Articles Posted in Firm News

SMDA client, CT was rear-ended on June 7, 2004. AT the time she was insured with State Farm. CT suffered a herniated disc in her neck and underwent fusion surgery about 6 months later. State Farm paid personal injury protection (PIP) benefits (consisting of medical bills and replacement services) for about two years and then terminated all benefits based on the opinions of several doctors they hired to offer an opinion. Not surprisingly, these highly paid and frequently used reviewers said CT’s ongoing problems were not related to the car crash.

SMDA filed suit on CT’s behalf in December of 2008 to make State Farm pay for her ongoing medical care and treatment. State Farm waited until the day of trial two years later (December 6, 2010) to offer to settle the case for about 60 percent of the unpaid medical bills. CT and her counsel (SMDA partner Patrick Derkacz) said no thanks to that.

After a 3 day trial the jury returned a verdict in CT’s favor and determined that State Farm owed every single penny that CT asked for. The jury also determined that the medical bills were overdue and ordered State Farm to pay penalty interest.

SMDA client SG suffered devastating and life altering injuries in a head on highway speed collision on May 15, 1987. She was found under the dashboard and life flighted to the hospital. She was insured with State Farm at the time of the collision.

During the ensuing years, SG and her family noticed that she developed progressively worsening tremors. She was eventually diagnosed with Dystonia which is a neurological movement disorder that causes sustained muscle contractions where her muscles will spasm to the point that her body twists involuntarily or engages in repetitive movements or she is paralyzed in abnormal positions for extended periods of time without advance warning.

SG’s doctors determined that her condition was due in part to the devastating injuries she suffered in the crash and that she needed help to care for herself when she suffered these tremors. State Farm refused to honor the claim. State Farm again hired a number of highly paid and frequently used doctors who examined SG and not surprisingly testified SG’s problems were not related to the crash.