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.