As a Portland personal injury attorney with more than two decades of experience, Dr. Aaron DeShaw has seen firsthand how insurance claims are systematically undervalued — and how the right law firm changes that equation entirely.
Every year, insurance companies spend billions of dollars developing systems, software, and strategies designed to do one thing: pay injured people less than their claims are worth. For someone who has experienced a brain injury, car accident or wrongful death in the family, that reality is both unjust and consequential. Having the right personal injury lawyer determines not just how smoothly your case proceeds, but how much you ultimately recover.
At DeShaw Law, our law firm has spent more than two decades at the forefront of personal injury cases in Oregon and Washington. Dr. Aaron DeShaw is a Portland personal injury attorney, a retired doctor, and the author of the definitive legal texts on the insurance claim software that drives settlement offers across more than 90% of all auto insurance claims in the United States.
We are highly recommended by clients, by co-counsel who retain us from across the country, and by the judges, mediators, and opposing attorneys who have selected Dr. DeShaw for Oregon Super Lawyers in multiple consecutive years. We offer a free consultation — your initial consultation carries no cost and no obligation. Contact us today to speak directly with an experienced injury lawyer in Portland who will tell you what your case is genuinely worth.
Speak with a Portland Personal Injury Lawyer
Why the Right Portland Personal Injury Lawyer Changes Everything
Not all personal injury representation is equal. Research by the Insurance Research Council, the insurance industry's own research arm, has shown that hiring an attorney increases settlement offers by 300% in smaller claims, and that the value of representation increases significantly as claims grow in severity.
Insurers track plaintiff attorneys by their federal tax ID number, and they adjust settlement offers based on the lawyer's track record. Dr. Aaron DeShaw holds the highest personal injury verdict in Oregon history: $77,523,748.93 in M.M. and N.S. v. Nicolopoulos. Insurance companies know this—and they know to bring their best settlement offer when DeShaw Law is on the other side of the table.
To leverage our expertise in your personal injury case, submit a contact form or call our Portland office: (503) 227 1233.
Understanding the Value of Your Personal Injury Claim
One of the most consequential mistakes injured people make is accepting an early settlement offer without understanding the full scope of what their claim is worth. Insurance companies are not in the business of paying full value — they are in the business of resolving claims as cheaply as possible, as quickly as possible.
A skilled Portland personal injury attorney evaluates your claim across every dimension of loss, including:
Economic Damages
These are the quantifiable financial losses caused by your injury: past and future medical bills, surgical costs, rehabilitation, in-home care, lost wages already incurred, and projected future lost earning capacity. In serious injury cases, these figures can extend well into the future, particularly where brain injuries or permanent physical disability are involved. Failing to properly document and project these costs is one of the most common ways injured people leave money on the table.
Non-Economic Damages
Oregon law allows injured people to recover pain and suffering, emotional distress, loss of enjoyment of life, and the permanent impact of their injuries on their daily activities and relationships. These damages are real, but they are also the damages insurers work hardest to minimize. Software like Colossus and ClaimIQ generate artificially deflated figures for noneconomic damages. Understanding how these systems work is what we do.
Wrongful Death Damages
In cases where a loved one has been killed due to another party's negligence, surviving family members may have claims for loss of companionship, financial support, and the grief and emotional harm that follows. Wrongful death cases demand an attorney with both the compassion to handle them and the litigation skill to pursue them aggressively when insurers refuse to negotiate in good faith.
For a deeper breakdown of the factors that determine case value, read our post: "What Is My Case Worth?" 7 Factors That Affect Case Value.
How DeShaw Law Builds a Maximum-Value Claim
Thorough Case Investigation
Every personal injury case is won or lost on the strength of the evidence available. Our firm moves quickly to preserve the evidence that forms the foundation of your claim, including camera footage, eyewitness accounts and even skid marks. Our team retains accident reconstruction experts where necessary, secure police reports, gather medical records, and document the scene before it changes.
Expert Medical Analysis
Dr. Aaron DeShaw is a retired Doctor of Chiropractic with over 4,000 hours of clinical training, including more than 700 hours of instruction in neurological diagnosis and traumatic brain injury. This dual background allows our firm to evaluate your injuries with a depth that most personal injury attorneys simply cannot match, and to communicate those injuries to insurers, mediators, and juries in compelling, medically accurate terms. In brain injury cases particularly, this expertise is the difference between a full recovery and a drastically undervalued claim.
