Type of Action: Personal Injury
Injuries alleged: Leg Amputation
Name of case: Confidential
Court: Withheld
Verdict or settlement: Settlement
Amount: $975,000
Date of verdict or settlement: April 16th
Most helpful experts: Dr. Wanda Guidry –Denver, Co, toxicology; Wade Bartlett of Mechanical Forensics Engineering Services in Rochester, New Hampshire, accident reconstruction; William Kluge of Raleigh, accident reconstruction
Attorneys for plaintiff: Bob Whitley and Ann Ochsner of the Whitley Law Firm in Raleigh
Attorney for defendant: Withheld
Description:
In August 2017, a driver of a car made an illegal U-turn off of the shoulder of a road and collided with our client, who was on a motorcycle. After being struck, our client was thrown 125 feet and suffered injuries which resulted in a below-the-knee amputation. The lawsuit has been settled for $975,000 against the driver.
The defense attempted to shift some negligence on the part of the motorcyclist by using a serum test to show that he had a small amount of alcohol in his system during the accident. Although the level of alcohol was below the legal limit, our toxicology expert was able to demonstrate the unreliability of this test.
In addition, the healthcare provider attempted to impose a $200,000 lien on any settlement received, but due to the diligence of our lawyers looking through medical records, they discovered that these medical bills had already been paid. This discovery voided all rights to assert a lien of the settlement.
Therefore, the plaintiff was able to obtain the settlement, free of negligence, and without a lien from medical providers.