If you or a parent was hurt in Maryland and Korean is the language you think in, the injury is only part of the problem. Calls from an insurance adjuster, medical bills and English forms arrive all at once, and it is easy to agree to something without being sure what it means. Robert J. Kim (로버트 김) is a Maryland injury lawyer who speaks Korean, and he talks clients through the whole process in Korean himself.
Rob is a partner at Blank Kim Injury Law in Silver Spring and is admitted in Maryland and Virginia. This page explains how an injury claim works in Maryland, where Maryland law differs from what many Korean families expect, and what happens when you call for a free consultation in Korean.
A Korean-speaking attorney in Maryland, not a go-between
When you work with Rob, the person explaining your options in Korean is the lawyer on your case. He was born and raised in New York City and is fluent in Korean thanks to his parents, who came from Korea. He consults in Korean and English, and you can move between the two whenever that helps you understand.
- Bar admissions: Maryland (Bar 1412170096), Virginia (Bar 102319), and the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland
- Education: Columbia University, B.A. in Political Science; University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law, J.D.
- In practice since 2014
- Memberships: Maryland Association for Justice, American Association for Justice, Maryland State Bar Association, Bar Association of Montgomery County, and the Asian Pacific American Bar Association of Maryland
Blank Kim Injury Law has five offices in Maryland, and Aaron Blank is the firm's other founding partner. If you are searching by name, one practical note: another Maryland attorney shares the name. The Robert J. Kim on this site is the partner at Blank Kim Injury Law with the bar numbers listed above. His fuller background is on the About Robert J. Kim page.
Injury cases a Korean-speaking lawyer in Maryland can take on
Rob represents people who were hurt because someone else was careless. The case types he handles himself are:
- Car accidents, including rear-end, intersection, lane-change and head-on collisions, hit-and-run crashes and crashes with uninsured drivers. See car accident claims with a Korean-speaking lawyer.
- Truck accidents, where federal safety rules and commercial insurance raise separate questions
- Slip-and-fall injuries
- Premises liability claims, when an unsafe property leads to an injury
- Dog bites
One of the first questions in any claim is who may be responsible and whose insurance applies. In a crash it is usually the other driver, but depending on who was driving and why, an employer's commercial policy, a rideshare company's insurance or the vehicle owner's policy can also come into the picture. Every case turns on its own facts, which is why Rob starts by asking exactly what happened.
For other kinds of injury claims, such as medical malpractice matters with a Korean-speaking contact, Blank Kim Injury Law handles the case and Rob is your Korean-language point of contact at the firm.
Maryland's contributory negligence rule: the biggest surprise for Korean families
In Korea, people are used to fault being split by ratio, such as 80/20 or 90/10, with compensation reduced by the injured person's share. Many US states reduce compensation by fault share in a similar way. Maryland does not.
Under Maryland's contributory negligence rule, an injured person who is found even slightly at fault can be barred from recovering anything from the other driver. Only a few US jurisdictions still keep this rule, such as Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, Alabama and Washington, D.C. There are limited exceptions, such as the last clear chance doctrine, but whether one applies depends on the facts.
This is where language matters most. Adjusters know the rule well. A polite 'I'm sorry' at the scene may be treated by an insurer as an admission of fault, although that alone does not decide the outcome. A quick 'yes' to a question you only half understood can cause similar trouble. It is far safer to explain what happened in Korean to your own lawyer before you explain it in English to the other side's insurance company.
Which insurance can pay after an injury in Maryland
A single crash can involve several kinds of coverage, and knowing which ones are available shapes how the claim is put together.
- Personal injury protection (PIP). Maryland insurers must offer PIP. Unless the policyholder waived it in writing, it pays at least $2,500 toward medical bills and lost income, regardless of who caused the crash.
- The at-fault driver's liability insurance. Maryland's minimum bodily injury liability limits are $30,000 per person and $60,000 per accident. Serious injuries often cost far more than those minimums.
- Uninsured and underinsured motorist (UM/UIM) coverage. If the other driver has no insurance, too little insurance, or fled the scene, your own policy may pay.
