I represented a 34 year-old female Restaurant Manager injured in two successive preventable car collisions. Each collision occurred approximately 9 months from one another so technically, my client was still in medical care from the first collision when the second collision occurred. The first collision was a major front-end collision when a person chose to exit out of an "entrance only" Church parking lot in Encinitas, CA. The second collision was a rear-ender that affected the injuries and treatment from the first collision.
To make it even more complicated, the second collision was workers' compensation claim because my client was transporting goods between restaurants where she was a General Manager. Eventually, her workers' compensation case settled out, but she still needed medical care, and required a decompression surgery in her lumbar spine. Also, she had a prior decompression surgery 5 years earlier due to wear and tear, so she was a potential "broken egg shell" in her lumbar spine when both collisions occurred.
Strategically, I filed ONE lawsuit against both at-fault parties treating both collisions as one giant case since each collision affected her injuries and recovery time. I find this is the best and most efficient way to deal with successive injuries. It consolidates both injury dates into one action, and makes it easier for the jury to apportion fault among the parties instead of filing two separate lawsuits from the get-go.
I was able to get my client to a respected San Diego surgeon who performed the decompression surgery which turned out to be successful in releiving most of her discomfort and pain. The first at-fault party only had a $250,000.00 policy, andthe second at-fault party only had a $100,000.00 policy. I was succesful in obtaining a policy limit offer on the first at-fault party and an additional $75,000.00 from the second at-fault party about 3 weeks before trial was scheduled to begin in Judge Wohfeil's courtroom in downtown San Diego, Hall of Justice. Thus, the total settlement came to $325,000.00.
CASE NAME: Jenille Daly v. Kevin Craven, et. al, & Alcides Yedro, Case No.: 37-2016-00003206
COURT LOCATION: SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SAN DIEGO, CENTRAL DIVISION, Hall Of Justice, 330 West Broadway, San Diego, CA 92101
