Personal Injury / Wrongful Death
Attorneys at Law

Automobile Wreck:

In 1996, Buck and Maggie were looking forward to retiring in about eighteen months. Buck had worked, for years, as a diesel mechanic. Maggie worked at Leon High School. They had bought a motor home and were looking forward to retirement. After living by all the rules and raising their family they were preparing for a happy and vigorous retirement, traveling the country and fishing on their beloved Lake Seminole, with friends.

All that changed when an alcoholic millwright, whose driver's license had been revoked, ran through a stop sign and struck Buck who was on his way to work in Bainbridge, Georgia. The wreck fractured Buck's C-2 vertebra and left him a quadriplegic from the neck down. Fortunately, a nurse was following behind the wreck and she was able to open Buck's airway and begin CPR. Miraculously, Buck survived the life threatening injuries, but was paralyzed from the neck down.

Buck's wife, Maggie, contacted our firm for help. Initially, things looked grim. Despite expert medical care, Buck was almost completely paralyzed from the neck down. The Georgia millwright's firm's insurance company was denying coverage saying the driver did not have permission to operate the vehicle. Buck and Maggie had not bought sufficient underinsured motorist coverage to protect them and there was a dispute about the amount of coverage actually available.

A thorough at-the-scene investigation and review of Georgia Law convinced us that the millwright's insurer should tender its policy limits and that there was coverage. In addition, we presented evidence to the underinsured motorist carrier that these were severe injuries and they should tender the full amount of the disputed UIM limits.

When neither company was forthcoming with settlement, we filed suit in State Court and then Federal Court seeking to hold both companies responsible for damages and for bad faith in failing to negotiate the settlement of a claim of clear liability and catastrophic damages. The insurance coverage issues and the question of bad faith were the main issues. We negotiated a stipulation with the insurance companies to try this issue first under the Cunningham proceeding. Partner David Burns was intimately familiar with the Cunningham case, having been involved in the appeal. Our past experience with insurance litigation convinced us we could make out a case of bad faith because neither company had dealt fairly with our clients or attempted to settle the case in the months after the wreck even though they knew liability was clear and the injuries were horrible.

We traveled around the country to take sworn depositions of the adjusters and company officials at the offices of both insurance companies involved. A special mediation conference was then held, presided over by one of Florida's premiere lawyer/mediators. Executives from both companies attended. To persuade these executives that they wanted to settle now and avoid a trial, we played portions of the videotaped depositions of the insurance adjusters and corporate officials. We isolated key statements from the days of depositions showing that the adjusters recognized the catastrophic nature of the case, clear liability and that their own legal staff knew there was coverage within weeks following the wreck. We showed an internal memorandum where a company official had instructed an adjuster not to bring up certain information that would have proven the greater coverage available. The company violated its own internal procedures by not responding to the statutory sixty-day notice or claim of bad faith.

After intensive negotiation over six months, at two separate mediation sessions, settlements were worked out for our clients, totaling over $3,000,000. In addition, we worked with Georgia co-counsel, experienced in workers' compensation, to negotiate a resolution of the workers' compensation issues to win an additional $300,000.

Buck and Maggie were able to get the medical care that Buck needed, including around-the-clock attendant care. One of our proudest days came last year riding on Buck's new boat, across Lake Seminole, with him sitting at the bow, enjoying the beautiful wildlife and lake that been so important to him before he was paralyzed.

Truck Wreck/Amputation

Defective Elevator Shaft

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