Electric Contractor's Driver Denies He Caused Chain Accident -- We Prove He is Wrong

NOTE: This article is part of our ongoing series highlighting recent cases.

In a case involving an intrastate carrier, a truck that operates only within the State of Georgia, our attorneys were successful in reaching a recovery worth several hundred thousand dollars for a client who had suffered a head injury after she was struck by a custom-built electrical contractor company's truck early one evening in traffic.  Our client sustained a moderate head injury that required several months of treatment and physical therapy and she recovered very nicely.  Regardless, she was out a lot of money for her medical expenses and was unable to work for several weeks following her injury and needed to recover for those lost wages as well. 

The accident involved a total of five vehicles.  During the course of the initial liability investigation the driver of the truck claimed he did not make contact with our client's vehicle, but had swerved to miss her and struck the retaining wall.  The driver claimed that our client had unexpectedly slowed her vehicle down while on the highway and he wound up running up close to her and attempted to avoid her by swerving.  He also maintained the damage to her vehicle came as she attempted to avoid his vehicle by maneuvering into the lane of travel on her right-hand side and wound up being involved in an accident with two other vehicles. 

We immediately demanded that the electrical carrier preserve the truck in its current, post-accident state, without making any repairs.   Our attorneys then went,  personally, and conducted an inspection of the truck involved in the vehicle, as well as our client's vehicle before any repairs were made.  We were able to, utilizing photographs, demonstrate that the damage and paint transfers were consistent with our client's version of events that her vehicle had been struck in the rear driver side by the electrical contractor's truck and that action had pushed her vehicle into the right-hand lane of travel causing the contact with the other vehicles.  Once we were able to prove this chain of events, which was done without an expert, we were able to settle our client's case for an appropriate value given the nature of her injuries for an amount that was more than fair given the nature of her injuries and the conduct of the driver in calling into question or client's correct version of events.

Golf Cart Insurance Policy Pays for Motorcycle Rider's Injuries

NOTE: This article is part of our ongoing series highlighting recent cases.

Our attorneys, believe it or not, were have been successful in forcing an insurance policy insuring a golf cart to make a payment to one of our clients injured in an accident while riding his motorcycle.

The story behind the actual accident is not too spectacular, nor out of the ordinary, other than the nature of our client's injuries, which were unbelievably significant.  He was required to be hospitalized for several weeks, underwent several surgeries, and was required to endure months of physical therapy, rehabilitation and missed time from work while he convalesced.

Our attorneys were very quickly able to establish liability against the driver who caused the accident and were able to engage in very fruitful settlement negotiations with the at‑fault party and reach a settlement of the claim.  We were also able to tap into our client's available underinsured motorist policies and leverage payments of those limits in addition to the settlement that we had obtained from the at-fault driver.  However, we also were aware that our client, who lives in a golf cart community, had an insurance policy on the golf cart in the garage.  The insurance company had issued a recreational vehicle policy on the golf cart, as opposed to a standard motor vehicle policy.  They claimed that a recreational vehicle policy was not required to cover other household vehicles, like regular motor vehicle policies are required to.  We contended the insurance company was wrong and Georgia law, the local county law, and the local community law, all required a motor vehicle policy to have been issued on the golf cart, not a recreational vehicle policy.  We argued, therefore, that the applicable policy limits of the recreational vehicle policy would apply as an additional underinsured motorist policy that could be stacked into coverage behind the underinsured motorist policies on the family vehicles.  After presenting our case, including the legal argument we contended required the golf cart policy to pay for this accident, the insurance company, ultimately, agreed with us and tendered the limits of the recreational vehicle policy as underinsured motorist funds in an effort to satisfy the injuries suffered in this accident.

This is one of our most favorite cases to tell people about because of the successful result we were able to obtain for our client and because it illustrates our legal creativity and willingness to explore it for the good of our clients. 

Why are golf cart / car accidents different than regular automobile accidents?

The first and most obvious reason is that the most golf carts/cars are not enclosed.  Whereas an average passenger vehicle is enclosed and contains safety devices and restrains to minimize the impact and risk to the passengers in the vehicle, rarely do such protections exist for golf carts/cars.

