I thought I’d share a little of a little of my day Tuesday with anyone who reads this.

I settled a tractor trailer accident case. A large part of my practice is tractor trailer defense litigation. I defend the trucking companies & their drivers. It is actually more complex than your standard “red car/blue car” accident.

That said, this one was pretty clear on liability, it was all our fault. Our truck rear-ended the Plaintiff.

The rub was the amount of money the Plaintiff wanted,
$500, 000.00!!!

This was a low impact accident. Plaintiff didn’t go to the emergency room, didn’t even seek treatment for anything for several days. Guess what? His back hurt. X-rays were negative. MRI was negative. He went to probably 6 or 7 doctors, all of whom found only subjective complaints of pain. (in other words, just, he says so) Also, his own doctor suspects something, so he gives him a drug test. Guess what? He is not taking the pain killers that he was prescribed (narcotics), but tests positive for cocain. (just how much pain was he really in???)

He demands the 500K, we offer 20K. We go through all the discovery (taking over 2 years), have him examined by our own doctors, psychiatrist, economist, etc. We’re ready for trial. Both sides agree to try mediation.

We end up settling the case for 75K.

Ever wonder why insurance rates are so high???