Rear-End Collision—$787,500 Settlement

In Demarest, New Jersey, a middle-aged woman was rear-ended after stopping at an intersection, causing her severe injury. After Davis, Saperstein & Salomon, P.C. partner Paul A. Garfield demonstrated that the driver who had rear-ended our client had been driving negligently, carelessly, and inattentively, our client was awarded a $787,500 settlement.

Our client was driving to pick up her daughter from a deli. A crossing guard raised her stop sign, causing our client to stop at the intersection of Piermont Road and Northwood Avenue. A few seconds after she stopped, she was rear-ended and jolted forwards and backward in her seat.

The impact caused the woman to suffer injuries to her left shoulder, left knee, lumbar and cervical spines, and to develop post-traumatic stress disorder. She suffered a rotator cuff tear and developed tendinosis in her left shoulder, and suffered a torn meniscus and chondromalacia in her left knee. To treat her shoulder, she received cortisone injections, while her left knee will require arthroscopic surgical intervention. She also developed several disc bulges in her spine, and a disc herniation at the C5-C6 level. To treat her spine, she received transforaminal epidural injections, cervical epidural injections, and trigger point injections, before undergoing an anterior cervical discectomy and fusion of the C4-C5 and C5-C6 levels.

Davis, Saperstein & Salomon, P.C. partner Paul A. Garfield retained an economics expert to determine the extent of her financial loss. She spent years working as a special education teacher, but after the accident she was let go because her employer had found that she was unable to complete the physical tasks that her work required. As such, the expert determined that the client had sustained a total loss of $265,200.

Despite the various forms of treatment that she underwent, the mother and wife continues to experience pain. She has difficulty walking her puppy, gardening, picking up her laundry basket, and driving her daughter to her travel volleyball games. Her life has changed in the aftermath of this accident.

Davis, Saperstein & Salomon, P.C. partner Paul A. Garfield ensured that our client received proper compensation for her pain and suffering, in the form of a $787, 500 settlement.

Settlements are often limited by the total available insurance coverage. Insurance company adjusters and their lawyers often defend cases by claiming that a client was negligent and could have avoided being injured by arguing comparative negligence on the part of an injured client; or that their pain and suffering was caused by pre-existing medical conditions or prior injuries. Despite those defenses, the Davis, Saperstein & Salomon, PC lawyers won their client’s injury claim. Each client’s case is unique. Results may differ because of different facts, circumstances and available insurance coverage.

Call us now for a free and confidential case evaluation. We are also available 24/7 online at our website.

Medical Glossary

• Lumbar spine: The lower back, containing five vertebrae.
• Cervical spine: The first seven vertebrae in the spine.
• Rotator cuff tear: A tear in the shoulder muscles or tendons.
• Tendinosis: The degeneration of a tendon’s collagen.
• Chondromalacia: Damage to the cartilage residing under the kneecap.
• Meniscal tear: A tear in the cartilage of the knee; commonly occurs if an individual suddenly and forcefully twists their knee.
• Arthroscopy: A surgical procedure that allows the surgeon to complete a procedure by inserting a small camera through a small incision.
• Disc bulge: An extension of disc tissue past the edge of the vertebrae.
• Disc herniation: Occurs when the exterior of disc cracks and its nucleus pushes into the spinal canal and irritates surrounding nerves.
• Epidural injection: The injection of anti-inflammatory medicine into the epidural space in the spine.
• Trigger point injection: The injection of a local anesthetic, sometimes combined with a steroid medication, into one of an individual’s trigger point locations.
• Anterior cervical discectomy and fusion: A surgical procedure that removes the disc and the disc material pressing on the spine, and then fuses the spine together with a graft.