Below are examples of how our legal team approached various cases
Insurance companies and big business have the resources to hire “experts’ who will explain why they are not responsible for your injuries. Our job is to prove them wrong. At Kirshner, Groff & Diaz, we have consistently demonstrated that we have the experience and resources to bring in the medical, legal and technical expertise necessary to fight back.
With over 30 years representing Florida accident victims, it is only possible to include a small sample of types of claims and the challenges our firm overcomes, when representing our clients. We try to update the cases as we can.
DENIAL OF UNINSURED MOTORIST COVERAGE
(UM) –
We recovered the limits of our client’s insurance policy, despite the insurance company’s insistence that these policies “never” cover the type of loss claimed by our client.
Our client was riding her motorcycle, when an uninsured motorist struck and injured her. Although she did not purchase insurance for the motorcycle, we made a claim for UM benefits under her car’s insurance policy. After we filed suit, the insurance company’s lawyers insisted that “no one has ever successfully challenged this policy language”. After taking the time to read every line of the policy, we convinced the court that when looking at how the exclusion, they wrote, was grammatically structured, the policy actually did provide coverage.
How is it that other lawyers didn’t challenge this exclusion? Maybe they are more focused on bringing in new business and getting fast settlements, then helping the clients they have?
625,000.00 RECOVERY FOR A TRIP & FALL LEG INJURY –
Our client had numerous preexisting health issues, affecting how he walks. It also prevented his injury from fully healing following reconstructive surgery. As a result, he now needed a wheelchair for most activities out of the home. The property owner denied liability (fault), claiming that our client should have exercised more caution, since he was already unsteady on his feet. They also claimed that his preexisting medical conditions were so severe, he would have ended up wheelchair bound, even if the accident never happened. Our client was left in a difficult situation. The injury significantly impacts on his ability to work and he needed an aid to help with certain activities of daily living.
Our law firm brought in all the necessary experts, including an Architectural Engineer to explain why our client was not at fault for the accident and a Home-Care Expert, to redesign his home and explain future care costs. Next, we had his doctors explain why it would be years, before those preexisting medical conditions might cause the problems he now had.
This was a difficult case for all our attorneys and staff. We are very happy our client now has the financial resources to provide for his care needs and more.
WRONGFUL DEATH. Confidential, high six-figure settlement, with no lost earnings, or medical bills and the only survivors were adult children.
We were hired to represent the family of a woman who tragically died in an accident. While riding as a passenger, another car entered the road from a stop sign, striking the decedent’s vehicle. The insurance company denied liability (fault) and hired an accident reconstruction expert. He claimed their driver could have easily crossed the roadway, if our vehicle was not traveling well over the speed limit.
Our law firm hired a top accident reconstruction expert. Although neither vehicle had a data recorder, our car had a “dash cam” installed. By taking the video recording “frame rate” and then calculating the time it took to pass objects along the roadway, we were able to show that the car was traveling much slower than the defendant’s expert claimed. An analysis of the vehicles’ “crush damage” further supported our claim. In the end, we presented enough evidence to prove that the defendant should never have entered the intersection. While this was a tragic loss, we were happy to give the family some closure and the feeling that justice prevailed.
$100,000 INSURANCE POLICY LIMITS TENDER, JUST BEFORE TRIAL –
Our client suffered a low back injury, ultimately requiring surgical repair. However, the insurance company claimed that with only $500 in property damage, her injury could not have been from the accident. Even after we filed a law suit, the insurance company would not offer enough to cover her medical bills. We never stopped fighting for our client and before trial, they gave in and paid the full limits of their insurance policy.
CONFIDENTIAL RECOVERY, JUST UNDER TEN MILLION DOLLARS, for client who was partially paralyzed in a vehicular accident.
Our team of medical experts; vocational rehabilitation experts; lawyers and other consultants vigorously challenged the insurance company’s attempt to deny liability (fault), deny insurance coverage and to minimize the type of care he would need to live with dignity and security.
In addition to the substantial recovery, through careful financial planning, we preserved his entitlement to secure government benefits to help provide for his future care. As a result, our client and his family are financially secure; he has a new home designed for his special needs; a private nurse care practitioner who insures he is provided with whatever care and treatment he needs and much more.
RECOVERED $135,000 FOR CLIENT, EVEN THOUGH THE INSURANCE POLICY WAS ONLY FOR $100,000 –
Our client suffered a broken leg requiring surgery; when his motor scooter was cut off by a car that left the scene. However, a witness got a tag number and vehicle description, which was matched to a nearby vehicle. As it turns out, the driver was elderly and apparently did not even realize he caused an accident, or remember driving in that area. Unfortunately, the police did not take the witness’s phone number and wrote his address wrong. Although the elderly the man obviously caused the accident, his insurance company refused to make any offer, thinking we would never track down the witness.
