Auto Accident – Confidential Settlement

Our firm was contacted by another law firm regarding taking over the handling of one of their cases. It was a car wreck case with an unknown “John Doe” driver that had caused the accident and fled the scene. The other firm felt this case was a bit too complicated for a case likely had only $30,000 in insurance coverage. The client was driving home on the Gulf Freeway when he was rear-ended by a speeding car. The driver that hit the said that another car had caused the accident and fled the scene. At Simon & O’Rourke, we are familiar with the “mystery car” defense and agreed to take over handling the case. Once the client signed the proper paperwork to become “our” client, Simon & O’Rourke started an aggressive investigation and prosecution of our client’s case. Simon & O’Rourke filed a lawsuit, conducted discovery and took depositions in efforts to prove our client’s case. We batted away the “mystery car” defense, and started work on establishing that the defendant driver’s negligence should be covered by the defendant driver’s employer’s $1,000,000 commercial policy. The defendant agreed to a confidential settlement weeks before trial. While the settlement is confidential, the settlement was enough to cover all medical bills as well as compensate him for lost income and pain and suffering.