Rear Ended At 10 Mph. Allstate Pays $1.25 Million To Corsiglia, McMahon & Allard Client

Oct. 27, 2009 - PRLog -- SAN JOSE, CA  -- More than five years after being rear ended in a car accident at 10 miles an hour, a nursing assistant and her San Jose attorney, Robert Allard, have secured a $1.25 million settlement from an Allstate insured in a private mediation. The nursing assistant, referred to as Jane Doe in legal documents to protect her privacy, claimed to have suffered severe neck problems that required two surgical procedures due to the automobile accident.

"In an otherwise normal and healthy person, the literature overwhelmingly indicates that an accident like this is not likely to produce injuries", said Allard, of the law firm of Corsiglia, McMahon & Allard. "But in light of our client’s unique health condition, we were able to show that the accident, although producing minimal forces, was enough to cause severe neck injuries", stated Allard.

Allard's client had a pre-existing condition but was relatively symptom free in the two year period prior to the accident. Allard claimed the accident triggered the neck injuries and subsequent surgical procedures.

The plaintiff, Jane Doe, was stopped on Santa Cruz Avenue in Los Gatos when she was struck from behind.  The property damage sustained by both cars was minimal and the police were not summoned. A few days later, she began to experience neck pain and went to see her general physician.  After an extended course of pain medications and physical therapy, an MRI was taken at which point it was determined that the plaintiff presented with a herniation in her neck.  Surgery in the form of a laimincetomy and cervical fusion was eventually performed over a year after this incident.  

Post surgery, the plaintiff returned to her work but eventually began to experience pain in her neck again.  After another set of imaging studies, it was determined that plaintiff was suffering from adjacent disc disease, meaning that the discs surrounding the fused site had become diseased.  Ultimately, it was determined that another fusion surgery was needed and this was carried out over four years after this accident.

The defendant, an Allstate insured, stated that the impact was so negligible that the risk of injury was minimal if non existent.  Second, the defense, through a medical expert, claimed that the plaintiff at the time of this incident suffered from severe degenerative disc disease, which explained why the plaintiff underwent not only one but two surgical courses.  Third, the defense pointed out that the plaintiff suffered from an assortment of preexisting injuries going back to the early 1990’s, including neck pain and migraines.  Fourth, according to the defense, the plaintiff has been involved in at least two accidents prior to this incident, including one as recently as 1999 when she hired an attorney and claimed cervical injury.

“Regardless of the defense arguments, I think that we were able to prove that my client was unusually susceptible to injury and that this seemingly innocuous incident sent her over the edge”, said Allard.

This matter, through prior counsel, was mediated a total of three times without success.  After the plaintiff retained her current counsel Robert Allard, and just prior to going to trial, the parties agreed to give private mediation one last shot.  After an approximate one half day session with mediator Charles Hawkins, the matter settled for $1.25 million.

About Corsiglia, McMahon & Allard
Robert Allard and Timothy McMahon, named as Super Lawyers, join partner Brad Corsiglia, honored by Best Lawyers in America, and associate Mark Sigala, President, Santa Clara County Trial Lawyers Association, to position Corsiglia, McMahon & Allard as the top personal injury law firm in Silicon Valley that is devoted to the aggressive litigation of claims by those who have been seriously injured or killed due to another's carelessness.