Personal Injury : Jury Awards $21 Million For Injuries Suffered by Family in Car Accident

People suffer severe personal injuries in traffic accidents and car accidents every day. Here is an example of one recent car accident case that was tried before a jury.

In June of this year (2015) a Los Angeles Superior Court jury awarded $21 Million to three family members after a 2011 DUI car crash caused them serious injuries that will affect them for the rest of their lives. The incident occurred when a drunk driver of a Ford Explorer crossed a double yellow line and struck the family’s Ford Taurus head-on. Head-on collision can be the most serious. The injured suffered severe fractures and lacerations.

The family was on a trip Palmdale to Los Angeles to take their son to college. The drunk driver apparently lost control of his vehicle, crossed over into opposing traffic and slammed the family’s vehicle head on. Paramedics rushed all three family members to Antelope Valley Hospital from the scene of the crash, where they received emergency medical care.

The trial lasted 13 days. During the trial treating physicians, family members, friends of the family, and expert witnesses were called to testify on behalf of the injured. The evidence showed that each victim had suffered loss of income / damage to earning capacity, incurred substantial medical expenses and would suffer significant pain and suffering. The jury deliberated for two days, before arriving at their verdict.

While such verdicts, $21 million are not common, this jury verdict shows what a jury may do in a serious personal injury case. The fact that the defendant was intoxicated possibly had an influence on the juries deliberations.

Most car accidents do not cause such serious injuries as this family suffered. Nevertheless, even in a less significant traffic accident consulting with an experienced personal injury attorney is usually a good idea. Experience personal injury attorneys will have experience working with insurance providers to get the highest possible settlement amounts for clients. If you have been injured or you have lost any type of personal or business property due to an accident, don’t wait to get the help you need and deserve.

If you or a loved one suffers a personal injury arising from a car accident / traffic accident, please feel free to contact me. Richard M. Katz at The Law Offices of Richard M. Katz, Pasadena, California. 626-796-63333. I will be happy to answer any questions you may have.

Disclaimer: While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of this article, it is not intended to provide legal advice as individual situations will differ and will differ from state to state because of different laws. For specific technical or legal advice on your situation you should, without delay contact an attorney of your choice.

WHY HIRE A PERSONAL INJURY ATTORNEY? YOU WOULD NOT OPERATE ON YOURSELF, WOULD YOU?

Trying to decide whether to hire a personal injury attorney / personal injury lawyer?

There are many types of personal injury claims. Claims can arise from car accidents, slip and fall accidents, dangerous premise conditions, workplace accidents (even if you have a worker’s compensation claim, you may have a “third party claim”), airplane, bus and train crashes, construction accidents, fires, food poisoning, drug or vitamin overdoses, animal bites, criminal acts and assaults and medical malpractice to name several.

You have been involved in an incident and suffered personal injuries and are trying to decide whether to hire an attorney. Well, it is probably a good idea to consult with a personal injury who has familiarity with your type of claim. The consultations are usually free.

He or she will review the facts of your matter. Generally an attorney will initially look at three issues. They are, was the other party negligent? What are the nature and extent of damages? Is there a relationship between the incident and the claimed injuries. After this analysis an attorney can make an assessment of the relative strengths or weaknesses of a claim and whether the claim had merit.

If an attorney concludes that the facts do not show someone was negligent, even if you suffered injuries, there is no case. In other words, you would have trouble making a case against an owner of a store if you spilled water or salad oil on the ground and then slipped and fell because of the spill. However, if the store owner had failed to fix the plumbing in the building and the water was on the floor because of leaky plumbing or one the store’s employees had spilled salad oil and nothing was done promptly to address the condition, then you possibly have a viable claim.

Many variables can come into play in determining negligence and often you may think that there was no negligence by anyone when there actually was.

I myself, have handled cases over the years in which folks did not think they had a case. However, they had suffered serious injuries, and they decided to contact me. After hearing the facts, I thought that there might be a viable claim. Following an investigation and research and believing the cases had merit, we have pursued an action. I will not go into the cases, but suffice it to say, we went to obtain a recovery for our clients. I might add that we took the cases on contingency basis and advanced all costs.

The point is if you have been injured, you should seek the advice of a competent personal injury attorney even if you do not think that there is anyone at fault. Only a good experienced personal injury attorney can evaluate your potential claim We are here to help, give me a call.
Richard M. Katz, 626-796-6333 or visit our website

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