Motor Vehicle Accident - Child Injury
WRSMH attorney William Hepner obtained a substantial settlement at mediation for a girl who was 8 years old when the van she was in was rear-ended by a tractor-trailer carrying a load of fuel. The accident caused a huge fireball, but miraculously did not result in death or catastrophic injury to those involved. Our client suffered a significant femur fracture. Hepner recovered $2.281 million for her after she went through numerous surgical procedures over a number of years in an attempt to repair a leg length discrepancy. In the end, she was left with an approximately 1.66 cm difference in length.
Liability was strongly contested, as it was claimed by the defense that the driver of our clients’ vehicle, the girl’s father, drove backwards from the shoulder into a highway lane to get out of an EZ pass lane. The police officer who was deposed testified that this happens all the time in this area, and the driver of the van, who had a small insurance policy, made a statement to the police that could be interpreted in a negative way against him. However, through numerous depositions, Bill poked holes in the defense and made the truck’s insurance company realize that there was a grave risk that a jury would hold them at least partially responsible, which would be enough for the plaintiffs to obtain as much from the truck’s policy as the jury might award. The case was resolved at the third mediation attempt.