Waking Up to Tragedy

A man’s accident is a mystery we were able to solve.

Nicholas woke up on a dark chilly night in a ravine, his car a mangled heap of metal and broken glass. He reached down and quickly realized his left leg was missing, and his left arm was hanging on by a thread. He screamed for help.

From the moment we met Nick in the hospital, despite his obvious loss of a limb and near loss of another, we knew that he would dedicate himself to becoming a productive member of society. His demeanor and courageousness were infectious. We were motivated to do whatever we could to restore his pride, sense of dignity, and improve his life and that of his family.

We put together a team of investigators to inspect the roadside where Nick’s vehicle left the side of the highway, rolled down the side of a hill, and crashed into a number of trees. We quickly learned that a phantom vehicle forced Nick’s vehicle off to the side of the shoulder, which caused him to encounter a large drop-off between the shoulder and berm, the flat bank beside the road. That caused Nick’s vehicle to strike a dangerous and defective guardrail that tragically severed his left leg.

After years of protracted litigation and no offer of settlement, a jury in Camden County New Jersey Superior Court was selected. After a two-week trial, the jury returned a unanimous verdict in favor of Nick, awarding him $31 million in damages.

Despite his obvious disability, Nick is now a productive member of the community. He is a business owner, and is happily married with children.

Not only did this case help Nick and his family, the case impacted public safety in New Jersey. Dangerous guardrails across the County of Camden were replaced with new crashworthiness guardrails to prevent the type of injury that Nick endured.