Louis loved riding his bike, and he was well known in the bike community. He never expected to be involved in a horrible accident and left to die in the street by a hit-and-run driver.
That defendant driver was under 21 and coming back from a party where she had been drinking. She turned her SUV left directly into the back of Louis as he was coming the in opposite direction.
The impact was so bad that Louis’s head broke the rear passenger window of the SUV. Later in a deposition, the defendant would claim she didn’t know there was an impact at all! Louis had multiple head and facial injuries and was left unconscious in the street as the defendant drove away.
The police eventually stopped her, and she was criminally charged. Unfortunately, she didn’t have enough insurance for the extensive medical bills. But we learned that her family was very wealthy and they should have had more insurance. They certainly had money to pay for what they did to Louis.
The Aftermath: Despite the seriousness of the accident, the woman received a light criminal sentence. There was a lot of support for the man because people protested the sentence. https://www.canyon-news.com/teen-driver-arraigned-in-hit-and-run-incident/22862
How We Responded: The law is like anything else because it is both an art and science. How did we apply the law to help our client? We chose to pursue restitution first. Restitution is a payment from the perpetrator of a crime to the victim. We prepared a letter with exhibits explaining to the court the extensive injuries, medical treatment, and need for future medical treatment. We were persistent and eventually convived the court that Louis was entitled to $2,373,945 in restitution.
From the court transcript:
This restitution number was then helpful when we negotiated the civil case.
We did further investigation and found evidence that the father acted negligently. Why? Because he was the one who entrusted his daughter with the car. The father tried to fight the allegation, but the court agreed there was enough evidence that the father acted negligently and the case could proceed to a jury trial. The case was settled confidentially just before that trial. Our choice to pursue restitution first enabled us to use that to negotiate a civil settlement with not only the daughter but her father as well.
Howell, LLP
At Howell, LLP, there is no one clear-cut way to win a case for our clients. By listening to our clients and investigating the facts and reports associated with the accident, we can apply our past experiences and understanding of the law to your benefit. For more information about how we can help you, contact Howell, LLP, and set up a free consultation.
