Fall from ladder results in $95,000 settlement PLUS $5,000 in additional Medical Payments

February 28, 2009

Doug Landau

Sometimes more than one recovery may be had from the same tragic accident. In a case handled by my late friend Bob Arthur, a self-employed structural engineer fell from a ladder and broke his leg. The injured plaintiff brought suit against the owner of business for failure to provide ordinary care in providing and holding the ladder the plaintiff was using.
The plaintiff asked an employee of the corporate defendant to hold the ladder while he examined the upper structure of the building. After the plaintiff climbed the ladder and started his investigation, the employee allegedly stated he would be right back and left the ladder unattended. The plaintiff fell, with resulting injuries and medical damages of $29,138. The case settled for $95,000, just under the total policy limit of $100,000. After a subpoena produced the declaration sheet of the applicable insurance policy, it was noted that there was $5,000 medical payment coverage, which was demanded and paid. Reported in Virginia Lawyers Weekly [95-T11]

At ABRAMS LANDAU, Ltd. our trial team asks for our own clients’ insurance policies that may be applicable to an accident and also makes demand for ALL of the Defendants’ insurance coverages that may apply to our clients’ injuries. That way, funds may be provided early on in the case to pay for deductibles, expenses and investigation. In one case, $50,000 in medical payments coverage was available to our injured client, regardless of fault in the crash and without set off as against future recoveries from the Defendant’s liability insurance policy !