Hello my friends,

Thank you for taking the time to read about an interesting case of mine that took nearly 8 years to complete.

Insurance bad faith is when an insurance company unfairly or dishonestly denies, delays, or underpays a legitimate claim without a reasonable basis. When an insurance carrier acts in bad faith, they can be held financially responsible for the full amount of an injured plaintiff’s damages, even if those damages are in the millions of dollars and the insurer sold a $10,000 liability policy to its at-fault insured driver. As a young lawyer, I grew my practice pursuing insurers for their bad faith conduct. All these years later, my clients continue to receive substantial recoveries when injured by underinsured motorists.

In December of 2017, a young couple and their 18-month-old daughter traveled from California to Florida to spend the Christmas and holiday season with their extended families. Both were very active individuals with exercise and travel being a huge part of their lifestyle. The husband had just completed an Ironman Triathlon, and the wife was planning an upcoming international trip to enjoy with their young daughter.

The family was driving on I-4 through Lakeland, on their way to visit family. Sadly, they didn’t make it to their destination that night. A drunk driver crossed the I-4 median and crashed into their van head-on. The impact forced their van into the path of several other vehicles including a tractor trailer who had no opportunity to avoid the collision. The multiple impacts nearly split the van in half.

Miraculously, their daughter was not severely injured. But, the couple suffered horrible injuries including severe facial lacerations, broken bones throughout their bodies, and traumatic brain injuries. They underwent numerous orthopedic surgeries, plastic surgery, and intense physical therapy, rehabilitation, and counseling. They were both in the hospital for weeks and needed so much initial care post-crash, they were unable to independently care for themselves or their young daughter. They could not return to their home in California, and the crash left them both with permanent injuries and permanent disabilities.

The at-fault drunk driver carried only $20,000 combined bodily injury liability coverage and is still serving out his jail sentence for the harm he caused. From the very beginning, I believed the liability insurer acted in bad faith by not immediately offering my clients the complete bodily injury liability limits. Despite each and every one of the statewide bad faith experts telling us we did not have a case against the insurer for anything more than the policy limits, we pushed on for nearly 8 years. We fought against an aggressive defense involving 3 law firms and numerous hired expert witnesses. Undeterred by all those tactics, we prevailed and my clients received a large seven figure recovery directly from the insurer.

Over all my years as a trial lawyer, this is my proudest moment. We were told so many times we did not have a chance of collecting bad faith money from the insurer. I had hard conversations with my clients about possible poor outcomes, but always with the assurance that no matter what, we would fight for them until the very end. We proved that if you believe in your case and truly care about your clients, you will find a way.

My Sincerest Regards,