A Delivery Truck, a Father and Son, and the Full $1 Million Policy

Another attorney sent us this case to litigate. That happens often, and it is a referral we take seriously: when a fellow lawyer decides a case needs to be worked up for trial, they call a trial firm.

Here is what happened. A father was driving on a Georgia highway with his young son in the back seat when a delivery truck came up behind them. By the truck driver’s own account, he began to brake and his vehicle was not stopping, so he swerved, hit the guardrail, came back onto the road, and rear ended our client, forcing the car into a ditch. The investigating officer cited the delivery truck driver for following too closely.

In the ditch, our client struck his head. He declined the ambulance for one reason: he needed to take care of his son. He went to the emergency room the next day.

The injuries were serious. A concussion with post traumatic headaches that medication could not touch. Disc herniations in his neck, mid back, and low back, one contacting the spinal cord. He went through injections, radiofrequency ablation, and ultimately cervical spine surgery. His doctors assigned a permanent whole person impairment rating. His medical bills were a few hundred thousand dollars, and that number says nothing about what it means for a father to live in daily pain.

The defense had an angle, and we knew they would use it: he had a history of neck trouble years earlier. But the record was clear. He was pain free before this crash, had never needed surgery before this crash, and every treating physician tied his condition to this crash. Georgia law is equally clear that a defendant takes the plaintiff as they find him, and aggravating a prior condition is compensable. We built the medical file so thoroughly that the pre existing argument had nowhere to go.

The delivery company’s insurer carried a $1 million policy. We recovered all of it.

That is the job in a limits case: leave no argument available that would justify paying less, and make clear the alternative to paying the policy is a courtroom. When the file is built right, the full limits stop being a negotiation and start being the insurer’s best outcome.

If a Commercial Vehicle Hit You or Your Family

Delivery trucks and commercial vehicles carry bigger policies than ordinary drivers, and their insurers fight harder to protect them. If you were hurt in a crash with a commercial vehicle, or you are an attorney with a case that needs to be litigated, call Flanagan Law, P.C. We will give you a straight answer.

Prior results do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome in any future case. Every case is different and is decided on its own specific facts and legal circumstances.