Partners Jason Guari and Scott Perry recently resolved a claim after nearly four years for our young client for a combined $275,000.
Our client, who was sixteen at the time of the crash, had the misfortune of first getting into an accident which was her fault. Then as she was attempting to get off the roadway that night, she was crossing the street in a crosswalk when an older driver failed to pay attention and struck her as a pedestrian. She was sent to the hospital with a broken nose, a fractured elbow, a fractured leg, and internal bruising. Ultimately, three years later, she finally had an arthroscopic knee surgery to repair a torn meniscus.
The driver who struck her chose not to stop after he struck her, claiming he did not hit her and thought he ran over “some debris,” despite having clear evidence showing a cracked and dislodged front bumper and a torn off sideview mirror.
Because the driver disputed that he even struck our client, litigation commenced. During the course of the litigation, this firm showed, unequivocally that the driver struck our client as a pedestrian and that his testimony was full of inconsistencies. We deposed an independent witness who explained he saw the crash from behind the defendant driver, saw he never slowed until the last second before hitting our client, and then never came to see who he hit. Additionally, we obtained the ophthalmology records of the defendant which showed temporally significant, long-standing complaints of blurry vision, difficulty seeing distance, and other evidence that he probably should have never been on the road that night.
With the overwhelming evidence showing the liability of the defendant, despite his denials all the way through litigation, the case was resolved for a total of $275,000 fairly compensating our client for everything that she went through. While we wish our client had never been struck as a pedestrian, knowing that the compensation will help her get started on her adult life brings us much joy. Helping people through tragic losses, such as this, are why we are here.
