Getting a $5 Million Judgment That Will Never Pay

Following a bench trial on damages, I got a $5 million judgment recently for an 11-year-old little girl who was seriously injured in a car wreck. And we probably won’t collect a dime of it.

Why not? Because the other driver didn’t have insurance and doesn’t appear to have assets.

Fortunately, our clients had $500,000 in uninsured motorist coverage that had already paid out. So why didn’t the case end there?

After getting all available UM insurance, the parents and I discussed next steps. Rather than just dismiss the case and let the defendant off the hook, we decided to proceed ahead with a default judgment against the at-fault driver as a matter of principle.

Our client’s daughter had to undergo two major surgeries to repair multiple skull fractures, she spent nearly a month in the hospital, and she has permanent hearing loss in one ear.

I didn’t earn any extra money by continuing to pursue this case through the judgment, but this wasn’t about the money for me or my clients.

My clients got some measure of justice by having a judge award damages and hold the defendant accountable. My clients felt heard, and the defendant didn’t just get a free pass for his irresponsible conduct, both in causing a serious wreck and in not having insurance.

There are a lot of misconceptions about personal injury lawyers and our clients. And I’ll be the first to admit there are bad actors in our industry, just like any other industry.

But the majority of us, and our clients, aren’t “trying to take advantage of the system.” We just want justice.

Do you agree? Join the conversation with me on LinkedIn.