BicyclistPlaintiff Suffers Severe Injury When Hit By Motor Vehicle However Insurance Company Makes Unreasonable Offer
By: J. Hernandez
Submitted: 2010-09-03 15:02:01 | Word Count: 546
It is worth reviewing motor vehicle accident cases in which insurance companies have made offers well below the total ultimately recovered by the plaintiff at trial. These claims illustrate the variables that might come into consideration in the offer and the issues that may impact the ultimate outcome.
To illustrate, think about a lawsuit in which a bicyclist was injured. The driver in this situation was driving an SUV. The victim described seeing the driver come from the opposite direction then make a U-turn immediately in front of him giving him no time to stop his bicycle. This caused him to go over the hood of the vehicle. The bicyclist tore a cartilage in his wrist in the accident. This caused him problems at work where he was a mechanic for a high-end motor vehicle dealer. And a physician testified that the bicyclist's wrist will likely subsequently need to be fused and that this will likely end his career as a mechanic. This would lead to a loss of earning capacity.
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This added the driver's employer as a defendant. The insurance company made two settlement offers in the claim. The first offer was for $10,000. The second offer, which they made the week prior to trial, was for $30,000.
The bicyclist, no doubt with the advice of the law firm helping him, did not take these settlement offers. The law firm was able to publish that the claim went to trial where they attained a verdict from the jury for $550,000.
Both sides knew the particulars of this lawsuit prior to trial. The testimony of the doctor was not unexpected. However, each side saw the case from a distinct perspective and thus reached a very different conclusion as to the proper settlement value. The insurance company adjuster and defense lawyer no doubt saw the claim as concerning an injury from which there was a full recovery. They most likely discounted the bicyclist's claim that he had difficulties from the injury when he returned to work. And they most likely believed that the doctor's testimony was either too speculative or too far removed from the present.
But the law firm representing the plaintiff positioned the lawsuit so that it was not about an injury that resolved itself but about an injury that would come back to haunt the victim in the future. The injury may not have required surgery right away but it brought on enough damage to the wrist that it would need in all likelihood, not only surgery but a fusion. And this would almost certainly put an end to the victim's career as a mechanic of high-end cars. By letting the jury consider the full effect of the injury the law firm was able to attain a verdict over 18 times the amount offered by the insurer.
Author Resource:-
Joseph Hernandez is an Attorney accepting catastrophic injury cases. To learn more about how a bicycle accident lawyer can help you or to learn about other vehicle accident cases including fatal car accident cases visit the websites