- Other policies. A rideshare company's insurance, an employer's commercial policy or a vehicle owner's policy can also apply, depending on who was driving and why.
Policy terms differ from one insurer to the next, and the minimums set by Maryland law can change. If Rob takes your case, he reviews the actual policies involved and explains in Korean what each one covers.
Evidence and first steps that protect a Maryland injury claim
What you do in the first days after an injury often shapes the claim that follows. If you are able to, work through these steps:
- If anyone is hurt in a crash, call 911 and ask for a police report. Write down the officer's name and the report number.
- Take photos of the vehicles, the road or the place you fell, any signals or signs, and your injuries before anything is moved or repaired.
- Get the other driver's name, license, plate number and insurance details, plus contact information for any witnesses.
- See a doctor promptly, even if you feel fine. Concussions and neck injuries can take hours or days to show symptoms.
- Report a crash to your own insurance company, as your policy requires.
- Be careful with the other driver's insurer. You have no duty to give them a recorded statement, and early remarks can be used to argue you were partly at fault.
- Keep every bill, receipt, repair estimate and record of missed work. Dashcam, store or traffic camera video can be erased within days, so mention it early.
Most important: talk to a lawyer before you sign anything, especially a settlement release or a settlement check. Once a release is signed, the claim usually ends there. If the document is in English and you are not sure what it says, that is exactly the kind of paper Rob can explain to you in Korean first.
How long you have to file an injury claim in Maryland
In Maryland, an injury lawsuit after a car accident generally must be filed within three years of the crash. That is not the whole picture:
- Claims against a government body, such as a crash with a county bus, police car or state vehicle, can require written notice much sooner, often within one year.
- Claims for someone who died, or for someone who was a minor at the time, follow different timing rules.
- Insurance policies have their own notice requirements, and evidence such as video footage can disappear quickly.
Do not assume there is plenty of time. The deadline that applies to you depends on your facts, so request a free case review and ask Rob to check it in Korean.
What a Maryland injury claim can include
Every case is different, and no website can tell you what yours is worth. In general, a Maryland injury claim can seek compensation for:
- Medical bills to date and treatment you are expected to need
- Lost income, and a reduced ability to earn in the future
- Pain, suffering and the ways the injury has changed daily life
- Vehicle repair or replacement and other property damage
Maryland caps non-economic damages, such as pain and suffering, in injury cases, and the cap is adjusted every October 1. How serious the injury is, how long treatment lasts, what insurance is available and how clearly the evidence shows the other side was at fault all affect a claim. Results in other cases do not predict the outcome of yours.
How a consultation and case work with a Korean-speaking attorney
- Free consultation. Call or use the form on this page and say you would like to speak Korean. The consultation is free, and there is no obligation to hire the firm afterward. If your injuries make travel hard, the whole consultation can be done by phone.
- Investigation. The police report, photos, witness accounts, video and vehicle data are gathered to show how the injury happened.
- Medical records. Treatment records and bills are collected so the full extent of the injury is documented.
- Dealing with insurers. Communication with the insurance companies is handled for you, and a demand supported by the evidence is presented.
- Court if needed. If the insurer will not make a fair offer, the firm can file suit in a Maryland court and pursue the claim there.
Throughout the case, progress is explained in Korean, and you can have English insurance letters, settlement releases and court papers explained in Korean. Court proceedings themselves are conducted in English, and interpretation is arranged where it is needed for hearings and depositions.
No fee unless we recover. No fee unless we recover money for you. We advance the case costs and are repaid only from a recovery. The fee agreement is explained in writing before you sign.
Looking for a Korean lawyer near you? Rob mainly meets clients at the firm's Silver Spring office in Montgomery County and works with Korean-speaking clients from across Maryland, including Wheaton, Takoma Park, Rockville, Bethesda, Gaithersburg, Germantown, Olney, Burtonsville, College Park, Ellicott City and Columbia. If you would rather read everything in Korean, the Korean-language home page covers the same topics, or you can go straight to the free case review page.
