Uninsured Motorist Case for $500,000

This case was a hard-fought uninsured motorist case that settled a month before the arbitration hearing. Our client was a mid 40 year old pedestrian who was run over by a hit-and-run driver in a parking lot while walking his dog. The trauma caused our client to sustain severe spinal cord compression which required a cervical fusion and subsequent laminectomy. As our client has cerebral palsy, his injuries caused him to lose his independence in life. Though he was highly-functional and lived independently before the subject incident, his injuries required assistance with every day tasks such as preparing meals, pouring drinks, dressing, grooming and bathing for the rest of his life.

He retained our firm weeks before the two-year uninsured motorist statute of limitations after he was unsatisfied by the first firm he fired. We filed for arbitration immediately against his own insurance company. The UM policy limits were $500,000.00. We pursued his case very aggressively in litigation, completing discovery, picking an arbitrator, and calendaring an arbitration date within six months of retaining the case. Despite our five demands for uninsured motorist coverage offers and the overwhelming evidence of our client’s damages in excess of the uninsured policy limits, his own insurance company never made an offer.

As the case was moving toward to the arbitration hearing and we were submitting our expert designations, the insurance company finally offered to resolve the claim for the uninsured policy limits of $500,000.00. Our client was ecstatic with the result, very thankful for our hard work and aggressive pursuit of justice for him, and said he could not have been happier with his decision to hire our firm. Ultimately, our client will net over $200,000.00 in his pocket.