After insurance denied liability and previous attorneys dropped his case, Willens and Baez secured a $255,000.00 settlement on behalf their client
On October 24, 2020, our client, a 25-year-old truck driver, was involved in an unfortunate set of events which left him hospitalized. At around 10:17 AM while traveling Westbound, through Marshall Township in Clark County, Illinois, our client suffered a flat tire which forced him to pull over onto the right shoulder of I-70, at approximately mile post 144. As a result of our client’s exploding tire, the driver of the vehicle traveling behind our client alleged that a piece of our client’s tire hit their vehicle. That driver ultimately made the decision to stop in the middle of a two-lane highway.
Within minutes, a semi-truck, in an attempt to avoid striking the vehicle that decided to stop in the middle of the highway, struck our client’s vehicle in a manner which caused appreciable property damage, but no bodily injury. Our client then decided to exit his vehicle in an attempt to place warning signs (light up triangles), and cones to the rear of his trailer. Our client also simultaneously attempted to persuade the vehicle stopped in the middle of the highway to move his vehicle off onto the shoulder; away from the path of any oncoming traffic. The driver of that vehicle refused and within minutes, two more semi-trucks began approaching. The first of those two semi-trucks began to slow down, when he was rear-ended by the second of those two semi’s and pushed directly into our client’s semi.
Our client, who was by then outside of his truck, jumped in between his tractor and his trailer, in the hope of avoiding direct contact from the quickly approaching semi. Unfortunately, his foot was caught in the axle and as a result he suffered a left calcaneal (heel) fracture. Our client was forced to undergo surgery and extensive physical therapy for that fracture in his left foot.
Prior to our representation, another firm attempted to resolve our client’s claim without any success. All carriers denied liability, attempting to assign all fault to the uninsured motor-vehicle parked in the road. In 2022, just months prior to the statute of limitations, our client came to us desperate, having felt discouraged by the lack of progress, the ongoing denials of culpability, and a previous firm unwilling to expend resources to fight in Court, on his behalf. We heard his story, and we decided it was a battle worth fighting over. In just 10 months, our firm was able to file a lawsuit in Clark County, and litigate his case aggressively towards a successful settlement of $255,000.00.
