My case is going to trial...

gtrpimp76

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Back in January of this year, some of you may have remembered that I got into an accident on my old Busa @ 9 PM. The wifey and I were riding two up on a continuous north/south 2 way road with a middle island for left turns. Long story short, As we were traveling at 45 MPH (posted 55MPH) I see a Chrysler Crossfire parked on the side of the road but in the middle of an intersection traveling east/west. Her intersection had the STOP sign while my southbound lane was a continuous lane. Law states that she had to yield to traffic b4 proceeding thru the intersection. Anyways, her car is parked on the side of the road just short of the intersection. I guess she was on her cell phone asking for directions or something. As I see this, I've already had covered two fingers on my front brake and my foot covering the rear just in case something happens. Last 90-100ft she decides to u-turn right in front of us and she did it with enough speed that I had no time to emergency swerve. All I could do was slam on both brakes hard to the edge of locked (I think my rear was locked and my fronts were close) and we end up broadsiding her driver side front fender. My wife and I go over highside over the car and my Busa lands on her hood (might have been a good thing since most cagers who are responsible for motorcycle accidents end up running. There was no way she could've gone anywhere with a 500 lbs bike on her hood leaking fluids!!). Paramedics and police where there in a matter of 10 minutes and witnesses to the accident were directing traffic and one off duty paramedic was helping out me and my wife. Get this, the lady who caused the accident is a nurse and she was just getting off of work. She didnt do a damn thing to help us although she claimed to have "taken our vitals and comforted us." B.S. Anyhow, 3 days later I obtained the police report and they determined that she was 100% at fault and the cause of the accident for not yielding right of way.

Fast forward to 6 months, thousands of dollars in damages, medical bills, many delayed medical services, therapy, credit card bills, MRI's, X-rays and 1/2 a year later, her insurance Allstate still haven't disclosed to my attorneys her policy limit. Today was the deadline or we file a lawsuit today. I guess in California, we're supposed to sue the driver and the owner (it was her boyfriends car) for damages, etc. I guess the insurance company will eventually step in with their attorneys as well and try to make a case.

My question to any of you involved with law, courts or who have been in a situation like this is: what's next? What exactly can we sue for? My lawyers are giving them a last chance offer to pay settlement of $100,000. If they don't take it or accept, the policy will still remain an "open policy" which means we can request for a much higher settlement in court. My other question is since it will be a trial by jury, what are our chances for winning? What is the maximum amount we can sue for? Well, that is all for now. I just want this thing to end!! thanx for your help guys and stay safe...

ryan
 
ouch ... ok .. I was in similar situation a few years ago, and I had a great attorney. At this point, it's almost a GOOD thing that they haven't disclosed their client's policy limits....that'll make them look really cheesy in court....and yes, it probably will go to court, although when your attorney gives them notice, they'll try to make nice and settle for a "little" more than they've already offered. The usual formula they use to estimate an award is 3-5 times the amount of medical bills, plus lost time at work, etc. Email me privately if you like. BTW....I think there's still a website called "AllstateSucks.com"...they like to play hardball, but it sounds like you have a pretty good case.
 
chances of winning are probably pretty good, seeing that she was totally at fault. I'd pull the settlement and go to trial...and include court and attorney costs in the package, not to mention all the medical bills.
 
So that means we can settle for higher amounts if needed? I think the Pain and Suffering alone should be enough to justify a huge settlement. I had to drop out of Pre-Med for 2 semesters and I couldn't work for 3 months.
 
Good to hear guys. If anything, I just want this to be a lesson to all CAGERS and their insurance companies that even at nighttime, we're not invisible.
 
So that means we can settle for higher amounts if needed? I think the Pain and Suffering alone should be enough to justify a huge settlement. I had to drop out of Pre-Med for 2 semesters and I couldn't work for 3 months.
If you are out of pre-med, or even not, I'd see what you would have made out of med school for that 2 semester timeframe and tack it onto the list. Realisitically it is owed to you since your life has been set back quite a bit since it happened. I'd consider it lost wages. PLUS the wages you lost while not working for 3 months. The money you had to borrow and payback to support yourself in the process.

This is ALL relevant to this case because SHE caused a huuuuge ripple in your life, and it costs money to bring the balance back. In my opinion this is what the definition of Pain and Suffering eludes to, nothing else. Most people attempt to abuse that title, so try not to abuse it or the jury might not be so forgiving.
 
very good point aceshigh. I've been handling emotions as best I can lately. It was pretty bad the first 3 months after the accident. I was so pissed at everyone and especially hated cagers for their lack of respect and ignorance of us motorcyclists..I'm still mad but I contain it pretty well and figure it's best for my day in court.
 
Definitely Pacbusa. I have detailed files of every installment plan for medical expenses, credit card bills, borrowed money from relatives, radiological results, Dr's reports etc...Is there anything else I should add?
 
hmm...

Just add EVERYTHING you've paid for, borrowed, etc.

Then, INCLUDE ALL lost wages, student benefits, etc.

Don't forget to add the attorney and court fees. You could throw in mental anguish...but I dunno. The jury could fall for it. Make sure the lawyer's a good one.



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doesnt surprise me to see allstate be tight... I got rear-ended a long time ago by someone with state farm, and they were a-holes......


everything seems to be on your side.
What exactly are you trying to accomplish? If your lawyers are going for 100k, the insurance company usually agrees to half, then your lawyers will say'take it' and they will get their 30% of that, and what are you left with?