Despite the lack of safety restraints and protections, the design of the golf cart/car has not been redesigned to make it safer or appropriate when in traffic. Yet, despite the design of a golf cart/car, the general physics of a motor vehicle accident remain the same and golf carts are not made to sustain the impacts and cross forces of a traffic accident. Many times people involved in golf cart/car accidents are thrown from the cart, and as a result many times people involved in accidents in golf carts suffer broken bones and catastrophic death at a higher rate than regular motor vehicle accidents. 

In fact, golf cart/car accidents can sometimes be so complex because of the physics involved that many times accident reconstructionists are required to go out to the scene of an actual accident to recreate it. This requires that an individual injured in a golf cart/car accident act quickly to employ a lawyer who can hire an accident reconstructionist while there is still physical evidence located at the actual accident scene. Skid marks, gouges in the pavement, the painting that police officers may have made at the scene are types of evidence that over a short period of time can disappear. 

However, if a golf cart/car accident victim is quick enough in to hire a golf cart/car accident lawyer and protect their interests, forensic evidence at the scene can be quickly examined, maintained, and utilized to your advantage.  The accident attorneys at Golf Cart Law are well versed in preserving evidence of golf cart accidents both on the vehicles and at the scene.  We have worked on numerous occasions with very experienced accident reconstructionists and believe we have some of the best accident reconstruction resources available to us to help us build a solid case on your behalf, protect your interests, and prove that you are truly the victim of a golf cart/car accident that was not your fault.

In addition to the physics and the high chance of ejection from a golf cart, the general perception of a golf cart as a safe vehicle for transportation is a difficult bias that must be realized and addressed.  Golf carts/cars are low speed vehicles that have governors in place to maintain a minimum speed and they have low centers of gravity with a wide wheel base to maintain stability.  They are well designed and generally safe vehicles for their intended purpose, allowing golfers to maintain a good pace of play on the golf course.

These assumptions of safety have followed the golf cart/car into traffic where its use has been highly promoted and lobbied by the golf cart/car manufacturing industry.  While there have been more and more golf carts sold into the marketplace for general transportation, the vehicle has not be redesigned for this new use and foreseen traffic uses and dangers.  As a result, the vehicle is deceptively dangerous, and these perceptions and dangers must be dealt with head on and aggressively so that people understand many times the biggest cause of an injury or death is the cart/car itself.

Because of this, many times the injuries or death are the result of the failure of the golf cart/car to keep a person in the vehicle and are the result of a product defect or a poor design.  In these instances, a golf cart/car accident must be pursued in two different manners, as a traffic accident against the party at fault for the accident and against the manufactures who continue to promote their products as safe and sell them into the mainstream without any appropriate changes to the design to make them safe for traffic.  Recognizing these subtle differences and clues can make a huge difference to the value of a golf cart/car accident case and the lawyers at Golf Cart Law are in the position to quickly recognize these situations and utilize these factors to our clients' advantage.

Finally, the golf cart industry has taken to making aftermarket adjustments and additions to golf carts/cars, many of which make the vehicle less stable.  To be sure many aftermarket changes are safe, such as seat belts and zip up sides, but many others will make the vehicle less safe.  Raising tires, adding weight and other aftermarket changes or adjustments can change the center of gravity of the vehicle and make rollovers and ejections even more likely.  When this happens, a person involved in a golf cart/car accident needs to be able to identify possible additional parties who may have made these adjustments as parties who are also responsible for the accident because they made the golf cart less stable leading the accident.  Again, these theories are known to the attorneys at Golf Cart Law and they are ready to pursue these avenues when they lead to the cause of an accident and injury or death to one of our clients.

