$3 Million
A $3 million settlement was procured by Stewart Casper for a car accident victim. The client, a 36-year-old woman employed in marketing research, was injured when rear-ended while stopped to make a left turn onto an on-ramp of the Connecticut Turnpike. At the time of the crash, the defendant driver was intoxicated. The client was admitted to an acute care hospital with classic symptoms of a closed head injury (following the loss of consciousness), including perseveration (useless repetition), diminished short-term memory, altered state of consciousness, and throbbing headaches. Following her discharge from the hospital on January 27, 1997 (3 nights), she continued to experience persistent sleepiness, and attention and memory deficits. The client was diagnosed with post-concussive syndrome, concussion, seizure activity, and cognitive deficits, all attributable to the traumatic brain injury she sustained in the car accident. She also had pain in her neck, left shoulder girdle, low back, and left hip. Furthermore, she was later diagnosed with myofascial pain, which required trigger point injections, and experienced transient urinary incontinence. In addition, she experienced a tremendous weight gain and significant depression. The major component of the plaintiff’s injury was her traumatic brain injury, which was corroborated by two treating neuropsychologists on the basis of neurocognitive testing and significantly positive SPECT Scan (assessing blood perfusion) and PET Scan (assessing metabolic activity within the brain). One neuropsychologist noted that she had suffered a significant brain trauma affecting her sustained attention and concentration, mild to moderate compromise of verbal memory, and non-verbal memory. She sustained impairment of her ability to exercise hierarchical judgment and a mild reduction in global IQ. A second neuropsychologist noted that—although the plaintiff’s short-term memory recovered to within normal limits—her verbal, visual, and global memory were impaired. The doctor opined that her injury involved the corpus callosum and the right parietal area, the left frontotemporal area, and the hippocampus bilaterally. Her global IQ had dropped approximately 15 points or two standard deviations in relation to her pre-morbid level of function. She was also affected by depression related to her adjustment disorder resulting from the subject crash. She also had facial spasms and recurring headaches from the subject crash. The client was unable to return to gainful employment following her accident. Due to the extent of the injuries suffered, the loss of potential income, and the negligence of the other driver, our car accident attorneys were able to achieve such a significant settlement.
