Auto Accident Successes

 

$1.325 Million SETTLEMENT

We represent Connie Willis against numerous defendants for severe injuries she sustained in a car accident.  Gary Burger aggressively litigated the case and resolved much of it in August 2011.  Gary deposed the defendants and took a video deposition of Connie so she could tell her story of the accident.   She was injured when a piece of playground equipment fell off the back of a truck on Highway 270.  Connie did not strike the playground equipment but instead swerved to miss it, hitting the median and was then struck by two other vehicles.  She sustained serious injuries and we were able to get her this large recovery.   Gary made a time limited demand and forced the insurers to pay the full policy limits – including homeowners umbrella coverage which he identified.  We set up a Supplemental Needs Trust to put the settlement money in so Connie could still get her Medicare and Social Security benefits and use  the money for her needs. Connie’s injuries are serious but Gary and Mark worked to maximize her recovery and are continuing our lawsuit against other liable parties to get even more money.  Stay tuned.

$570,000 settlement

The Missouri Lawyers Weekly interviewed and featured Mark Cantor in August 2011 for the $570,000.00 settlement he obtained for his seriously injured client, a young college Freshman who was a passenger in an automobile accident.  Prior to filing a lawsuit, the insurance company for the defense had represented that the only money available was $250,000.00 but after Mark sued them on behalf of the client they paid double that amount.

In Mark’s interview he discusses how he was able to stack the liability insurance of the Defendant to double his client’s recovery.  The state of Missouri does not limit a victim’s recovery to one policy of insurance.  Instead, if multiple policies extend coverage, the victim is permitted to stack the coverage for a greater total recovery.  This commonly occurs in uninsured motorist coverage claims, but it generally does not occur for liability coverage, so this was an excellent result.

$400,000 Settlement

Mark and Gary teamed up for a great resolution in this case.  Jeff and Donna Clamors suffered injuries in an auto accident case.  The $400,000 settlement obtained for Donna and Jeff was a tremendous result – much of the medical and neck surgery that Jeff had was related to an os odentum problem from birth and was not caused by the trauma from the accident.  Donna’s medical damages totaled $16,468.89 and Jeff’s medical damages totaled $242,885.14.  However, the amount of medical paid was $1,500.00 for Donna and $45,000.00 for Jeff.  We were able to persuade the insurance company that all of his medical was related and that they should pay a very high amount to settle this case.  As a result of this, Jeff and Donna were able to buy a new home and car.  They were able to furnish that home and really improve their lives.  We’re so blessed to be able to help this cute family.

$495,000 VERDICT

Gary tried this case in the City of St. Louis for Kim Wensler against Kim’s own insurance company – who refused to settle the uninsured motorist claim.  Plaintiff was a young girl who was operating a motor bike with her brother in rural Missouri. She was going around a turn when a pickup truck came the other way. She attempted to brake, skidded and struck the front of the vehicle. She suffered some fractured ribs, lacerated spleen injuries to other internal organs. She had to undergo surgery and was left with approximately $60,000.00 in medical bills. The defendant strongly contended that she should not have been driving the motorcycle and caused the accident by her own negligence. However, the jury did not believe this defense and agreed with our position (and the real facts) that the defendant had crossed the center line and had caused the accident. The jury returned a verdict for $500,000.00 apportioning 5% fault on the Plaintiff and 95% on the Defendant resulting in a verdict of $475,000.00.

Two post scripts: 1) Gary ran into the family at court a couple of months ago and it was great to catch up with them.

2) The opposing lawyer, Mike Kornbloom passed away in 2011.  Mike was a tremendous lawyer, zealous advocate and a kind man.  Our profession and our community suffered a great loss with Mike gone.  Gary is honored to have tried a case against him.

$625,000 SETTLEMENT

Gary Burger settled a case for Kate McDonald who had head injuries following a motor vehicle accident.  As she and a friend were leaving the bar the friend immediately had an accident.  A challenge in this case was overcoming the fact that Kate and her friend were drinking and her friend drove after Kate had given her the keys.   We hired an expert who assessed future medical and life care needs, created drawings about her head and brain surgeries, and maximized her damages.  Despite the large obstacle Gary presented a successful car accident case and received a great recovery for Kate.  With the money she was awarded she is now able to save wisely for her future.

Some Smaller verdicts Sure we like to talk about the big ones, but we regularly try cases where the injuries aren’t as severe and thus the results are more modest.  But, these cases are tried when the defendants insurance company is being too cheap and trying to under compensate our clients.  We will try cases for a few thousand dollars (below) just as we do for hundred of thousands (above).

$65,000 Settlement – Gary settled Sol Allen’s case in Southern Illinois in February of 2012.  Sol was riding his bike when a car blew a stop sign and hit him.  We aggressively pursued the case and filed suit.  Then the defendants insurance company agreed to pay a fair amount to compensate Mr. Allen.  This will really help him and his family.

$45,000 verdict – Mark Cantor tried this case last year to a successful verdict in Union (Washington County) Missouri.  It was a no offer case, meaning the defense thought we would not get anything, because liability was disputed and the damages were low, so this was a large verdict given the circumstances.  Our clients were struck while going straight on a country road.  We argued the defendant failed to yield.  The defense was that the plaintiffs were speeding and not paying attention and they had a witness who testified to that fact in deposition.  Mark was able to cross examine the witness and proved to the jury he was lying and so was the defendant driver.  As a result, one 15 year old girl who had less than $600.00 in medical expenses received a verdict of $15,000.00.  That is a great result.  The parents of that child received the balance.

St. Louis County $22,000 verdict - Debbie Stelzer was rear-ended in an automobile collision in North County and suffered soft tissue, neck, and back injuries as a result. A challenge in the case was overcoming juror sympathy for the Defendant, who was a nice man, a retired fire chief, and who had had a leg amputated and arrived to and from court in a wheelchair.  Gary Burger were able to overcome the case obstacles and obtain a relatively large verdict given her chiropractic medical care.

$23,500 verdict in Jefferson County – Gary Burger represented Barbara Hackworth, who was injured on June 4, 2002 when she was sitting at a Waffle House eating breakfast with her son and daughter-in-law. As she was eating, a car came through the wall of the Waffle House knocking her off of her stool. Allstate Insurance Company would not reasonably settle the case, so we incurred the cost to fly to Arkansas and depose Barbara and her chiropractor for trial. We continued to negotiate the case on behalf of Barbara but the insurance company was stubborn and unreasonable. So, the week of November 28, 2006 Gary tried the Barbara Hackworth v. Donnie Coker case in Jefferson County before Judge Timothy Patterson. The case was vigorously defended with the insurance company lawyer throwing everything and the kitchen sink at us. However, the jury was not fooled. Barbara had approximately $4,600.00 in medical expense damages, and no wage loss damages – the jury returned a verdict of for Barbara against the defendant.

$65,000 Settlement – Tom Nachtweich was driving home from work and was stopped to take a right turn. Suddenly two other cars traveling the opposite direction crashed in front of him. One of the cars was thrown into Tom’s truck, injuring him. Gary Burger successfully settled the case – but the real reward in the case was receiving this holiday card.  Tom and his wife Sheila remain good friends of the firm.   Tom was recently injured in a different incident and we are helping him with that case too.

$16,448.49 Jefferson County Verdict - Mark Cantor tried this case in September 2010 for his client Heather Sommers in the case of Heather Sommers v. Kaitlin Melin.  The case was tried in Jefferson County Missouri, which is a very conservative venue.  After the successful verdict, Mark was able to reduce the outstanding hospital liens and other expenses to maximize his clients recovery.