Lawyers with this advantage of knowledge can be more assertive and effective in utilizing these theories against the golf cart manufacturing industry and their insurance companies to increase the value of their clients' case.The golf cart/car accident injury attorneys at Golf Cart Law craft all of their tactics and strategies in pursuing golf cart accident injury claims around these theories and mechanisms of injury, and supporting laws, in an attempt to, in fact, utilize this legal framework as aggressively as possible to foreclose any defense that may be raised by the golf cart/car manufacture, after market manufacture or at-fault party and ensure that our clients reach the successful resolution of their claim.

Biker forced to Lay Bike Down and Suffers Injuries After "Un-Insured" Bus Illegally Turns in Front of Him

NOTE: This article is part of our ongoing series highlighting recent cases.

Our attorneys settled a case that began when a gentleman on a motorcycle was forced to lay his bike down on the road when a bus made an illegal left-hand turn in front of our client, who had the right-of-way.  The client did not initially hire our law firm and, instead, went to an attorney who was quickly rebuffed by the bus company's insurance company.  The was that the bus had just been purchased and had not yet been reported as part of the company's fleet to the insurance company.  The VIN was not yet part of the insurance package or declarations page.  In rejecting the obligation to make a payment for the injuries the client suffered, the insurance company claimed that because the bus was new and had not yet been listed on the declarations page of the insurance policy that it was an uncovered vehicle and that no insurance would be applicable.  They, therefore, declined to agree they were responsible for his injuries or make any payment.

When the client finally retained our law firm our attorneys knew, immediately, that the issue as to whether the bus was part of the declarations page or insurance package was not important because Georgia law places certain obligations upon this commercial carrier to insure this bus, even if it was brand new, and had not been reported to the insurance company.  We were able to, quickly, show the insurance company the appropriate law in Georgia that would govern their conduct and, quickly, thereafter, were able to settle our client's case.

We share this example with you because we feel that it is indicative of our law firm's tenacity in pursuing cases that other lawyers have either abandoned or do not have the appropriate appreciation of the issues and nuances related to common carriers and truck accidents as we do.  And our refusal to be bluffed or bullied by insurance companies through their usual tactics.

Military Health Insurance Lien Resolved and Additional Monies Found at a Reduced Attorney Fee Rate for an Active Military Service Member

NOTE: This article is part of our ongoing series highlighting recent cases.

We were contacted by an active duty Army sergeant who was injured when a truck cut off his motorcycle and he, too, sustained serious injuries to his leg.  He was required to undergo a number of surgical procedures and, when he contacted us, the military was in the process of assessing whether he needed to be medically discharged seven months shy of 20 years in service and retirement.  To add insult to injury, he was unable to reach any type of settlement with the at‑fault party's insurance carrier because of a lien placed against any settlement funds.  When we met this sergeant we, again, reviewed his entire case and, again, were able to find an additional insurance policy, worth $100,000.00, that he was unaware of that had liability to make payment for his injuries and accident.

Knowing everything that we did about the case, and how valuable it could be in terms of attorney's fees, we still reduced the fees that we charged this service member in thanks and gratitude to his two deployments to Afghanistan.  We were immediately able to provide the at‑fault party's insurance carrier with adequate assurances that the lien would be satisfied and they shortly they turned over the available insurance monies to satisfy his claim. 

We were also successful in our efforts at lobbying the military with regard to his situation and we received a waiver their lien.

Again, a client who we were able to enhance the value of his settlement, significantly, through our knowledge and efforts.  Yet at the same time that we provided value to this client, we still maintained our office's own pride and integrity in adjusting our fee for this serviceman.

Help Resolving Medical Bills and Liens and Discovering More Money for our Clients

NOTE: This article is part of our ongoing series highlighting recent cases.

If you have medical liens from doctors, or other healthcare providers, or, more scary, claims of liens or rights of repayment/subrogation from a health insurer, the government, or anyone else who may have provided medical services to you and they are demanding back money from you, you need to speak with an attorney.  Here are two very good examples of our clients, who we have recently worked with, who called us to resolve lien issues and, in both cases, we wound up enhancing the value of their settlement, significantly.