Although the police gave up trying to locate the witness, our office never gave up and shortly before trial, our investigators located him. Because of their delay in accepting clear responsibility for the accident, we pressured the insurance company into paying more than the insurance policy limits they sold the defendant.
$375,000 AFTER CLIENT’S FIRST LAWYER DROPPED HER CASE.
Our elderly client was walking across the street (against the light), when she was struck by a car making a left on a green arrow. She suffered a fractured leg requiring surgical repair. To make matters worse, the driver let the $100,000 insurance policy on his leased car expire. As a result, the first lawyer dropped the case.
We are not afraid of tough cases; we know the insurance laws and we don’t give up easily. Our attorneys also take the time to know Florida’s insurance laws; including coverage laws that apparently, the first lawyer did not know. We used our knowledge and experience to establish insurance coverage and prove the driver could have easily avoided our client, if he were paying attention.
$750,000 FOR INJURIES TO A YOUNG WOMAN IN AN ACCIDENT –
This was interesting. After a car cuts off our client’s vehicle and drives off, her passenger panics, grabs the steering wheel and the car careens into a pole. She suffered a severe leg fracture, requiring surgical repair and that left her with a large scar, as well as lost wages during her recovery. But whose responsible for her injuries?
Since the passenger doesn’t have insurance coverage; we were left with making a claim against our client’s Uninsured Motorist policy, for the “phantom vehicle’s” negligence. Since there was no contact with the other car, proving that it caused the car to go out of control, striking the strike a pole was complicated; requiring careful analysis and accident reconstruction to determine what occurred.
$680,000 FOR LEG INJURIES TO VEHICLE PASSENGER.
Another “who done it” accident. Our client suffered serious injuries, including a fractured leg with open wounds, requiring reconstructive skin and tissue grafting. The injuries happened while a passenger in a car that lost control and crashed. Although he did not recall another car in the area, the driver claims that a car cut him off. Despite the insurance company challenging our liability claim, we were able to make a significant recovery for the client.
CONFIDENTIAL HIGH SIX FIGURE SETTLEMENT FOR A SLIP & FALL INJURY-
This insurance denial could be called either, ignore what you see, or the best phony testimony insurance companies can pay for. Our client fractured her foot, requiring two surgeries to her foot and ankle. The severe injury made it hard for her to work without pain, since her ling-time job required she stand, or walk most of the day. The Defendant’s “expert witness” doctor, claimed that everyone who looked at her were wrong; from the hospital emergency room doctors, to the radiologists and her treating doctors. In fact, he claimed there were no fractures at all. Rather, what everyone else is calling a fracture are preexisting bony degenerative changes, unrelated to the fall.
Our team of medical experts; vocational rehabilitation experts; lawyers and other consultants vigorously successfully challenged the defendant’s expert and we recovered a substantial confidential settlement for her. Her recovery made it possible to stay off her feet and reduce any additional damage from the injury.
$440,000 FOR NECK AND BACK INJURIES, FROM A MOTOR VEHICLE ACCIDENT-
Our client suffered a disk herniation in her back, requiring spine surgery and post-surgical epidural injections to control pain and reduce inflammation. Although our client had a past history of neck and back pain and diagnostic testing showed degenerative changes, the medical records showed only minor complaints before the accident. Not surprisingly, the insurance company and its hired doctor denied that her injuries, including the surgery were related to the accident. Despite the insurance company’s initial denial, we secured a substantial recovery for the client.
$2,750,000 RECOVERY IN A COMPLEX LIABILITY MULTI-CAR ACCIDENT CLAIM-
Our client sustained catastrophic injuries, in an accident that everyone but us thought was solely caused by an uninsured driver. That driver was passing in a no-passing zone, when he struck our client head-on. That impact caused our client’s vehicle to spin sideways, where she was then struck on her driver’s side door, by a car traveling behind her.
Our office immediately went into action. One of our lawyers personally went to the accident scene, to look for evidence the police may have missed, and document important markings before they disappeared with time. Our Accident Reconstruction expert was able to use the evidence we preserved, as well evidence from the vehicles to established that her most severe injuries were actually caused by this second impact. Because of our fast action, attention to detail and teamwork, our client received critically needed compensation for her injuries.
With over 30 years representing Florida accident victims, it is only possible to include a small sample of cases we handle. We try to update this list to keep it current. Over the years we have been involved in numerous cases with settlements/verdicts as large, or larger than those listed above. However, we are here to handle all your personal injury claims.
We also represent many clients with soft tissue injuries; otherwise known as sprain or strain injuries. We recognize those injuries can also cause permanent pain and disability. At the Law Offices of Kirshner, Groff & Diaz, we want to help you and your family get the recovery you deserve for all your injury claims.
