What Happened
Our Virginia personal injury client suffered whiplash in a chain-reaction crash on Independence Boulevard in Virginia Beach, VA. The injured man’s vehicle was sandwiched between three other vehicles when the car in front of his stopped suddenly and the car following his hit him from behind. A fourth car then slammed into the pileup.
The collision left our client needing two months of chiropractic care, during which he accumulated $3,500 in unpaid medical bills. He filed insurance claims against all three at-fault drivers, but the insurers refused to offer adequate and fair settlements. Until the man with whiplash hired our firm, the most he could have hoped to collect from combined settlements was $5,000.
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Key Legal Strategy
Our Virginia personal injury attorney forced the insurance companies to get serious by filing a civil lawsuit. The case went all the way to a jury trial at which videotaped testimony from our client’s chiropractor proved convincing. We also put a physical therapist who worked with client on the witness stand to describe directly to the jury the nature and extent of our client’s neck injury, the man’s persistent pain and limited mobility, and his lengthy treatment regimen.
At the conclusion of the trial, jurors awarded the man who suffered whiplash $30,000 to cover his medical expenses and to compensate him for pain and suffering.
Insurance companies often try to take advantage of injured people’s financial need and ignorance of the law by making quick, but far-too-low settlement offers. That is what happened after the chain-reaction crash in Virginia Beach. Fortunately, the injured victim exercised his right to consult a plaintiff’s attorney, who fought for and obtained just compensation.
Court & Date: Virginia Beach Circuit Court, Virginia Beach, VA, October 2010
Staff: Staff attorney