On August 26, 2021, at approximately 12:18 p.m., our client was traveling in a westerly direction on Boston Avenue, a public road located in the City of Bridgeport, when he was struck suddenly from the rear. The impact forced his vehicle off the road and into a United Illuminating utility pole. The driver who struck him had been traveling at a high rate of speed, swerving in and out of her lane of traffic. After striking our client and forcing him off the roadway, she proceeded to operate the motor vehicle recklessly and ultimately crashed into a storefront.

At the time of the accident, our client was recovering from lumbar surgery and had been out of work due to a worker’s compensation case. She suffered additional injuries that were caused by the accident and exacerbated pre-existing injuries. There were conflicting medical reports as to both causation of her injuries and the extent of any resulting disability. The insurance adjusters for both motor vehicle owners argued that her pre-existing injuries were not made that much worse by the accident and they argued over which driver was responsible for the exacerbation of this underlying situation.

The crash was so violent that our client’s vehicle suffered damage to the quarter panel, door, bed, and wheels. She sustained multiple injuries as a result of the impact, including a concussion, cervical disc extrusion, lumbar disc bulge, and extrusion. Her cervical injuries were so severe that she required an Anterior Cervical Discectomy (ADF) as well as a laminoplasty with a partial laminectomy.

This injury occurred at a location where our client was working for a landscaping business that had no insurance. Our client’s injuries included a severely broken neck and thoracic spine, a life-threatening right vertebral artery dissection and severe bruising, lacerations and contusions to her entire body.

Her fracture required surgery which included arthroscopy of the left knee; arthroscopic partial medial meniscectomy; arthroscopic partial lateral meniscectomy; debridement of the patella; and open reduction internal fixation of tibial plateau with cancellous bond chips and Arthrex Quick Set. Our client required in-home nursing care from October to December. She incurred over $2,000 in accident-related out-of-pocket expenses and $10,000 in lost wages.

She did not have to repay any of this money to her carrier. However, the insurance company representing the at-fault party argued that the injuries suffered by our client were pre-existing, and as such, the at-fault party was not obligated to pay back any of our client’s medical bills. In addition, they offered an inadequate amount of money to compensate her for her injuries and damages.

We were able to settle the case with the truck driver’s insurance company for the policy limits of $25,000. We then filed a claim under his mother’s UIM carrier because he lived with her at the time of the accident and therefore, we were able to access her policy. The UIM carrier offered $30,000 to resolve his claim, in addition to the $25,000 he already received from the at fault party’s insurance company, and the client advised our office to settle the claim for the $30,000 offer.

She remembers hearing someone say that the front door of the building should have been locked while under construction. Had this been followed through, our client would not have been exposed to the defective conditions of the building or suffer any injuries as a result. By acknowledging the fact the doors should have been locked, the workers proved they were aware of the potential dangers in the vicinity, and neglected to adhere to precautions to protect public safety. 

We filed suit against the motorcycle racetrack and their position was that our client had signed a waiver and therefore could not file a claim against the track. We were able to establish that the motorcycle rider who crashed into our client did not have the proper credentials to ride the bike that he was on and that he was not properly supervised when he was attempting to warm up his tire before crashing into our client.

The position the insurance adjuster took was that our client was not paying attention while crossing the parking lot and their insured was not responsible for the injuries and damages which resulted from the accident. Attorney Hastings then advised the insurance adjuster that their insured was in fact the one not paying attention and was therefore negligent. The adjuster went on to state that this was a “he said/she said” conversation and that it was one person’s word against another. This is when the physical evidence came in handy. Attorney Hastings stated that he knew exactly what happened. The adjuster was incredulous and replied, “you weren’t there so you would not know?”

Sherry had just exited her local Dunkin’ Donuts with her daughter when she slipped and fell on the icy walkway, caused by the water dripping off of the roof. The insurance adjuster representing Dunkin’ Donuts claimed that their insured had properly treated the sidewalk with salt prior to our client falling and that there was no liability on their part.

Al was working as a pharmaceutical sales rep when he was hit by a negligent driver. Al’s employer filed a claim with its workers’ compensation carrier so that his medical bills and statutory lost wages were paid to him as a result of this accident. 

Mary was being watched by her Aunt while at her Aunt’s house. She was sitting on the couch petting her Aunt’s dog when the dog lunged at her and bit her face. She had to be taken to the hospital where she receives stitches on her face. 

Kathy was exiting a grocery store and as she began to cross the parking lot a woman in a car looked to her right to make sure that no cars were coming before turning directly into Kathy and knocking her to the ground. Kathy was taken by ambulance to the hospital where she was treated and released.

Bob went to a local big box store to get his propane tank refilled. As he was walking in the designated area, he tripped and fell over a loose piece of slate and fell to the ground, fracturing his arm. The store was notified as to the accident and our client was taken to the local healthcare facility for treatment and was later referred to the hospital.

Frank was driving home from the store when a man in a rental vehicle can find across the double yellow line and hit his vehicle head-on. Frank was seriously injured and was transported by ambulance to the hospital. The man operating the rental vehicle was not authorized to drive it and had a suspended license. The rental insurance company initially took the position that there was no coverage on the part of the driver of that vehicle. 

Daniel exited a city bus and began to cross a busy roadway in an area where there was no crosswalk or walk light. As he almost got to the other side of the roadway, he was struck and hit by a car exiting a commercial parking lot. He had to be rushed by ambulance to the local hospital.

Connie was seriously injured when an elderly driver crossed over the double yellow line and hit her car head-on. The elderly driver died and one of the claims made by his insurance company was that he suffered a heart attack, therefore this was an unavoidable accident. The insurance company’s position was that their driver was not negligent because he could not have done anything to prevent this accident.

Tony and his family were hit by a tractor-trailer while returning home one evening. They had hired another lawyer to represent them and were quite unhappy with the way the case was proceeding. They contacted our office, told us about their case, and we agreed to represent them. They then signed a retainer agreement with our office.

Janice was riding a taxicab when another vehicle ran a red light and slammed into the side of the cab. She was rushed to the hospital and due to her age and multiple pre-existing conditions, she had to transition to a rehabilitative care facility after being in the hospital.

Donna was the front seat passenger in a car that was driven by a woman that was intoxicated and on drugs. Donna was seriously injured in the accident and hired another law firm to represent her. She was very unhappy with the representation which she was receiving and contacted us about taking over her case.

Tom came to the light at an intersection, which had a green arrow enabling him to turn left. As he was making his turn, the young driver coming in the opposite direction blew through her red light, thinking it was green, and slammed into the side of Tom’s vehicle. Tom was rushed to the hospital with serious injuries.

Sarah was walking to her car in a parking lot. An elderly driver began to back up his car and pinned her between his car and her car, thereby severely fracturing her arm. The fracture required open reduction internal fixation surgery whereby she had surgical hardware installed inside of her arm.

Sidney parked her car in the Metro-North commuter parking lot before attempting to catch a train into New York City. Because it was early in the morning and the parking lot was improperly lit she slipped and fell on ice and fractured her leg. We immediately got involved and contacted our private investigator and our premises liability expert.

Trish went to meet her family for breakfast one morning at a local diner. As she exited her motor vehicle, she slipped on the ice and snow in the parking lot and fell to the ground fracturing her leg. There were many issues that were raised by the insurance company.