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You are here: Experts > Jobs/Careers > Lawyers > Personal Injury Law (Accidents/Slip & Fall) > Two part personal injury
Expert: Glenn A. Dorfman - 10/31/2009
Question
QUESTION: Mr. Dorfman,
I would like to first Thank You in advance for your time. I am hoping that you might be able to advise on a situation that a relative of mine is facing. I will attempt to be brief. On April 2007 while working for a trucking company my relative was in a rear end collision that included two other vehicles. They were in heavy traffic and attempting to avoid an accident scene on the side of a three-lane highway. They were traveling at about 30MPH. My relative was in the middle lane when two vehicles one hauling a trailer with a boat merged in front of him and suddenly stopped. My relative’s truck was at the end of the line. After hearing nothing for almost 2 years he was served with papers and is being sued by a passenger in the 2nd vehicle for whiplash (Pain and Suffering). In the process of going through the paperwork we found that this person had a slip and fall accident April 2008 where she landed on her back in a chapel with stone floors and was taken to the hospital for treatment. Her (as of now incomplete) medical records indicate that she sought medical attention in 2007 5 months after the accident but missed no work and traveled as far as 1500 miles (3000 round trip) only 6 weeks after the initial accident. But after the fall in 2008 sought medical attention numerous times. This individual also a 57 year old nun (YES A NUN) who lives in Canada did an interview 23days after the initial accident in 2007 where she states that no one was seriously injured she was simply concerned about the vehicle and the three sisters (nuns) were a little shaken. He is being told that she is seeking 50k+ but more like 100k. The injury that she is claiming specifically is Grade II Whiplash. Just another note because she waited 2 years to file suite the company that my relative worked for and their insurance carrier went bankrupt and is currently in liquidation. I guess my actual question to you is based on her fall in 2008 what are the chances that the fall is what caused her injury and not the accident. I will more than happily answer any questions that you have. My relative is in his 50’s and the stress is taking its toll.
Thanks Again
Amanda
ANSWER: Considering that you know all of this information about the plaintiff, I presume that the case is in litigation. If lawyers are defending the case on behalf of your friend and his employer, they must be getting paid by the employer's insurance company and presumably, the policy limits are more than adequate to cover any settlement, judgment or verdict in favor of the nun. Sure, the nun is talking 100K but I bet you $5 that in the end, she accepts 25K or less; way less. As for liquidation of the insurance company, the State where this happened probably has a fund or some other method to see that policyholders are not left up in the air if their insuror closes up. Or, if the employer company is still in business, the employer is the entity they would be targeting. In either event, I can't imagine that your friend, on a personal level, has anything at all to worry about.
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: Mr. Dorfman
My friend has an attorney that he is paying out of pocket the company has no lawyers as it went out of business in the fall of 2008. The fund in which you speak wont pay because the insurance was a risk retention group type of insurance what ever that means.
Does the fall that happened in 2008 play into this?
Thank you once again for your time
Amanda
Answer
Of course prior injuries are relevant, very relevant, to the current claim. A Class 3 whiplash is not a term of use where I practice but I would certainly want to know what her diagnosis was from the previous accident, what treatment she received, when she was last treated. And to the present injury, was there an MRI taken in order to have objective proof of injury? What kind of treatment has she received. I still don't understand how your friend was driving a company truck and there was no insurance. Does he have his own auto insurance? That might provide coverage but I guess he looked into that. What about homeowner's insurance. That also might provide some coverage. One way out of the whole thing is bankruptcy but that would only be advantageous if he is already deep in debt and by bankruptcy he could wipe the slate clean on everything, including the personal injury claim. A whiplash case is never worth 50-100K. No chance of that. Especially if all she had was some physical therapy or chiropractice. Did a real doctor (MD) make the diagnosis? Or, has she just be treating with a chiropractor? If there has not been an MRI showing significant soft tissue damage that is likely not to have occured in the previous accident and not degenerative in nature, the case has minimal value. What have her medical bills totalled and what kind of care has she received. Look, in litigation, the plaintiff always starts with some unreasonable demand. At the end, I bet she settles for 15K and maybe she can't even make a case for that.
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