According to a published article in the Virginia Lawyers Weekly, on December 27, 2005 at 3:45 am, Jerome Stewart of Fairfax County, Virginia (VA) was in an accident that left him a quadriplegic.
A garbage truck, owned by Potomac Disposal Services of Virginia LLC, collided with Stewart’s 1990 Jeep Cherokee while he delivered The Washington Post. His spinal cord at level C5-C6 was damaged, leaving him with no use of his arms or legs. The injured man, who is 60 years old, is now dependent and has been in a hospital, rehabilitation center or nursing home since the wreck. He has suffered everything under the sun including pneumonia, sepsis, urinary tract infection and bed sores. With no health insurance, his bills were piling up and exceeded $1 million. The Washington Post’s subcontractor fortunately had a workers compensation policy that helped Stewart get the medical treatment he needed.
Stewart’s attorneys had a few plans to prove that he was not negligent. The driver, who had hit him, it was discovered, had been involved in a few minor accidents before. Because of the size of these trucks, the truck drivers had been trained to avoid backing up anywhere if possible. The judge allowed this evidence about the earlier problems the driver had. There shouldn’t have been a problem to begin with because the truck driver could have maneuvered the truck through a parking lot without hitting the plaintiff.
Zurich American Insurance Company offered to settle the case for $2 million but Liberty Insurance Underwriters Inc., the excess insurer, initially refused to offer any money from their $25 million coverage. Recently, Stewart’s attorneys continued mediation with the insurance companies and settled at $12 million.
For more information on this subject, please refer to our section on Car and Motorcycle Accidents.
Rick Shapiro has practiced personal injury law for over 30 years in Virginia, North Carolina, and throughout the Southeastern United States. He is a Board-Certified Civil Trial Advocate by the National Board of Trial Advocacy (ABA Accredited) and has litigated injury cases throughout the eastern United States, including wrongful death, trucking, faulty products, railroad, and medical negligence claims. During his three-decade career, Shapiro has won client appeals before the VA Supreme Court, VA Court of Appeals, NC Supreme Court, SC Supreme Court, WV Supreme Court, TN Supreme Court, and three times before the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, underscoring Shapiro’s trial achievements. In addition, he and his law firm have won settlements/verdicts in excess of $100 million. His success in and out of the courtroom is a big reason why he was named 2019 “Lawyer of the Year” in railroad law in U.S. News & World Report's Best Lawyers publication (Norfolk, VA area), and he has been named a “Best Lawyer” and “Super Lawyer” by those peer-reviewed organizations for multiple years. Rick was also named a “Leader in the Law, Class of 2022” by Virginia Lawyers Weekly (total of 33 statewide honorees consisting of lawyers and judges across Virginia). And in September 2023, Rick was selected as a recipient of the National Board of Trial Advocacy (NBTA) 2023 President’s Award. Although many nominations were submitted from across the country, Rick was just one of eight attorneys chosen by the prestigious National Board which certifies civil trial attorneys across the U.S. Rick was also recently named to Virginia Lawyers Weekly 2024 Virginia’s Go To Lawyers Medical Malpractice. The attorneys awarded this honor are nominated by their colleagues and chosen by a panel from the publication.
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