Our client was an older man in Racine County, named Paul, who was rear-ended waiting to enter his driveway. There was about $5K in property damage to his van and both vehicles showed significant damage.

Paul, “backbone of America”, Looking for Fairness

Paul, 76 at the time of the crash, was a widower, army veteran, who worked 43 years for Chrysler in Milwaukee/Racine. A true “backbone of America” type of a guy who rejected the $85,000 pre-suit offer and a feeler for six-figures at mediation, because he just didn’t think it was fair. His sense of fairness was offended by the insurance company’s doctor’s opinions, and he bowed his neck and let us try the case. That’s why we’re so glad for him.

He had many pre-existing issues, including inflammatory arthritis, degenerative disc disease, osteoarthritis, stroke, TTP, prostate cancer (which was diagnosed and treated between the accident and our trial), etc. It’s very clear that American Family was relying on the jury being unable to look past all that. He had routine follow-ups with a rheumatologist for the arthritis in his hands, knees, and sporadic complaints of pain in his back. He had no meaningful history of neck complaints, though of course, the post-crash x-rays showed degeneration and facet joint disease.

Building this Rear-end Car Accident Case for Racine Court

Our expert was a pain management doctor in Racine, who treated Paul from 3-months post-crash on.

The defense hired a self-employed pain management doctor from Menomonee Falls who has worked for the insurance industry for 30+ years. He relied on the extensive medical history and pre-existing conditions to give a 6-weeks and out, soft tissue, opinion. His review of the record and ignoring of the nature of the crash provided me ample grounds for cross-examination. The jury clearly rejected his opinions entirely.

We built this car accident case around the medical expenses and the fact that our client always reported real improvement with medial branch blocks and radio-frequency ablations. In sticking with that theme, I asked for the biggest number for future medical expenses and kept pain & suffering ask low, to remain credible on our case being about getting him the care that he needs.

What We Won for Paul – Domnitz Case Results

The jury awarded Paul:

• $70,000 for past medicals
• $32,000 for past pain and suffering (P&S)
• $60,000 for future P&S
• $225,000 for future medical expenses
  Noah Domnitz suggested a range of $155,000 – $310,000 for futures to the jury – based on doctor’s treatment recommendations
• TOTAL VERDICT = $385,000+ returned by a jury of Paul’s peers from Racine

After 3 days of trial, a total verdict of $385,000+ was returned by a jury of Paul’s peers. Again, we relied on the fact that medical treatment took away the pain and allowed him to live his simple life with a controlled level of pain, and thus the future medicals were the most important compensation they could provide.

It was our honor to try this case to a Racine jury on our client’s behalf. He was an 80-year-old man who could’ve taken a settlement to avoid a trial, but he decided to fight and empowered us to fight for him.

Contact Domnitz & Domnitz if you’ve been in a car accident, or any personal injury incident – Ric & Noah Domnitz can fight for you too!

Shelly is a stay at home mom from Greenfield. She was stopped at a red light when she was rear-ended. The at-fault driver told the investigating officer that she “nudged” Shelly’s vehicle. Because Shelly’s vehicle had a trailer hitch on it, there was very little property damage. However, Shelly developed back pain, neck pain, and headaches after the impact.

Legal Assistance After Greenfield Rear-End Car Accident

Complicating Shelly’s car accident case further was the fact that she was already scheduled for a cervical neck fusion surgery before the crash. While her doctors wanted her to get treatment for her low back pain, no one would perform physical therapy on her spine until after she had the previously scheduled surgery. Shelly was very reasonable from the beginning of her case; she understood that because of the pre-existing condition in her neck and the surgical recommendation that pre-dated the crash, we were unlikely to be able to make a claim for her neck injury.

However, her low back (or lumbar spine) had never given her trouble and she had no history of treatment on her low back. Following successful unrelated surgery, Shelly was able to begin treating for her back pain and headaches from the crash. Ultimately, she received injections in her low back – and physical therapy.

‘Simple’ Accident – Challenging Car Accident Case

Shelly’s case represented several common challenges in personal injury cases:

First, a relatively low impact

The insurance industry has made a push in recent years to heavily defend low impact cases, arguing that a low impact is not capable of producing the claimed injuries. Sound science proves this is simply not the case – however, it is a common attack on injury claims where available.

Secondly, Shelly had degeneration in her spine before the crash

To be clear, all humans, should we be lucky enough to live into our 40s to 100s, will have degenerative changes in our spines and joints. We’re biological beings and we degenerate over time. However, degeneration does not always lead to symptoms – like pain.

Often times, a triggering event, like a car crash, even at low speeds, can cause degenerative conditions to produce symptoms – like pain. The insurance industry has long tried to leverage these degenerative changes against injured people. But for people like Shelly, the post-crash reality was pain where there was never pain before – even though there was pre-existing degeneration.

Domnitz Wins for Shelly of Greenfield, WI

We successfully fought all of these battles on Shelly’s behalf. Ultimately, the liability carrier paid their $100,000 policy limits to Shelly. Additionally, because Shelly wisely purchased Underinsured Motorist Coverage on her auto policy, she collected an additional $37,500 from her own carrier.

We appreciate Shelly’s trust in our firm – and we’re proud that Shelly found us through our A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau.