$2.5 Million Recovered in Head-On Wreck with Broken Arm
$2.5 Million Recovered in Head-On Wreck with Broken Arm
Our client in this case was a passenger in a vehicle traveling on a two-lane road in a county outside of Atlanta, Georgia. Another driver, heading toward our client’s car from the opposite direction, veered into our client’s lane and caused a near head-on collision between the two vehicles.
Our client was taken by ambulance to a local hospital, where he was diagnosed with a comminuted fracture of his right humerus bone. His humerus bone had to be surgically repaired with plates and pins, leaving behind a scar that runs from the top of his right shoulder to down below his right elbow. The fractured humerus caused an injury to the radial nerve, which traverses the humerus bone. This resulted in our client experiencing a condition called radial nerve palsy. This limited the strength, range of motion, and fine motor skills in our client’s right hand.
Our client also injured his right shoulder in the collision. He ultimately had to undergo a distal clavicle excision to treat his shoulder injury.
As a result of the injuries our client sustained in the wreck, he incurred medical bills of over $178,000. He also missed significant time from work, resulting in lost wages that exceeded $100,000.
The driver who caused the wreck only had $50,000 in insurance. In addition, our client had $500,000 in uninsured motorist coverage.
Shortly after being retained, attorney Darl Champion sent a demand to the at-fault driver’s liability insurer for the $50,000 limits. The insurer failed to respond to the demand before it expired. It also did not send the check before the deadline set forth in the demand.
As a result of the failure to accept the demand, the liability insurer exposed its insured–the at-fault driver–to an excess judgment (that is, a judgment above the policy limits). Under Georgia law, when an insurer fails to accept a demand that an ordinarily prudent insurer would have accepted, the insurer can be held liable for the entire amount of the eventual judgment, including the amount above the policy limits.
Darl filed suit after the demand was not accepted and pushed the case to trial. He took the videotaped depositions of the emergency room physician’s assistant who saw our client, the surgeon who performed the surgery, the surgeon’s physician’s assistant who saw our client in post-operative visits, and the physical therapist who worked to rehabilitate our client’s radial nerve and shoulder injuries. Darl used medical illustrations depicting our client’s injuries and surgeries to have the medical providers explain the injuries and treatment.
Our client’s uninsured motorist insurer agreed to pay our client the full $500,000 policy limits after our client testified at his deposition. The liability insurer did not offer a reasonable amount to settle the case until much later. The trial was scheduled to start in Gordon County in June 2024. A little over a week before trial was scheduled to start, the liability insurer agreed to pay $2,000,000.
This case demonstrates the importance of hiring the right attorney for your personal injury case, not somebody who just wants to turn your case into a quick settlement. By pushing the case to trial after the first demand was rejected, The Champion Firm was able to make the insurance company for the at-fault driver pay 40 times more than the policy limits and also recover the full policy limits of $500,000 under our client’s own insurance policy.
About The Champion Firm, Personal Injury Attorneys, P.C.
If you or someone you know is injured through someone else’s negligence, contact The Champion Firm today for a free case consultation. Our contingency fee structure means you only pay for our services if and when we win your case.