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Imagine you’ve spent the day with your family at an Autumnfest parade. Your family gets into the car, with happy memories looking forward to getting home. When suddenly, a careless driver slams into your car. In the rear-end crash, your spouse and you are immediately in pain and the day ruined. Unfortunately, this was the case for our clients, a young couple from Pawtucket, RI.
Woonsocket, RI Rear-End Car Accident Leads To Shoulder And Neck Personal Injuries
The Woonsocket crash caused the husband to suffer shoulder injuries that eventually resulted in shoulder surgery. Meanwhile, his wife, suffered multiple injuries, including a nagging cervical (neck) injury requiring injections.
Hiring an Experienced Personal Injury Lawyer Matters: Bottaro Wins At Binding Arbitration.
Our clients contacted us within days of the crash so we could get to work right away helping them.
You would think in a rear-end crash such as here the other driver’s insurance company, Liberty Mutual would accept responsibility and properly compensate our clients. After all, the law is clear that there is a presumption of negligence against their driver. And the law also requires payment for damages including medical expenses, lost wages, and pain and suffering.
Yet, incredibly, from the beginning, Liberty Mutual was uncooperative. Essentially, the car insurance company argued that because there was little visible property damage, our clients must not have been injured.
This is despite the medical doctors for our husband who linked his shoulder subacromial bursitis and adhesive capsulitis to the crash. This led to surgery, leaving him out of work for months. Similarly, the evidence established that his wife suffered post-concussive symptoms, neck and back injuries. There were no prior medical issues for either client.
The insurance company used this to delay settlement, refusing to make a reasonable offer. Having our clients’ best interest in mind, we quickly filed suit and retained medical experts who provided expert opinions that our client’s injuries were the result of the crash.
Civil discovery dragged on over the years and through the pandemic. Attorney Mike Curtis took over the primary lead on the case through pre-trial preparation. With the court slowdown, the parties agreed to an alternative means to resolve the dispute called “binding arbitration,” a procedure in which the parties submit a dispute to a neutral, agreed-upon decision maker who acts as judge and jury and renders a decision that is binding on all parties. The insurance company hired an expert of its own, a biomechanical engineer who testified that our clients could not have suffered anything more than minor sprain/strain injuries based on the lack of vehicle damage.
At arbitration, we successfully argued that the insurance company’s biomechanical engineer was not qualified to offer opinions on whether the force of the crash could have caused our clients’ injuries. The arbitrator excluded the biomechanical engineer’s opinion and agreed with our medical experts that our client’s injuries were in fact related to the accident. Ultimately, the arbitrator issued a maximum award in favor of our clients, far in excess of any offer of settlement previously tendered by the insurance company. Finally, our clients had closure and an excellent result to compensate them for their losses.
It’s Good to Know Mike Bottaro – 24/7 Top Rated Car Accident Legal Help
At the Bottaro Law Firm, LLC, we handle all types of personal injury cases every day. Honesty. Integrity. Results. Our experienced legal team is here to fight for your rights. Contact us in any method you prefer 24/7 for a fast, free, and confidential consultation about your case. Text or call: 401-777-7777 or fill out our free and confidential online form.