging after the easy answer runs out.
Policy limits should not define a case. A coverage gap may simply expose the next defendant.
Holly D. Brauchli
Attorney at Law
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Holly Brauchli brings a perspective that matters when a catastrophic injury case refuses to fit within the available insurance. Before representing injured people, she spent nearly a decade in civil defense litigation, ultimately becoming a shareholder at Bullivant Houser Bailey. She represented corporations, insurers, healthcare professionals, and other defendants in complex, high-stakes cases.
That experience taught Holly how defendants investigate claims, evaluate exposure, prepare experts, challenge causation and damages, and decide whether to settle or take a case to trial. Today, she uses that knowledge to anticipate defense strategies and build stronger cases for injured clients and their families.
Holly has secured significant results for plaintiffs, including a $4 million nursing home abuse settlement, a $2.5 million motor vehicle collision settlement, and a $2.6 million jury verdict for a client who suffered a concussion in a crash. She has taken and defended hundreds of depositions and worked extensively with medical, scientific, economic, and other expert witnesses.
Her background also shapes how she approaches cases where the loss is catastrophic but the available insurance appears inadequate. Holly does not assume the first policy limit defines the value of the case. She looks at the broader liability picture, the parties and decisions surrounding the loss, and whether additional avenues of recovery warrant investigation.
That approach aligns with Defiance Injury Law’s Beyond the $1 Million Policy initiative. When the damages justify a deeper investigation, the legal team should be prepared to ask whether the obvious defendant is the only defendant and whether the available coverage tells the whole story.
At Defiance, Holly brings together defense side insight, trial experience, and a client centered approach to complex litigation. She knows how sophisticated opponents build their cases because she once represented them. Now she uses that experience to make sure injured people are not outmatched when the stakes are highest.
Request an Attorney-to-Attorney Case Review
Tell us enough to identify the parties and understand the general nature of the matter. Please don’t submit privileged documents, confidential strategy, medical records, or time sensitive materials until we confirm that a conflicts review has been completed.
*Submitting this form doesn’t create an attorney-client, referral, or co-counsel relationship. Please don’t rely on this submission to protect a statute of limitations, filing deadline, preservation obligation, or other time-sensitive requirement.*
Frequently Asked Questions
What types of cases can I refer to Defiance Injury Law?
Defiance reviews catastrophic personal injury, wrongful death, medical malpractice, commercial trucking, nursing home abuse, maritime injury, civil rights, and other complex liability matters. Acceptance depends on the facts, jurisdiction, deadlines, conflicts, and resources required.
Can Defiance join an existing case as co-counsel?
Potentially. Defiance considers co-counsel arrangements when the matter would benefit from additional investigation, litigation resources, subject-matter experience, appellate analysis, or trial support. The roles of each firm must be agreed upon in writing.
Do I have to transfer the entire case?
No. Depending on the circumstances, the relationship may involve a complete referral, co-counsel arrangement, limited consultation, or specific litigation and trial support.
How are referral or co-counsel fees handled?
Any fee arrangement must comply with the professional rules that apply to the attorneys, firms, client, and jurisdiction. No fee arrangement exists unless it’s approved and documented in writing.
Will I continue receiving updates about the case?
The communication process will be discussed before the relationship begins. In co-counsel matters, Defiance works to maintain clear communication about major developments, responsibilities, deadlines, and strategic decisions.
Can Defiance review a case that has already been filed?
Yes, depending on the procedural posture and upcoming deadlines. Contact the firm as early as possible so there’s enough time to complete conflicts, review the file, and determine whether Defiance can assist.
What should I send for the initial review?
Start with the parties’ names, incident date, jurisdiction, procedural status, approaching deadlines, a concise factual summary, known damages, and available insurance information. Additional records can be provided after conflicts are cleared.
Can Defiance review an underinsured catastrophic trucking case?
Yes. In cases where motor-carrier coverage may be inadequate, Defiance can evaluate whether additional entities or theories should be investigated, including potential freight-broker and carrier-selection issues.
Does submitting the form create an attorney-client or co-counsel relationship?
No. A relationship begins only after the necessary conflicts review is completed and the parties sign an appropriate written agreement.