The Freibott Law Firm recently secured a settlement on the eve of jury trial. Our client was injured in a collision wherein she hurt her neck, her low back, and her left shoulder. Her neck and back injuries resolved; however, her left shoulder injury did not. The left shoulder required surgery and a subsequent procedure to correct adhesions that had formed in the surgical area. The defendant in this case maintained a $100,000.00 liability policy. The carrier, State Farm, made an offer of $65,760.00 in this case. It would not further negotiate from that offer. Accordingly, we continued to litigate the case and then took the deposition of the defendant’s medical expert. During the deposition of the defendant’s medical expert, he admitted that the surgery to the left shoulder was related to the automobile collision. Further attempts by State Farm’s defense attorney to clarify its medical expert’s opinion only made matters worse. Upon further cross examination of State Farm’s medical expert, he agreed that he had not reviewed the medical records very carefully; that he could find no prior complaints of any problems associated with our client’s left shoulder since 1987; and that our client was left with a permanent injury to her shoulder due to the automobile collision. After the deposition, State Farm tendered its policy limits within two business days of its expert’s decision. (Rivera v. Krempa, C.A. No.: N10C-11-001 JRS)
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