We recently resolved a catastrophic injury claim for a client who paid nothing out of pocket towards resolution. In that case, an individual (“plaintiff”) suffered a terrible life-altering injury on valuable property owned by our client.
In his claim, the plaintiff alleged that the injury was caused by a dangerous condition on the property. Represented by able counsel, the plaintiff valued his damages at more than $50 million. Unfortunately, our client had only $1 million of insurance coverage—leaving our client’s assets potentially exposed to satisfy any excess judgment.
Defense was crucial to limit our client’s liability and identify potential alternative sources of compensation to settle the claim. Our thorough investigation and comprehensive legal strategy protected our client from judgment.
We helped the client defend and earn this remarkable result by taking the following key steps:
- Identify defenses to liability. The fact that an invitee suffered a terrible injury on your property, alone, does not establish liability. We worked carefully and doggedly to identify defenses to liability. That effort included substantial legal research, factual investigation, and engagement of experts. With these results in hand, we demonstrated to the plaintiff and his counsel that there was a strong chance the case might never get to a jury.
In a nutshell, notwithstanding how sympathetic the plaintiff was, he faced a difficult challenge establishing that our client breached any legal duty which caused his injury.
- Identify contributors to fault. In addition, we expended significant effort to identify every other potential contributor to the plaintiff’s injury—from the plaintiff himself, to prior owners, design professionals, contractors, subcontractors and managers at the property.
- Identify potential claims for indemnity and create a record. Importantly, we also identified potential sources for indemnity in case our client did suffer an adverse judgment. We placed these potential indemnitors (parties that compensate for a loss) on notice of our claims to persuade them to participate in and add money to a settlement fund to resolve the case.
These potential indemnitors included, among others, the insurance brokers who advised that such a “thin” liability policy would suffice to cover such valuable property. In addition, we communicated clearly and forcefully with counsel provided by the insurer and the insurance adjuster—managing the defense of plaintiff’s claim and placing the insurer on notice of its obligation to settle the matter in the best interest of the client from the outset. Engaging reputable bad faith insurance counsel to assist in this effort was essential.
As a result of this proactive approach, during mediation the plaintiff agreed to accept far less than his demand, and the insurer agreed to pay far more than its policy limits, leaving our client otherwise untouched by the litigation.
If a catastrophic injury occurred on your property, it is critical to take early action. Our attorneys provide essential guidance in these situations.
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