$907,000 Combined Settlement and Verdict for Automobile Accident

The firm represented the estate and the father of a 16-year-old girl who was killed when the driver of the vehicle drove into a telephone pole. The driver and front seated passenger claimed that another 16 year-old passenger jumped into the front seat – without warning – causing the accident.

The teen who jumped into the front seat called our client’s father immediately after the accident. He arrived at the scene minutes after the crash, witnessing his daughter, still alive, bleeding and seriously injured. The defendants argued that the father’s claims for emotional distress caused by witnessing his daughter at the scene should not be allowed, but the firm successfully argued that the father’s claim should go forward.

The firm partially settled the case prior to trial, and tried the case obtaining a verdict against the driver of the vehicle. The combined recovery for the estate and the father was $907,000.