Fishtail Car Accident – Wrongful Death

$24.5 Million Settlement

Fishtail Car Accident – Wrongful Death

Wrongful Death

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While traveling to a band performance for her daughter, our client was involved in a collision with another driver pulling a trailer. The driver of the other vehicle was traveling at a high rate of speed when they lost control of their vehicle, causing them to slide. Their trailer fishtailed into the opposing lane of traffic, causing our client to collide with it. The crash caused the death of our client.

Also in the vehicle at the time of the crash was our client’s son. The collision left the boy with a severe brain injury that forever altered his quality of life.

On behalf of the surviving family mother and her son, we quickly pursued legal action, fighting for fair justice on their behalf.

There are many ways an auto accident can play out, but a wreck involving a fishtailing scenario can be especially dangerous. Fishtailing can occur as a result of reckless driving or unsafe practices. This happens when the back of a vehicle swings out, causing a driver to lose control of their vehicle. In incidents when this occurs, it’s usually connected to erratic driving, icy or wet roads, or poor tire conditions. Tire tread can play a large factor in preventing fishtail accidents.

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Due to the irreversible damages caused during the accident and the loss of life, we began to evaluate how this accident would forever alter our surviving client’s life and pursue action concerning a wrongful death claim.

Wrongful death claims are a type of lawsuit that can be filed in the event that a loved one is killed due to the negligence of another. These lawsuits can take a few different forms but are typically used in the event of a deadly auto accident or medical malpractice.

Because of the injuries to the surviving victim, special consideration had to be given when negotiating and deliberating with the opposing counsel. Due to the nature of the accident, our client suffered a severe head injury that forever impacted his quality of life. This means that when determining what our client needed, thought was put in to cover his initial medical debt, which was severe, and his ongoing needs.

When an attorney finds themself in a situation like this, it’s important that they consider a timeline of recovery. How long will it take my client to recover fully? What impact will this have on their economic status and opportunity? Does this injury create long-lasting difficulties for my client? Does this accident forever prevent my client from engaging in what others would consider normal day-to-day activities? These questions, and countless more, are critical when representing a client that finds their life irreversibly altered because of the carelessness of another.

The following step would be to assess the prolonged medical costs associated with our client’s injury. Speaking with experts across the relevant medical fields found that our client would require extensive care, contributing to a substantial, and growing, medical debt.

Opposing counsel attempted to settle the case by citing an insurance limit of $5 million. The offer was not anywhere near sufficient to cover the total medical expenses of the surviving victim and the family.

Thanks to a thorough discovery process in which we engaged in a deep analysis of the contributing factors of the crash, we were able to achieve a higher settlement on behalf of our client. At the conclusion, we negotiated a settlement offer of $24.5 million for the surviving accident victim and his family.

Hank Stout
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