$359,758.44 Gross Arbitration Award in Underinsured Motorist Claim Against Allstate Insurance
Oct 01, 2014OUTCOME: $359,758.44 with a 40% reduction due to his pre-existing condition. Total award after 40% reduction: $200,855.06.
Our client was involved in a rear end accident in 2010. That underlying case settled with the at fault driver for the minimal $15,000 policy limits and a claim was then made by Lederer & Nojima, LLP ... against Allstate for UIM benefits. Our client suffered head, neck, back, and shoulder injuries. He had an extensive prior history of serious injuries and complaints to the same parts of his body. The defense claimed that the injuries were either pre-existing or degenerative, or both. John Nojima and Seema Bhatt of Lederer & Nojima handled the UIM case which was forced to arbitration as a result of Allstate’s woefully inadequate pre-arbitration offer of $75,000. Through a careful review of years of medical records we found two seemingly insignificant entries that ended up being the focus of the entire case. One was a note stating: "recommend nerve block at C3-6," which was written prior to the accident and initially looked terrible for the argument that our client’s cervical injuries were mostly caused as a result of this accident. After further research, we found out that nerve blocks are also used to diagnose headaches, as well as treat cervical symptoms. We used that one tiny entry to support our main argument on the case: that our client's prior treatment was focused on headaches and not neck pain despite four prior neck MRIs and multiple complaints of neck pain. Additionally, we found another small handwritten note in the medical records, which referenced a negative "drop arm test" administered before the accident on his left shoulder. Finding this entry was critical to showing that our client's post-accident positive "drop arm test" was a result of the accident as opposed to being attributed solely to his pre-existing shoulder conditions. This further supported our argument that at least 50% of his shoulder problems, which ultimately required surgery, were caused by the accident despite prior shoulder pain at 7 of 10 and a pre-accident MRI showing a rotator cuff tear. Using these two medical record entries, we were able to successfully cross examine the doctor hired by Allstate and get him to waiver on his previously written opinions. It also aided in leading our own doctors to opinions that they otherwise may not have had on their own. After a full day arbitration with testimony from our client, his secretary and doctors for both sides, the arbitrator crushed Allstate’s low-ball offer and awarded our client $359,758.44 with a 40% reduction due to his pre-existing condition. The total award to the client after the 40% reduction was $200,855.06, well in excess of Allstate’s $75,000 offer.
