The Denial Dance

On a bright summer afternoon, our client, a classically trained ballerina and her daughter moved hurriedly from day care, to classes at a local college, to work at a part time job and nearly back home.  In an instant, their lives were changed as a sales representative for a local food distributor pulled her car into traffic as she attempted to enter an order on her laptop. The collision resulted in a severely fractured leg that would ultimately require the young mother to change her college major and the plan for her life.

At first, the company did what was expected. They blamed our client, saying she was driving too fast. They blamed the weather saying the sun was in the sales rep’s eyes. They blamed the road, saying the steep hill blocked the sales representative’s view.  They blamed our client’s car, saying her brakes did not work properly. They did everything accept acknowledge the wreck would never have occurred if their sales rep had not pulled into oncoming traffic.

Here again, the Washington Firm went to work. We canvassed the area, literally walking up and down the street talking to witnesses. Upon learning of the sales rep’s story about the sun being in her eyes, we retrieved National Weather Service reports for the area and disproved her claim. We worked closely with a nationally recognized Accident Reconstructionist to recreate the collision. We used skid mark analysis to measure our client’s speed and again refute their defense. Our lawyers walked the hilly streets more than a half dozen times taking measurements. We pressed the court to force the company to produce items regarding the training and driving record of its sales representative. We learned the sales rep had a history of negligent driving. In the end, a company and insurance company that blamed our client settled her claim for $500,000. After medical bills, legal fees and expenses our received just over $273,000.