$7,982,298.80 Settlement for Motor Vehicle Accident

The firm represented a man and his family in this severe motor vehicle accident case. The man, then 40 years old, was traveling to a recycling station when he suffered a severe closed head injury as a result of the defendants’ beer delivery truck coming through a red light and striking our client’s vehicle. The defendant beverage company had overloaded the truck and failed to properly maintain the truck’s brakes, so that its driver claimed he could not stop when, as he traveled down an incline, the light turned red. Our client was hospitalized and then an inpatient at various rehabilitation centers for approximately 100 days. At the time of the collision, our client was unemployed, though he had previously earned an average annual income of 70 to 80 thousand dollars as a mid-level production manager. His net estimated lost wages after taxes were therefore between 1 and 1.25 million dollars. By the time this case was settled our client only required occasional medical treatment. However, our attorney worked with an expert life care planner who projected a range of from 1.5 to 2.2 million dollars for his future medical and supervisory care. Our client’s wife was his primary care giver, and assisted him in all phases of rehabilitation from his brain injury. The case was mediated before the Honorable Judge Judson Hamlin. At the time of the mediation this matter could not be resolved; partially because an excess insurance carrier was not yet involved, and, the insurance coverage available at that point was less than 6 million dollars. Based upon convincing proof presented by our attorney, that our client was no longer employable and had substantial loss of enjoyment of life damages, there were ongoing negotiations between all counsel following the unsuccessful mediation. The case was ultimately resolved for $7,982,298.80; the balance left on 8 million dollars of available insurance coverage after a payment was made by the defendants’ insurer for damage caused to a traffic light pole.