One of the most common car accident types is the “hit in the rear.” Imagine that you are driving and you see a car approaching from behind you. If you, driving the forward car, were in the lane for a long enough period of time that the driver behind you cannot honestly state that they were cut off without time to avoid an impact, you have a very strong argument that the accident was entirely the fault of the driver who rear-ended you. In such a circumstance, we can ask the court for “summary judgment,” meaning that a jury would only need to determine the dollar value of the harm suffered, as fault has already been determined “as a matter of law,” by the judge’s decision if our motion (i.e., request to the court,) has been granted. Recently, a client of ours was badly hurt when her car was hit in the rear while stopped at a light. We won summary judgment on her behalf. She underwent a number of surgeries to treat her injuries. The insurance carrier for the car in the rear offered $40,000 to settle the case, which we felt was inadequate and advised her not to accept this offer. Due to COVID-19 and the closing of the New York courts, interest at 9% was running from the date that summary judgment was given and would be applied on any award we might eventually win. Even though the insurance carrier was aware of this potential additional interest cost to them, they refused to increase their low settlement offer. In one of the early post-COVID-19 trials, our firm was able to win a verdict against the defendant for more than $650,000. With the accumulated interest, the ultimate judgment added up to more than $900,000. If you have a question about any type of car accident case, we invite you to call us for a free case review and no obligation consultation. Thanks for reading and stay safe out there. REJECT THE SETTLEMENT OFFER?! DEFENDENT OFFERED $40,000 F&S WON $900,000
THE ROOKIE 3 Oldest Rookies in Sports History
Have you ever felt that fate meant for you to take a different path than the one you took? In some fields, making that change is possible, or even common — as any law student can tell you, where the “average” age of students is in their 30s. But other worlds, like the world of professional sports, are less welcoming to those over 25.
Which only makes for a better story when it does happen, of course.
That’s what Jim Morris discovered when he signed with a Major League Baseball team in 1999 after his 35th birthday. Morris’ life became the subject of the Dennis Quaid movie “The Rookie,” filmed just after Morris’ major league career had ended. You might think that two years is a short time in the majors, but hey, you try throwing 98-mph fastballs for hours a week, 104 weeks in a row! Besides, the careers of pro athletes aren’t nearly as long as icons like Tom Brady or Peyton Manning would have you believe. The average MLB career may be a few years longer than Morris stuck it out, but in the NFL? Most players make it less than three years and quit, depending on the position. While you’re meditating on the ethics of chewing up football players for three years and spitting them out, all in the name of entertainment, consider the case of another similar story that was turned into a movie, that of Vince Papale — played by Mark Wahlberg in “Invincible.” Of course, Papale — whose flag football prowess in his late 20s overrode his lack of college ball experience — signed with the Philadelphia Eagles in the 1970s. Modern football has come a long way, critics will argue. But there’s no denying the old-school toughness and tenacity Papale showed in making it to the NFL. NBA player Pablo Prigioni’s career was twice as long as either Morris’ or Papale’s was, with four years in the big leagues starting in 2012 at age 35. But basketball is arguably less demanding on the body than football and even baseball if we look at the potential damage major league pitchers can do to their throwing arm. Their careers may not have been the stuff of dreams, but these three men showed something we all like to see: tough players hanging on long past their “prime.” And they lived the dream — if only for a while. We all love that!
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