A Comic Gets Run Over By A Car

While this sounds like the beginning of a bad joke, involving a priest, minister, and a rabbi, it’s not at all funny.

In fact, this is precisely what happened to my client, K.

Fortunately, she recovered after being knocked down and injured by a car. I was able to get her a fair settlement to compensate her for her medical bills, physical injuries, lost work and income, pain and suffering, and loss of a normal life.

Car Runs Over Client

I don’t care how jaded you are, hearing that a human being was hit by a car hits a nerve. A three- or four-thousand-pound (or more) vehicle moving, even at low speed, hitting a one hundred fifty-pound person is a ridiculous mismatch. The car always wins.

The worst case scenario is obvious; death.

Fortunately, at least in K’s case, she is still very much alive.

She was standing outside her building when a man driving a vehicle passed the entrance, noticed he’d missed it, and reversed suddenly.

Right into K. Knocked her down, leaving her with severe bruises on her knees, legs, hips, and other places, along with a concussion.

Not to put too fine a point on it, but a concussion is a brain injury. It means severe bruising to the brain. Bruise your brain enough and you will never be the same. These closed head injuries are serious and can be lingering or permanent, plus they make one more susceptible to future brain injuries and concussions.

K declined the paramedics’ offer to drive her to the hospital (and here you know this personal injury attorney is losing his mind; first of all, if you’re hurt and the paramedics come, you should always accept transport, and second, because financial obligations should never be the reason to refuse transport). But K was unsure if her insurance would cover the cost of an ambulance ride, and was concerned about the cost of the bill, which can often be $3,000 or more in Chicago!

Professions and Professional Treatment

K is a woman with multiple talents and professions. She is a stand-up comedian, a yoga instructor, and also does some office work. Unless you are a fellow stand-up comedian or yoga instructor, you probably never considered how hard one has to work, both physically and mentally, to perform these jobs competently. And you have to hustle. You don’t just sit at a desk and tap on a laptop. There is preparation, writing, editing, performing, podcasting, and a ton of background before a single joke gets told onstage. Teaching yoga requires one to be in superb physical condition. If you can’t demonstrate the moves to your students, it’s pretty difficult to be a successful teacher.

Needless to say, neither of these professions offer sick days, personal days, or ways to recoup income while you are unable to work.

Readers of this blog already know insurance companies are very resistant to paying any more than forced to, so when a stand up comedian claims lost wages, lost ability to perform or sign up gigs, lost opportunities to produce video specials, or the like, one expects quite a bit of pushback.

We got quite a bit of pushback!

And I, on K’s behalf, pushed back hard. I presented wage loss documentation, proof of performance opportunities lost or postponed, and explained exactly what days K was unable to teach yoga. I made a very detailed list (with K’s input) of every aspect of her life that was affected by her injuries.

As always, I produced reams of medical records and bills, which I condensed into digest form to explain precisely what the injuries were; the types of treatment; the length of treatment; and how all this interacted with K’s professional and personal lives.

Months of physical therapy, treatment by a neurologist, home exercise, and time finally enabled K to slowly ease back into her normal routine of exercise, teaching, working, writing, performing, podcasting, and, well, you get the idea—she wears many hats!

After much discussion and negotiation, I was able to secure an offer that made K satisfied she was being fairly compensated and left her with a financial cushion after all her expenses were paid.

Takeaways

• Cars can kill pedestrians, even when moving slowly; fortunately, that didn’t happen here
• Documentation, especially of odd things like lost wages, is key to every settlement
• Bringing life to a client’s life activities adds value to settlement offers

Contact Chicago Personal Injury Lawyer Stephen Hoffman

If you have been injured, whether by an auto accident, bike or pedestrian crash, dog bite, work accident, or medical malpractice, seek medical attention immediately. Report accidents to the police and your own insurance company, or to your employer if you were injured at work. Then contact a lawyer with experience in your type of injury matter.

If you have been in an accident and have questions, contact Chicago personal injury attorney Stephen L. Hoffman for a free consultation at (773) 944-9737. Stephen has over 30 years of legal experience and gets results; he has collected millions of dollars for his satisfied clients. He is listed as a SuperLawyer, has a 10.0 rating on Avvo, and is BBB A+ accredited. Stephen is also an Executive Level Member of the Lincoln Square Ravenswood Chamber of Commerce.

Stephen handles injury cases on a contingency fee basis, which means you pay nothing up front, and Stephen only gets paid if you do. You have only a limited time to file a claim, so don’t wait another day; contact Stephen now to get started putting your life back together.