Take a good look at what you want as an end result.... let us know, as alot of us have been on the receiving end of this before.

c.
 
Take a good look at what you want as an end result.... let us know, as alot of us have been on the receiving end of this before.

c.
I just want what seems fair and reasonable to my wife and I. We've suffered enough financially, emotionally and painfully. We couldn't even get a decent medical specialist to treat us properly b/c they knew something like this would go to trial. Any of you guys are more than welcome to PM me or email me as to what got as far as the receiving end.
 
So that means we can settle for higher amounts if needed? I think the Pain and Suffering alone should be enough to justify a huge settlement. I had to drop out of Pre-Med for 2 semesters and I couldn't work for 3 months.
Find an ambulance chaser and have a chat. Sounds like you have a case that is an attorney's wet dream! Shop around and find one that suits you  though, dont just go with your first contact... Their fee should be contingent only upon winning. You have been consulting attorneys havent you?



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Nothing else to add beyond what's already said.

Good Luck
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Sometimes going to court you end up with less but it definitely costs the insurance company more. After the attorney takes their 30-50% off of the entire judgement, that includes medical expenses, paperowrk, car/bike repair, etc., then they deduct their actual expenses to litigate the case. You get whats left which can be enough or maybe not. Sometimes better to hire the attorney to write some letters and see if that motivates the insurance company and then you settle yourself with his help. You keep most of the money and not the attorney. You of course have to pay as you go which can be difficult. Good luck!
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Change attorneys dude! If your attorney was well schooled in this area he would have already given you advice on how much to expect and what you should ask for as well as what would be a fair settlement. I'm sure he is looking for 40% of your settlement.

The insurance company will drag it out until the last minute. Another thing to remember is if you do go to trial and get a bigger than expected award, you still don't have much. At that point the insurance company will want to negociate a mutch smaller settlement. Their trump card is the fact they can appeal the case and keep it tied up in court for another ten years.

You'll find out getting a judgment in court is the easy part, collecting is the hard part.
 
don't mean to sound greedy, but your lawyer asked for $100K for both you AND your wife? that's only about $25K or less for what you two been through. This isn't some minor fender bender in a SUV or cage. You were highsided! I would say your lawyer should be asking for $200k.

My sister works in a law office as a underwriter that assess cases, and I went to college with a guy that's working basically opposite of my sister as a in-house counsel for one of the "non-standard" insurance companies. I can ask them, but I believe usually when the insurance is refusing to disclose the policy limit is because that limit is pretty high and they don't want your lawyer to ask for that limit because more than likely they will have to pay it. They are being some serious as*holes by trying to be this cheap, and it will show in court.

I remember years ago, my college friend was handling a case involving his company's insured that hit a biker while she was coming out of the parking lot of the mall in Burbank. Then she ran, and they caught her like 3 blocks away stuck in traffic. She had a low limit of $15k per person per incident, but he offered that to settle out of court because he said something like if they went to court, and the court hears about it, it would look bad if they (his company) sandbagged.

Another beyond going for the policy limit (both her's and her boyfriend's since he's the owner of the vehicle), is see about your own insurance company. If you got uninsured motorist coverage, it also covers UNDERinsured. Wring out her and her boyfriend's limit first, then if it's not enough file against your own. You have every right. Also, I was ask your lawyer to get an order to freeze her and her boyfriend's assets, or at the very least a order for them to disclose all of their assets to you and you lawyer for that last 12 months (6 months before the accident and 6 months after). If you go max, you can attempt to reach beyond the insurance companies to their personal assets. And the freeze order will keep them from selling off to hide the liquidated assets, or transferring it to a relative's name, say a house that she owns to her mom's name so you can't touch it since it doesn't legally below to her at that point. I heard that's the sleazy move O.J. Simpson did WAY ahead of time (during the criminal trial stages) so Nicole's family can't touch his assets. He basically transferred his money to his "corporation". If you can't get a freeze on the assets, getting the right to examine it will at least let you and your lawyer detect any abnormal transfers that you can question in court.

Good luck dude, and I'll see what I can get from my sister and college friend as far as what they think.

What was the extent of you and your wife's injuries? Broken bones? popped spine? anything long term?
 
Tuffbusa: My attoryneys' fees are going to be 1/3 or around 30% I've been hearing a lot about How Allstate likes to drag these issues out for a long time. I'm gonna make sure they look cheesy and retarded in court.

Eynlai: You have some pretty good points there too. Believe me a highside with my wife riding with me is a pretty scary thing. When you're actually airborne, getting killed or seriously injured is one of the first things to come to mind. My attoryneys are seeking quite a bit if this comes to blows in court. As I said earlier, according to California law, we can only sue the driver and the owner of the car at this point. There's no telling when both of their insurances will step in and try to make a defense. We do plan on going after property and assets if the amount is not sufficient to cover our losses. See what your sister and college friend has to say about this.

BTW-My wife suffered a hairline fracture on her right elbow, laceration on her right ankle, fractures on her pubic ramus bone (both sides), lower back pain and occasional shooting pain on her right hand and forearm. What's even worse (yet wonderful at the same time) is she's already 10 weeks pregnant.
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Her OB GYN said her pregnancy will be "slightly" more difficult than a "normal" pregnancy. No she wasn't pregnant during the accident as it happened 6 months ago but this new bundle of joy may cause her some difficulty in the coming months.
 
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