Personal Injury: Motor Vehicle Accidents
Representative Cases
- Handled case brought by a Harley Davidson motorcyclist against a van making an abrupt left turn, thereby cutting him off. No comparative fault found by either expert. Motorcyclist suffered a below knee amputation and lung issues during Covid hospitalization.
- Mediated a claim brought by a day laborer/gardener gathering his tools out of the back of his truck parked at the curb in front of a house. A rideshare driver hit him, causing the day laborer a significant back injury requiring surgery as well as a mild TBI. Expert reports from the accident reconstruction expert, pulmonary functional capacity expert, orthopedic surgeon, life care plan expert and neuropsychologist were reviewed. The rideshare company asked for the mediator’s evaluation, after reviewing deposition excerpts of the parties and experts.
- Handled case involving an attorney who fell asleep at the wheel near her house after a long trip. Her car pinned a woman who was getting something out of the trunk of her parked car. Plaintiff suffered an above-knee amputation. The policy limits of the insurance as well as a significant cash contribution settled the case.
- Handled a case involving a drunk driver leaving a bar in the East Bay and driving his friend’s pickup truck, which he backed up into the rear of the pickup truck parked directly behind him in the bar’s parking lot, pinning another bar patron in between the trucks. The woman suffered a significant hematoma and leg injury requiring a year of repeated needle aspirations.
- Mediated a case involving a motorcyclist who was hit by a truck which made a u-turn. While liability was disputed, the motorcyclist had his leg amputated below the knee.
- Mediated a pedestrian hit by a car who suffered shoulder, hip, and knee injuries. A functional capacity evaluation was offered by plaintiff in support of $50,000 in Howell specials with no surgery.
- Mediated a wrongful death of a young woman whose pickup truck was struck by a tractor-trailer making a lane change, causing the pickup truck to veer off the road and down an embankment, striking a tree. Defendant disputed liability, alleging that the decedent is the one who made a last-minute decision to change lanes.
- Mediated a catastrophic injury case involving a construction worker who was washing his hands at the wash station inside a construction site when a semi-tractor suddenly drove forward and crushed plaintiff’s lower extremities, pinning him to the wash station.
- Mediated the case of two plaintiffs, who were passengers in their friend’s car, and on their way to a bar after consuming some whiskey at home. It was a disputed red light intersection case. One of the two plaintiffs suffered a catastrophic injury: TBI, colon injury, small bowel obstruction, hip pain, etc.
- Mediated complex liability case of security guard working at an evening event held on the pier. After the event, another company had its workers loading waste from the event to remove from the site. In the pier parking lot, a diesel generator that powered light for the event went out. The security guard drove his rental car to investigate why the light was out. The security guard hit one of the waste removal workers. Plaintiff suffered a TBI and orthopedic injuries. There were multiple defendants who questioned liability and the severity of the TBI.
- Handled a case of a pedestrian struck in the crosswalk by a private bus turning right. The plaintiff pedestrian suffered a Lisfranc injury with the need for surgery. Plaintiff had restrictions on her range of motion especially when playing with her young children and a visible limp.
- Mediated a cyclist hit by a left turning vehicle, suffering a wrist injury requiring four surgeries due to an infection from the spica splint. The defense disputed liability but the policy limits were very low.
- Handled a vespa scooter case involving a rideshare driver who came to a stop in the travel lane to let a passenger exit his car. The rideshare car blocked the scooter operator’s path of travel. The scooter operator suffered orthopedic injuries.
- Handled a left turning car that collided with an electric skateboard in the crosswalk, coming from the sidewalk on the edge of U.C. Berkeley’s campus. An accident reconstruction expert opined about when the electric skateboard could be seen by the driver of the car.
- Mediated a case involving the passenger in a taxi cab. The passenger was reaching for her purse in the backseat when the taxi cab was rearended. The impact allegedly propelled her forward into the cab’s divider. Plaintiff, the passenger, suffered a nasal fracture and underwent a rhinoplasty.
- Mediated a case of a box truck that made a left turn in front of plaintiff. Plaintiff suffered a blunt trauma to his chest, needed lumbar facet joint injections and future surgery, as well as a meniscus tear.
- Mediated a three-vehicle rear end accident. Plaintiff who suffered a shoulder injury had a subsequent bike accident before having her shoulder surgery.
- Handled a pedestrian case of an elderly woman who got off of the MUNI bus and crossed the street at night to go to the supermarket to buy her dinner. The parking lot of the supermarket had confusing signage to control traffic, and the city allowed jaywalking. The elderly woman suffered significant injuries. Plaintiff’s counsel had its accident reconstruction expert film for 24 hours the flow of traffic and pedestrians in the area to support its theory of liability.
- Handled a case where a pedestrian, actually sitting on a designated bench at a car wash, got hit by her own car that had been washed, and was being driven to the pickup area when the car wash attendant suddenly accelerated in reverse. She suffers significant injuries.
- Handled a pedestrian versus auto case that occurred when the plaintiff was crossing the street in the crosswalk, and a driver coming uphill hit her without stopping. She suffered a leg injury that required surgery and a long period of rehabilitation.
- Handled wrongful death case that occurred when a driver turned right into an area where traffic backed up on the railroad tracks for a red light. That driver was instantly killed. Her children sued Caltrans.
- Mediated auto versus pedestrian case where the driver made a right turn, hitting the pedestrian, who had already entered the crosswalk. The driver claimed the sun was in her eyes. The pedestrian suffered multiple orthopedic injuries.
- Handled a crash in Tahoe due to extremely icy conditions on the road when a driver crossed the double yellow line and hit an oncoming car head on. The family inside of the car, all suffered injuries, with the most significant being a broken nose and eye issues.