Reported in the Lawyers Weekly
In May 2005 the plaintiff was traveling with her husband in Haverhill, MA. In an instant, the defendant pulled their vehicle into traffic causing a collision with the vehicle driven by the plaintiff's husband. Immediately following the accident the plaintiff was rushed to Lawrence General Hospital, and then taken to Beth Israel Hospital in which she stayed for longer than two weeks.
After leaving Beth Israel, she was moved to Shaughnessy-Kaplan Rehabilitation facility in order to receive therapy for her injuries. As a result of the accident, the plaintiff received both a fracture of the right elbow, as well as a closed head injury that was accompanied by bleeding. Even with all of these injuries, the plaintiff recovered nicely.
At the time of the accident the defendant had a liability policy that covered $250,000.00. Even though liability was clear, the counsel for the plaintiff argued that the plaintiff's husband could act as a joint tort feasor. This led to an extension of $20,000.00 in the liability policy. In turn, the final amount of coverage was $270,000.00
