Susanne was injured in a rear-end collision and sustained a significant shoulder injury that required surgery. Susanne was a union heavy equipment operator and her injuries ended her career.
The insurance carrier claimed that it was not possible for someone to sustain such a substantial injury due to the amount of property damage to the vehicles involved. They refused to make any offer to settle the case.
A lawsuit was started by Partner Chuck Slane and depositions of the doctors involved were taken and, based on the medical evidence, the case was settled for close to $200,000.
J.S. was injured in a car crash and suffered neck and back injuries. Partner Rich Ruohonen representing J.S. After numerous and various types of injections, and chiropractic and physical therapies were all tried, J.S. finally began receiving radio frequency neurotomies, which were extremely helpful toward reducing her pain to a manageable level. The first policy limit was tendered, and then after litigation was initiated the underinsured motorist policy was also offered for a total of $200,000 recovered for this wonderful client.
Partner Rich Ruohonen represented R.D. who was injured in a car crash and suffered a broken right arm and shoulder injury. She had immediate surgical repair to fix the bones in her arm, which included open reduction internal fixation of her arm with a plate a few screws. She also later had a minor arthroscopic shoulder surgery to repair a tear in her labrum. Partner Rich Ruohonen settled the case for a total of $200,000.
Walter was pulling over along the side of local highway where people stop and park to fish in a local lake that abuts the highway. Walter was completely off the roadway when he was struck by young teen who was not paying attention to where she was going. Initially, she blamed Walter, saying he stopped in the roadway and the police seemed to take her side. Her insurance company initially denied the claim. Partner Rich Ruohonen went to the scene of the crash to help document the evidence shortly after the crash. Rich helped determine an obvious point of impact that was not only off the traveled portion of the roadway but even mostly off the paved shoulder of the road. After this evidence was submitted to the insurance company, the company changed its denial of the claim and accepted liability. Walter suffered neck injuries including a C6 fracture and herniated discs resulting a two-level fusion. The case settled for the liability limits of $100,000 and underinsured motorist limits of $100,000 for a total of $200,000.
Shawn was severely injured when he was riding his bicycle on a roadway and a vehicle being driven by a 90 year-old man turned left into his immediate path. Shawn flew into the air landing on his head and neck. He ended up suffering a traumatic brain injury resulting in numerous cognitive problems including attention, concentration and memory problems. Shawn also had a C1 burst fracture in his neck and two transverse process fractures in his lower neck at C7 and T1. Surgery was not required but he was forced to wear a brace for months. Shawn ended up having radio frequency neurotomies once a year to burn the irritated nerves in his neck. The traumatic brain injury improved with treatment and time, but S.S. continued to experience problems with memory and attention, word finding difficulties and trouble concentrating. Shawn was an avid runner and bicyclist and went on several training runs per week and was likely a top five percent athlete in his age class. While he got back to some semblance of training, he never attained or competed at the level he did previous to this crash. Rather than try the case to a jury, the parties agreed to binding high/low arbitration with a neutral arbitrator. Partner Rich Ruohonen presented the case during a full-day arbitration that resulted in an award of $750,000.
Leslie was a passenger in a vehicle driven by her friend in Iowa. A man failed to yield from a stop sign and caused a t-bone collision at highway speeds. The man died in the collision. Leslie suffered a dislocated hip and acetabular fracture. She was airlifted to the hospital. The doctors popped her hip back into joint by pulling hard on her leg. She required a few months off of work to take it easy and she walked with a limp. Leslie continued to have pain in the hip; x-rays from two years after the accident revealed early arthritic changes in the hip. The defense attorney tried to argue that her pain was from pre-existing back pain and not from the hip injury that was a result of the accident. A previous attorney obtained the $20,000 liability limits from the deceased defendant. Leslie asked attorney Rich Ruohonen to pursue the underinsured motorist case. The insurance company offered $30,000 to resolve the case and the mediator told attorney Ruohonen they should accept the offer and that juries did not award very much money in Iowa.
Leslie and Rich thought this offer was ridiculously low and decided to try the case to a jury. The jury awarded $448,000. This jury verdict was believed to be one of the biggest personal injury verdicts in Des Moines in several years.
Jody was rear-ended by an SUV at a high rate of speed. She originally hired a downtown law firm that worked on the case for one year. The at-fault party offered them $7,500 to settle all cases. Jody fired that firm and then hired a small firm who told her the case was worth a lot more. That lawyer sat on the case for nearly five years. Jody had neck surgery and had thousands of dollars worth of unpaid bills and wage loss. The lawyer would not return calls or emails and it became apparent that nothing was getting done.
A friend of Jody’s suggested TSR Injury Law and Steve Terry noticed the six years statute of limitations was going to expire in less than one month of our being hired. We served a summons on the defendant, but struck a deal with the insurance company to stay the statute. This allowed us to gather the records (which had not been done for the last six years) and get a final report from the neurosurgeon. Based on our timely effort, a settlement of $475,000 was eventually received and all of Jody’s bills were paid.
One morning, a school bus driver in Blue Earth County was driving 11 kids on a gravel road. As she drove up to an intersection with a paved highway, she slowed for a yield sign, but did not stop. The school bus driver pulled out in front of a mother and her child and caused a horrific crash. The mother’s spine was permanently injured. She found a doctor in Mankato who was able to help with her pain by using treatments called Radio Frequency Neurotomy (RFN) to burn the nerves in her back and by injecting cortisone into her neck to calm the pain caused by herniated discs. The treatment went on for five years and cost about $250,000. The bus company, its attorneys, and its insurance company blamed the mother for not stopping and letting the bus pass in front of her. They said she did not really need the medical treatment that helped her live her life, and that even if she did need the treatment, it was too expensive and they should not have to pay for it. Another firm was handling the case and the bus company’s insurance company offered less than $10,000 in settlement. The other firm called Nate to try the case. Nate tried the case to a Blue Earth County jury in Mankato. The jury found the harm done to the mother was worth $485,000.
MD was a teenager who was caught in a snowstorm while trying to get home. He was hit head on by a professional driver who was transporting passengers. The insurance blamed “the kid” and felt their professional driver could not have lost control causing the crash. Partner Steven Terry proved though investigation, “the kid” did nothing wrong and in fact the professional driver was traveling too fast for the snow conditions and was 100 percent at fault for the crash. Accident reconstruction and data from the black box proved who was at fault. MD had many leg fractures and also needed dental work done. After two years of treatment, MD required no more care and “felt great.” The case was settled for $525,000.00 after the initial offer of 0.
Colten was smashed into by a driver that ran a red light. His body was thrown into the driver’s door and window and Colton’s spine was whipped back and forth. Colten ripped a disc in his low back and the disc pushed up against a nerve. Colten was left with pain that traveled from his back down the back of his leg. The doctors treated the injury by using epidural steroid injections. The treatments provided temporary relief but the injury became chronic.
Allstate offered only $5,000 stating it was just a “soft-tissue injury” and he should get better. Chuck took the case to trial and the jury appraised the value of the harm caused at $597,000.