Roughly 80% of traumatic brain injuries show no abnormality on CT or MRI. Knowing how to document, prove, and present these injuries requires a lawyer who understands the medicine at a physician's level.
Powerful Demand Letters
Many personal injury firms send generic demand letters. At DeShaw Law, our demand letters are built on Dr. DeShaw's deep knowledge of how insurance bodily injury software evaluates claims. By structuring our demands to provide the information these systems need to produce an accurate valuation, we give insurers the best opportunity to make a fair pre-litigation offer. When they don't, we are ready to proceed to trial.
Trial-Ready Reputation
Insurance adjusters evaluate every claim with one question in mind: how likely is this attorney to take this case to trial? Firms that settle every case receive lower offers. Dr. DeShaw is one of fewer than 100 Oregon lawyers and judges inducted into the American Board of Trial Advocates, and has been named to Oregon Super Lawyers, reflecting the top 5% of all Oregon lawyers, in multiple consecutive years. That reputation directly translates to higher settlement offers for our clients.
Contact DeShaw Law, Portland Personal Injury Lawyer
Case Types Where Our Experience Makes the Difference
Car and Truck Accidents
From the Marquam Bridge to Highway 26, Portland roads see thousands of collisions every year. Whether your crash involved a distracted driver, a commercial truck, a rideshare vehicle, or a drunk driver, the insurance company's goal is the same: resolve your claim for as little as possible. Learn how to handle your car accident claim here.
Traumatic Brain Injury
TBI cases are among the most complex in personal injury law — and among the most frequently undervalued. Our firm has handled hundreds of TBI cases and has been retained as co-counsel by out-of-state firms specifically for our expertise in this area. Read: What To Do After a Traumatic Brain Injury.
Pedestrian and Bicycle Accidents
Portland is one of the most cycling-friendly cities in the country, but that doesn't make its streets safe. Pedestrian and cyclist injury cases often involve complex questions of liability and frequently result in serious, life-altering injuries. See a recent case: Portland Personal Injury Case for Severe Pedestrian Injuries.
Drunk and Drugged Driving Accidents
Cases involving impaired drivers often open the door to punitive damages and dram shop liability against the establishments that overserved them. These cases require a lawyer willing to pursue every avenue of accountability. Learn more about how we handle drunk driving cases.
Insurance Bad Faith
When an insurer refuses to negotiate honestly, delays your claim without justification, or uses software to systematically undervalue what you're owed, that conduct may constitute insurance bad faith — an independent legal claim with its own damages. What Does "Delay, Deny, Defend" Mean?
DeShaw Law also has experience with hit and run claims, premise liability cases, and other cases arising due to the negligence of another party. To learn more about how we can help your claim, call us for a free consultation: (503) 227-1233.
What to Expect When You Work With DeShaw Law
Free Consultation, No Obligation. Your path to understanding your legal rights begins with a conversation. When you contact us to schedule your free consultation, you will never be asked to pay anything up front. This is simply an opportunity for us to evaluate your case honestly, explain your options clearly, and tell you what we believe your claim may be worth.
Contingency Representation. We handle personal injury cases on a contingency fee basis. In simple terms: you pay nothing unless we recover compensation for you. While we offer exceptional legal representation, we do not present our clients with a financial barrier to working with us.
Personalized, Experienced Attention. Unlike large volume personal injury firms that assign cases to junior associates or paralegals, DeShaw Law maintains a focused caseload that allows Dr. DeShaw to be directly involved in your claim; that experience is brought to bear on every case we accept.
Call DeShaw Law, Portland Personal Injury Attorney
Insurance companies have years of experience, teams of adjusters, and sophisticated software all working to minimize what they pay you. You deserve an advocate with the knowledge, experience, and courtroom credibility to fight back.
If you or a family member has been injured anywhere in the Portland metro area, Multnomah County, or throughout Oregon and Washington, contact DeShaw Law today for your free, no-obligation consultation. Call us at (503) 227-1233.