Neck Injury Expert Witness
Using an Expert Witness for a Neck Injury
In this video, learn about a recent successful case using an expert witness for a neck injury. Contact one of our experienced personal injury lawyers in Buffalo NY if you were injured.
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Our firm was successful in resolving a recent case for a client whom we had represented for over two years. The case involved a serious auto accident, which required our client to receive surgery for a neck injury that she sustained in the collision. The driver of the other vehicle was represented by an insurance company that utterly refused to recognize the significance and the extent of the injuries and the damages. For almost the entirety of the case, the company forced our firm to jump through many hoops, expecting us to concede and accept their paltry initial offer. When we persisted, the company raised its settlement offer to $150,000, and when we declined, the amount increased to $275,000. The company still fully expected our firm to resolve this case by accepting one of these offers, none of which were the settlement that our client truly deserved.
Instead, when we saw that the insurance company was repeatedly ignoring our demands, we consulted a third party to help in the case. Our firm hired an expert witness with substantial experience in offering vocational training for the field in which our client had worked. The witness was able to provide relevant, critical insight into the severity of our client’s injuries by assessing her ability to continue performing the basic responsibilities of her job. The witness proved, within a reasonable doubt, that our client would be unable to return to her former job, and because of the lack of transferable skills, it would not be possible for her to find any new gainful employment.
Based upon this witness’s testimony, we put together motion papers in an admissible form. We filed pleadings demanding that the insurance company conduct its own medical examination, a simple responsibility that the company failed to fulfill in time. The insurance company returned to court three times and asked the judge for more time to conduct the examination. Although we opposed each of these requests, the court kept giving the insurance company extensions. Every time that the insurance company won that small victory, its representatives would pressure our firm into accepting the most recent settlement offer. However, we did not yield; with every extension that the company was granted, our firm continued to advocate for our client.
Finally, the insurance company agreed to arbitrate the matter, setting as a high the policy limit of $300,000. This was the maximum insurance coverage that the company was able to provide, as there were no assets, excess coverages, or umbrella policy. Our office agreed to the arbitration because we wanted to obtain the highest amount possible within the limits of the policy for our client. Once the insurance company realized, even before arbitration had been scheduled, that our firm was serious about fighting for the $300,000 in its entirety, a representative from the company called our office and offered the full amount. The insurance company notified us that the case would resolve at that amount, but that it had expected us to accept a lower offer. Apparently, the insurance company had dealt with similar cases in the past, and other firms had accepted lower settlement offers at earlier points in these cases. The company had finally come to see things our way because of the effort that our office put into this case, and our refusal to accept less than what our client deserved was the deciding factor.
Check out our Auto Accident Survival Guide for further information on what you should do after an accident that caused injury.