Example of a Case We Handled

Our client suffered serious injuries as a result of a motorcycle accident in 2012. Both he and the defendant, who was also operating a motorcycle, had recently left a bar in Auburn when the defendant swerved suddenly and hit our client from behind. The sudden contact with our client’s back wheel caused him to veer off into a curb and then run into a wall. Our client’s injuries were catastrophic: he suffered a moderate to severe brain injury and was partially paralyzed.

Our firm was contacted immediately by our client’s parents which allowed us to promptly start an investigation into the accident. It was a benefit for our client that his parents reached out to us as quickly as they did because the defendant’s insurance company had already taken the position that there had not been any contact between our client and the defendant. It was their belief that our client simply lost control of his motorcycle and was solely to blame for the accident and his injuries. Because we were able to immediately investigate the accident, we were able to photograph and measure the skid marks left on the road that would have most likely deteriorated in the following weeks. The photographs proved to be critical in establishing that there had in fact been contact between our client and the defendant, and that the defendant caused the accident.

From the outset, our client also faced a battle with his HMO. Some of the more important rehabilitation services he needed were denied on the grounds that, according to the insurer, they would not be helpful. Our firm appealed the denials from the insurance company with help from our client’s doctors and was able to overturn the decision. As a result of this victory, our client was able to secure over $100,000 towards the additional care that he needed. Attorney Thompson’s involvement as a board member of the local chapter of the Brain Injury Association (BIA) proved to be vital in obtaining the necessary support from the medical community to fight our client’s HMO. Moreover, the knowledge that Attorney Thompson has accumulated through working with BIA allowed him to be able to competently respond to the HMO’s doctors claims that our client didn’t need additional rehabilitative services.

Even after we were able to establish that the second motorcycle caused the crash, the insurer for the other motorcycle operator refused to compensate our client for his future lost earning capacity. The insurer argued that he would be able to find some type of sedentary work. In the words of the insurance adjuster, “he could be a Walmart greeter.” To counter this argument, we had a vocational rehabilitation expert assess his ability to perform the types of functions that would be required in different work settings. In her report, our expert demonstrated that, while no single one of our client’s problems would, by itself, prevent him from working, the combination of all of the problems he experienced—cognitive (brain function) limitations and his physical limitations—prevented him from ever being gainfully employed in any type of job. To bolster our expert’s opinion and to respond specifically to the insurance adjuster’s comment that he could be a Walmart greeter, we had our client apply to every Walmart with 40 miles of where he lived. Although there were positions open—including the greeter position—he wasn’t hired.

In the face of this evidence, the insurer eventually conceded that our client would not be able to work again and compensated him from his future lost earning capacity (in addition to his medical expenses, pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, and permanent impairment). Our client and his family were very happy with the outcome of the case and have since recommended our firm to others.