Are personal injury cases all about the money? John Demas, at Demas Law Group, P.C., explains how sometimes the end result of a personal injury case can be a lot more than just that.
“Monetary gain is important, of course, but a lot of what we do for our clients has a deeper and more personal effect on their whole lives”.
With over 20 years of experience and more than 1,000 cases resolved, John has seen a vast array of cases. However, certain aspects of a case can make one more memorable than another. A recent case that stands out in John’s mind is one another attorney brought him in on to help take to trial.
“This case stands out to me for a couple different reasons,” John said. “For one, our client was being offered a fraction of what he deserved for his accident. Furthermore, this was a genuinely good guy, but for whatever reason his case was sent to the Special Investigation Unit on suspicion of fraud.” The insurance company stonewalled the plaintiff, forcing him to go to trial because they didn’t believe he had actually sustained any significant injuries in his accident.
“The insurance company forced us to go to trial to try to obtain a fair recovery for our client’s injuries. It was clear to us from the beginning that our client was an honest, hard working guy and wasn’t trying to pull one on the insurance company. However, the trial turned into a case not just about the accident in question, but about the man’s character and integrity”.
“Our client also had a worker’s compensation case,” John said. “But it got to a point where he needed to go back to work, so he told his doctor he was ready to end treatment, even though he wasn’t.”
Subsequently, the man later went back for more treatment, raising red flags for the insurance company who sent the claim to the fraud unit.
The client represented by John had been offered $10,000 by the insurance company. The end result was a jury verdict of over $200,000.
“When the verdict came back at a quarter of a million dollars, our client burst into tears. He looked at me and said, ‘they believed me’. For him, the fact that his integrity was restored and validated was more important than the monetary result.”
This case had a similar effect on John. “I saw this case as a vindication. We were able to stand up to a big insurance company and not just get a good result, but prove to 12 jurors that our client was truthful and deserving of a better recovery. Even though that wasn’t anywhere near my biggest case, it was almost more satisfying to see the effect it had on my client”.
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