One case involved an older man, back at work after his accident caused when his motorcycle was hit by a privately owned intrastate contracting company.  He was run off the road and suffered significant injuries, including a broken leg, pelvis, and other damages requiring significant hospitalization.  Our client left the hospital with permanent disfigurement to his body and several hundred thousand dollars in medical bills.  He was lucky that he had good health insurance that paid for the medical bills, so his out-of-pocket costs really were as low as they possibly could have been.

But his health insurance company had in its health insurance contract a provision, like every contract for health insurance in America, that requires him to repay them for the value of the medical services they provided to him if he was able to collect any money from the at‑fault third party who caused the accident.  After he went home from the hospital, our client was able to settle his claim by himself with the at‑fault party's insurance company for its policy limits, and signed an appropriate release.  Unaware he might need to repay his health insurance carrier, he began to use the money how he needed to given his financial condition resulting from his lost wages following the accident.  About nine months later he was contacted by the health insurance company who demanded repayment for the monies it had paid for his medical services.  By this time the funds he had recovered from the available insurance monies had dwindled significantly and he was unable to pay the claimed lien amount.  By the time he called us he was having difficulty negotiating with the health insurance company.

When we reviewed his file with him we reviewed this not only to see if we could help him in minimizing the amount of monies he would have to repay for the healthcare lien, but also to determine whether he had already received full value for his claim.  When we looked at this case we discovered that there were two other insurance policies he did not know of that were available to provide an additional $200,000.00 in coverage to him for his injuries.  We don't think that he ever would have discovered the existence of these policies or known that they had legal obligations to make a payment for his injuries, and we believe that our evaluation increased his value of his case by that $200,000.00 that we were able to recover on his behalf.

 In the meantime we were also able to negotiate the liens for repayment.  Our lawyers know that just because some health insurance companies claim that they have a right to be repaid means that legally they can force you to pay them back.  Using our knowledge of these laws we were able to negotiate a settlement of this gentleman's health insurance lien and agreed to pay only 25 percent of the amount that the health insurance company claimed was owed to them.  By the time we collected the additional $200,000.00 for our client and paid off the health insurance lien, we were able to put in excess of $100,000.00 into our client's pocket that he did not know existed prior to meeting with us, which initially was only supposed to be so we could help him resolve a lien.

Some of Our Significant Cases

Many other law firms post their larger or more significant cases on their websites in an effort to inform potential clients of their skill level and prowess in handling a significant matter such as an accident involving a large truck or bus.  We have also had similar large successes.  For example, in the past 18 months we have settled a bad faith case arising out of an accident involving a truck accident with an insurance company for $700k (7x the available limits), represented a family in the wrongful death of their father when he was died following a traffic accident and recovered $1.35 million for his widow and estate and we recently won a $750k arbitration award in a case involving a single vehicle roll over with a serious product defect, where the driver was alleged to be drunk (now on appeal).  These are in addition to other cases we have successfully resolved for our clients during this time. 

We feel compelled to be able to show you some of our more significant cases as well, so you can see our experience in handling similar cases to yours and understand how successful we can be in handling your case while providing value to you that other attorneys may not be able to.   

We do so, however, with slight trepidation and a disclaimer. 

Our hesitation in identifying only some of the larger cases that we have handled as significant is that we fear it diminishes the significance of every client's case that we have handled. In all honesty, to each individual client their case is very important and it is, therefore, significant to us. What we have tried to compile in all case-related articles is examples of a few cases that our lawyers have been involved with that show the range and depth of our experience level, our legal creativity and how we can utilize these skills in enhancing our clients’ cases and make sure that they are compensated appropriately.  With these reservations in mind, the following are some of our more recent success stories:

The Cardboard Sign Case

In a case that was recently covered by one of the local newspapers, our lawyers were instrumental in tracking down a  witness to an accident caused when a truck backed into our client's lane of travel.  Without a witness able to corroborate our client's version of events his claims would never be honored by any insurance carriers and there was plenty of insurance money available to cover his claims. 

