Personal injury · family law · estate planning Tacoma, WA · est. 2011

When it matters, preparation wins.

Insurance companies settle differently with lawyers who actually try cases. For fourteen years, Harbor & Vale has prepared every injury claim as if a Pierce County jury will hear it — and handled our neighbors’ divorces and estates with the same care.

Free and confidential — and we will tell you plainly if you do not have a case.

The two Harbor & Vale partners standing at a conference table spread with open case files, a wall of bound legal reporters behind them.
Rachel Harbor and Jonah Vale — the two lawyers who will actually work your file.

Founded

2011 — fourteen years serving Tacoma and Pierce County

Admitted

Washington + Oregon state bars · W.D. Washington federal court

Injury fees

Contingency only — no fee unless we win your case

Access

You get your lawyer’s direct line — not a case manager’s voicemail

Practice areas

Three practices. One standard of preparation.

A deliberately small firm: we take fewer cases and work them harder, whether the matter is a collision, a custody schedule, or a will.

01

Personal Injury

Our lead practice · contingency fee

Car, truck, and motorcycle collisions, premises liability, and wrongful death. We deal with the insurers so you can deal with healing — and you pay nothing unless we recover for you.

No fee unless we win

Details →

02

Family Law

Divorce · custody · support

Steady counsel through divorce, parenting plans, and support — focused on protecting your kids and your future, not inflaming the conflict. Flat fees available for uncontested matters.

Flat fees available

Details →

03

Estate Planning

Wills · trusts · probate

Plain-English wills, trusts, and powers of attorney at package prices you see before you commit — plus steady hands for probate when a family needs them most.

From $1,200

will package

Details →

Case results

The ledger we’re measured by

A few recent recoveries for injured clients. We publish the number, the case type, and how it resolved — nothing inflated, nothing cherry-picked from decades ago.

$2.4M

Trucking collision — settlement

Commercial truck crossed the centerline on SR-7; our client needed two spinal surgeries. Settled after depositions, before trial. 2024.

$975K

Premises liability — jury verdict

A Tacoma warehouse store ignored a documented spill for 40 minutes. The insurer’s best offer was $90K — a Pierce County jury disagreed. 2023.

$610K

Motorcycle crash — settlement

Left-turn driver “didn’t see” our client. Accident reconstruction and an early demand package resolved it in nine months. 2024.

Past results do not guarantee future outcomes. Every case is different, and the value of any claim depends on its own facts, injuries, insurance coverage, and proof. Amounts shown are gross recoveries before attorney fees, costs, and medical liens.

Your lawyers

Two partners. No hand-offs.

The lawyer you meet at your free case review is the lawyer who works your case — and the one whose cell number you’ll have.

Rachel Harbor, partner — a woman in a charcoal blazer and ivory blouse against a warm plaster wall.

Rachel Harbor

Partner · personal injury & trial practice

A former insurance-defense lawyer who switched sides in 2011 — she knows exactly how adjusters value your claim, because she used to write those evaluations.

Full profile →
Jonah Vale, partner — a man in a navy blazer and open-collar white shirt against a warm plaster wall.

Jonah Vale

Partner · family law & estates

Fifteen years guiding Tacoma families through divorce, parenting plans, and estate planning — with a mediator’s temperament and a litigator’s preparation when it’s needed.

Full profile →

Demonstration portraits, not real people — this is a website template and Harbor & Vale is a fictional firm. Replace both with photographs of your actual attorneys before launch; never publish an invented likeness on a law-firm profile.

How it works

What working with us looks like

№ 01

Tell us what happened

A free, confidential conversation — by phone, video, or in our Pacific Avenue office. We’ll give you a straight answer about whether you have a case and what your options are, even if the answer is “you don’t need a lawyer.”

№ 02

We build the file

Evidence preserved, records gathered, experts consulted, deadlines calendared. You get updates in plain English at every stage — and a direct line to your lawyer, not a portal.

№ 03

You decide, informed

Settle or go to trial, sign or negotiate further — the decision is always yours. Our job is to make sure it’s an informed one, with every offer explained against what we believe the case is worth.

Client words

What clients say when it’s over

★★★★★

“The insurance company offered me $11,000 and called it generous. Rachel told me to let her handle it and go to physical therapy. She called every couple of weeks with real updates until it was settled — for a lot more.”

Danielle M.

· car collision · via Google

★★★★★

“Jonah kept my divorce from becoming a war. He told me early what was worth fighting for and what wasn’t, and my kids never had to watch their parents burn money in court.”

Chris B.

· divorce + parenting plan · via Google

★★★★★

“After my husband’s crash we were drowning — medical bills, a totaled truck, an adjuster calling daily. One meeting and all of that landed on their desk instead of ours.”

Teresa & Sam L.

· trucking collision · via Google

★★★★★

“We put off our wills for a decade because it felt overwhelming. One evening appointment, a fixed price we knew up front, and it was done. Should have called years ago.”

Marcus O.

· estate plan · via Google

Good questions

Asked across our conference table

Still wondering about something? Call — a person answers during business hours, and the consultation is free.

Call (253) 555-0188
What does it cost to hire you?

Injury cases are pure contingency: no retainer, no hourly bills, no fee unless we recover money for you — and we advance the case costs. Family-law matters are billed hourly against a retainer, with flat fees available for uncontested divorces. Estate planning is flat-fee, quoted in writing before we start.

How do I know if I have a case?

You ask us — that’s what the free case review is for. We’ll look at liability, your injuries or legal issue, and the available insurance, then tell you honestly whether a claim is worth pursuing. If it isn’t, we’ll say so and point you in the right direction.

Will my case go to trial?

Most cases settle — but they settle better when the other side knows your lawyers are ready to try the case. We prepare every file for trial from day one, and whether to accept a settlement is always your decision, not ours.

How long will it take?

Honest answer: it depends. Injury claims often resolve in six to eighteen months, longer if surgery or a lawsuit is involved — and settling before your medical picture is clear usually means settling for too little. Uncontested divorces have a 90-day minimum in Washington; most estate plans are signed within three weeks.

The insurance adjuster keeps calling. Should I talk to them?

Be polite, take their name, and don’t give a recorded statement before you get legal advice. Adjusters are trained to ask questions that shrink your claim. Once we’re involved, those calls come to us instead of you.

Do you handle cases outside Tacoma?

Yes. We’re based in Tacoma and appear regularly throughout Pierce, King, Thurston, and Kitsap counties, and we’re licensed in both Washington and Oregon.

Talk to a trial lawyer today. It costs nothing.

Free, confidential case review — and for injury cases, no fee unless we win. The insurance company already has lawyers. You should too.

Hours

Mon–Fri 8:00–5:30 · evenings by appointment

Find us

1201 Pacific Ave, Suite 600, Tacoma, WA 98402

Parking

Validated garage entrance on Court C

Call (253) 555-0188 Free case review