RESULTS: $520,000 Insurance Settlement
ATTORNEY: James P. St. Clair
STAFF: Jackie Q., Paralegal
WHAT HAPPENED:
In 2018, the plaintiff, a disabled veteran, was driving her pickup truck when a negligent driver ran a red light and smashed into her pickup. The other driver admitted fault, meaning liability for the wreck was established, but leaving a dispute about the settlement value of the multiple traumatic injuries the veteran suffered.
The veteran was able to drive herself to the emergency department due to pre-existing anxiety of enclosed spaces (ambulance). Our client complained of neck, back, and hand pain at the emergency room, but initially failed to appreciate any issue with her ankle or knee. When she saw her orthopedic surgeon four days after the wreck, she complained of knee and ankle pain. She was referred to her podiatrist for her ankle, who had performed an ankle fusion eight months prior to this wreck.
KEY LEGAL STRATEGIES:
This case provided many challenges for firm attorney Jim St. Clair because the client had significant preexisting conditions affecting the same body parts that were traumatically injured in this wreck. Insurance companies often try to pay little to nothing for people with preexisting conditions that may have been aggravated or reinjured in a wreck. Hence, the trick here was to get opinions from the medical doctors through their clinical records or reports, where the doctors gave their opinions on whether a current condition arose from the motor vehicle wreck or was wholly preexisting. And in this case, our client actually had prior surgeries.
The orthopedic surgeon provided the opinion that the accident aggravated the plaintiff’s knee replacement, which then required revision surgery, and a ligament tear in her thumb required surgical repair as well. He attributed these conditions in whole or in part to the wreck. The podiatrist decided that the serious wreck aggravated a prior ankle fusion the veteran had undergone previously, which required revision surgery.
Both medical experts were discussing potential further surgical revisions with our client before the wreck, which made our evidence and proof even trickier. The veteran incurred $180,000.00 in medical expenses. Plus, she was 100% disabled from outside work due to the pre-existing ankle, knee, back, and neck surgeries, so no additional disability or wage loss was claimed.
The key testimony was from the prior treating surgeons, who testified in video depositions, to the effect that the revisions were related to the current wreck. The insurance company retained a defense medical orthopedic expert who provided the opinion that the surgeries after the wreck were unrelated to the wreck and were solely due to the veteran’s pre-existing medical conditions. Fortunately, following the testimony of both medical experts, firm attorney Jim St. Clair was retained. Serious settlement negotiations ensued, and the case was settled satisfactorily to our client, the disabled military veteran.