Our client was traveling to work one day and as he was doing so a truck loaded down with material was backing up into the streets in an effort to make a U-turn across the roadway.  In doing so the driver of the truck couldn't see our client approaching because our client was approaching through a blind spot or "no zone."  As the truck continued to back up the client took evasive maneuvers on his motorcycle trying to move one way around the truck and when he was foreclosed from doing so, he attempted to go the other way as well.  Neither option worked and as the maneuvers failed to protect him he was forced to lay down his motorcycle and was seriously injured in the crash.  The truck drove off and all the client could remember, for quite some time, was that he recalled a red vehicle behind him while he was coming down the street and a nurse who was able to help him at the accident site. 

Our attorneys were the second group of lawyers on the case and the first to walk the accident scene and roadway.  Immediately we realized that if you were traveling this roadway you had a reason to be there and that 80% of the traveling public on the road was likely to be locals.  We thought a sign on the road looking for the missing witness might do the trick -- AND IT DID.  We were able to settle the case for $275k and you can read about it in the article published by the Fulton County Daily Report here:

Video Leads to Large Settlement

The photo below memorializes one of the most crazy cases we have been able to settle.  We got the video because our client and his friends were out one day hoping to videotape each other having a good time riding their motorcycles and doing tricks, like wheelies, and other things. So as our client was rolling by, he took a video.

The aftermath of the accident was that our client went to the hospital with a broken leg that required surgical repair.  He had no health insurance and big, outstanding medical bills.  He was also credited with causing the accident and charged with reckless driving by the officer who arrived at the accident and conducted the investigation.  As part of our "from ticket to trial" philosophy, we handled the client's traffic citations as part of his personal injury case and were able to successfully have those charges dismissed.

One other lawyer turned down the case cold and another closed the file once he got a letter from the insurance company denying the claim.  When we looked at the video, in our FREE INITAL CONSULTATION, we did so on a frame by frame basis.  When we did we came across the frame below and we thought we might be successful with the case. 

See, the single frame capture clearly shows a yellow light several moments after the accident with dust and debris still flying around.  It was pretty clear that our client still had the right of way at the time of the accident and he didn't cause the collision. 

Shortly after we sent the video and screen capture along with a revised demand letter, we were able to force a settlement for enough money to satisfy the outstanding medical billings, the client's lost wages and money for his pain and suffering.  In this case a photo was worth not only a thousand words, but instead also worth many thousands and thousands of dollars.

Complicated Settlement for Two-Year-Old Boy

Our attorneys successfully negotiated a settlement for a 2-year-old boy who suffered head injuries in an accident.  The injuries were relatively minor, given his very young age, and after periodic monitoring for six months with a doctor he was fully discharged.  The facts of his case were similar to many accidents and the ultimate settlement was an amount that was appropriate for the nature and type of injuries the child suffered. 

We point this case out to people interested in reading about our skills and abilities because of this client's young age.  A settlement for a child under the age of 18 must be approved by a court and many times needs to be structured appropriately. Additionally, the court will need to obtain from the client's attorney certain assurances that the money will be properly maintained for child's use and benefit and spent only for those purposes.  In other words they are required by law to make sure that the adults in the child's life aren't going to go off spending his money on themselves, cars, or their "toys." 

In this particular case we were able to successfully structure the settlement so as to satisfy all of the outstanding medical bills and health insurance claims that were made against the settlement funds.  We were also able to provide a small, lump-sum, payment to the family immediately and structure the rest of the settlement monies in such a way as to ensure adequate amounts of monies would be available to him for college tuition and expenses.  His parents also wanted to make sure there would be an additional payment to this young man some several years past his college graduation, hopefully to finance his first home purchase.  Our attorneys worked very closely with the family in structuring these benchmarks that were important to them.  We also worked closely with funding companies we have working relationships with to make sure that the structure the family wanted to put in place for the funds was not only attainable and appropriate, but that the money would be invested with appropriate financial companies to ensure that the monies would still be there in 20 years when the child is supposed to receive them.  Our contacts and knowledge level in working on cases like this can be a benefit to you and your children who have been involved in accidents and we are more than happy to explore these possibilities with you.

Medrano FCDR Article 2013

Ramic FCDR Article 2011