Motor Vehicle Accident – $1,525,000 Settlement

Press Release (ePRNews.com) - MINEOLA, N.Y. - Sep 09, 2021 - Gregory S. Gennarelli, LLC is pleased to announce that on the first day of trial, and after 3 days of jury selection, we negotiated a settlement in the amount of $1,525,000.00 for a 44 year old passenger in a minivan that was struck by a motorcycle. As a result of the collision, our client sustained a tear to the meniscus in her knee, as well as a tear to the rotator cuff in her shoulder. Both injuries required arthroscopic surgery.

At the time of the accident, our client was working as a school aide for special education students. The accident happened on a group outing when the minivan, being operated by a school employee, attempted to make a left turn into a shopping mall in front of the motorcycle.

The driver of the motorcycle and the driver of the van both claimed that they had the right of way and were not at fault for the accident. The school that owned the minivan also attempted to claim that our client was their “special employee,” and could not recover from the school or the driver of the minivan as her remedy was limited to Workers’ Compensation benefits. We were prepared to demonstrate that our client was not the school’s employee, and that both operators were at fault for the collision and both were responsible for our clients’ injuries and damages.

The extent of a car accident victims’ injuries is not always known right away. While some injuries may be present themselves immediately, it is not unusual for it to take several days, weeks or even longer for an injury to become apparent. Sometimes, a person might feel immediate pain, or it may develop overnight, but delay going to the doctor or hospital hoping that the pain will go away or for fear of incurring unnecessary expenses that they cannot afford. Some injuries can also get worse over time. In this case, our client did not go immediately to the hospital, but waited several days to seek treatment. Thereafter, she received extensive conservative medical treatment for several years. When the pain was not going away, and her quality of life continued to deteriorate, she ultimately elected to undergo surgery almost three years after the accident.

While insurance companies typically view these “soft tissue” injuries as being worth substantially less than other injuries, proper preparation goes a long way and can greatly impact the outcome, and value, of a case. Not surprisingly, the insurance companies for both vehicles were prepared to argue that our client’s injuries were minor; not serious; not related to the accident; degenerative; and had fully resolved. We were prepared to prove that the injuries sustained were serious and substantially impacted our clients quality of life and her ability to work in her pre-accident capacity. It took going to trial and the threat of a verdict against their insured to finally convince the insurance companies to fairly and adequately compensate our client.

If you or a loved one sustained injuries in a motor vehicle accident,  feel free to contact Gregory S. Gennarelli, LLC at 347-921-1950 to discuss how we may be able to help.

https://injurylawyersli.com/f/motor-vehicle-settlement—…