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One of the most rewarding aspects of being a personal injury trial attorney in Atlanta, Georgia is the unique ability to help others that have been hurt in automobile accidents. We especially like to help veterans of the armed services because of their sacrifices to our country. (Check out another one of our stories here.) As a Georgia lawyer, I truly recognize the difficulty that being in automobile accident places on a person’s life. For example, there can be mounting medical bills. Injured people also may need future medical treatment. There additionally is just the interference with daily life after a car accident. Despite these challenges of being hurt in a car accident, I am sharing with you one of our success stories from an automobile accident trial we had back in March.
Our client is a former Army veteran. He was born in New York but grew up in the suburbs of Atlanta, Georgia. Simply put, a great guy! One thing that is near and dear to him along with his family in Georgia is Atlanta sports teams. When our client was driving to the Atlanta Hawks’ first-round playoff game back in 2015, a car pulled out in front of him on Northside Drive. It was a bad auto accident. The Atlanta Police Department and the paramedics came to the scene after the accident. As you can see too, car wreck caused a lot of damage to our client’s vehicle because the airbags deployed right after the collision:
The airbag deployed after the automobile accident.
Our client was taken to the hospital by ambulance given the seriousness of the automobile accident. He was triaged at the hospital after the wreck and then had some follow-up care with doctors. Medical treatment after an automobile accident oftentimes includes physical therapy, electrical stimulation, hot/cold therapy, and sometimes other procedures and surgery. In our personal injury case, the treatment lasted a few months. Our client, fortunately, had a pretty good recovery after the car crash. There, nevertheless, was some lingering pain in his neck and back from the accident.
The insurance company, however, didn’t take responsibility on behalf of their driver for causing this car wreck. It was surely disappointing for our client. But fortunately though, we have a great system of justice for personal injury cases in Georgia. So next, we filed a personal injury lawsuit against the at-fault driver in Georgia. Once again, the other driver didn’t take responsibility for the car accident, but rather, this time the driver blamed it on “John Doe.” During the civil process for a personal injury case in Georgia, we have discovery. The parties in the case exchange information about the car accident. We were able to establish that “John Doe” didn’t contribute whatsoever to the collision!
The insurance company eventually made a very low settlement offer to resolve our client’s personal injury case. Fortunately though, our client had the courage to reject this settlement offer for his auto-accident. We decided to take his Georgia injury case all the way to trial before a jury. I told our client that he served our country. There’s no way we would ever sell him short for his bodily injury settlement. This accident case ultimately went to a civil jury trial in Fulton County. The Georgia jury listened attentively to our client’s story. And then, the jury came back with the verdict in our client’s favor!
Interestingly, Georgia personal injury law allows us to move for a second trial right after the first to see whether or not the insurance company’s position was indeed frivolous. The judge rightly allowed us to present evidence of all their denials, defenses, and delays. The jury didn’t deliberate long about attorney’s fees under Georgia law. The jury’s verdict form said, “Give him everything that he asked for.” They too were frustrated by the failure by the defense to take responsibility for the automobile accident. The jury, nevertheless, was instructed to put in the exact number amount on the verdict form, but had a hard time remembering the amount of attorney’s fees so we eventually settled for a confidential amount with the insurance company. All is well that ends well…
Instead of keeping the Georgia attorney’s fees from the automobile accident case, we thought the right thing to do would be to donate these fees on behalf of our client. He is reenlisting in the service. There is a Veteran’s Cemetery in Canton, Georgia. They are building a Veterans Memorial Bell too. We thought — What better way we thought to recognize our client than to donate the attorney’s fees for this bell honoring his and other’s military service? So on Memorial Day, we officially donated our attorney’s fees from this personal injury case to the organization.
We’re so proud to represent a member of the armed services in his personal injury case. Our client can now reenlist knowing that his country and our judicial system remains strong and values his sacrifice and commitment our country. To all members of the armed services, all of us at Kevin Patrick Law are grateful for your service and sacrifice to our country. Be safe and know that you always have a friend and resource in me as a Georgia trial lawyer.