Stark & Stark is proud to announce that Shareholder Deborah Dunn has recovered $800,000 for an individual injured in a motor vehicle crash.
Deborah’s 49 year old client suffered an aggravation to a preexisting back injury and an injury to his neck when he was rear-ended in January of 2016 on I-195 in Hamilton, New Jersey. While the Defendant agreed that he was negligent and caused the crash, he attempted to avoid responsibility for Deborah’s client’s injuries by alleging that the injuries were not caused by the crash. Relying on the photographs of the vehicles, the defendant attempted to characterize the impact from the crash as minimal. They attempted to characterize Deborah’s client’s 2018 lumbar decompression and laminectomy as related to preexisting problems and also attempted to minimize Deborah’s client’s pain and suffering by pointing to recommended treatment that was not pursued.
Deborah was confident that she could prove her client’s physical and financial losses by contrasting the quality of his life and normal activities from before the crash with his life after the crash, not only through expert testimony but also through the testimony of her client and his family and friends. As a result of her preparation and persistence, she was ultimately successful in forcing the Defendant to take full responsibility for her client’s injuries, notwithstanding the numerous, difficult defenses.
Ms. Dunn stated: “By forcing the insurance company to a fair settlement, we not only held the Defendant responsible for his negligence, we held the insurance company responsible for their contractual obligation as well. All too often, the latter is the greater difficulty. My client has to live with his injuries for the rest of his life. This result will allow him to move on with his life and adjust to his new normal a little easier.”
