Case Highlights

Asch, David
Cases May 2008

1. Motorcycle v Truck. The insurance company did not want to pay what the case was worth. A demand letter was sent with a time limit to respond. The policy limit was asked. There was no response within 15 days. Because they did not respond and they could have settled for the policy limit the limit was no longer an issue. We took the case to trail and received a jury verdict of $180,000.00. The policy limit was $100,000.00. The bad faith case their insured had was assigned to my client. The Law Office of David Asch pursued this against the insurance company. The case settled for $160,000.00.

2. Auto v Pedestrian. An 88 year old women was hit and knocked to the ground. She suffered a compression fracture in her lumbar spine. The law firm that she hired did not meet with her. They sent her a fee agreement, medical authorization and designation of attorney. That was all they did for two years which is when the statute of limitations ran. Unfortunately, many elderly people who suffer falls with fractures pass away within a year of their injury. This hurt women died 13 months after the accident. The law firm found out that she died and wrote a letter to the son of the women letting them know that they could not pursue a wrongful death case because she died of heart failure. The law requires that the cause of death be the injuries sustained in the negligent action. The son hired another lawyer who filed a wrongful death case against the original negligent party. The defense attorney offered the medical specials which is all that was owed as a matter of law. The Law Office of David Asch was hired to sort this out. A lawsuit was filed against the original attorney as well as against the attorney who filed the wrongful death case. What should have been done was a lawsuit against the first attorney for legal malpractice. The statute of limitations is one year from the date the malpractice started which was the date of death. The statute of limitations had run protecting the original attorney. The second attorney had to pay the family for the pain and suffering. The client always wins.

3. Auto v Auto. The Law Office of David Asch represented a women who was in a rear end collision. She failed to go by ambulance from the scene and drove her self home. A few days later her knee hurt and so did her lower back. The insurance company argued that the lower back and knee injuries were not caused by the rear end collision because people they paid in studies stated that the injury should only be neck strains if the impact was greater than 5 miles per hour. The defense attorney for the insurance company was sent a letter stating that we would take this case to trial and then have the rights of their insured for bad faith assigned to our client because they did not keep the insured informed of what they were doing. They settled on the first day of trial.

4. Dog v Man. Our client was attacked by a dog which had bitten his crotch. The client was extremely embarrassed and the insurance company knew this. There were 40 stitches and even though it was a strict liability case they would not pay six figures without a picture of the injuries. We fought with them and showed them only the stitches and nothing else. The case settled for six figures.

5. Grand daughter v Grandfather for sexual abuse. Our client, a 14 year old girl, was molested by the Grandfather in the back seat of the family car while the parents were in the front seat. The grand daughter was in fear of saying anything because she did not believe her parents would believe her. When she was in college she attempted suicide 4 times. The Law Office of David Asch took this difficult case. A law suit was filed by the victim against the patriarch of the family who was a wealthy businessman with many homes. The family of our client broke apart. Some of the aunts reported that they had been molested and confirmed our client’s version. Other family members said it never happened. The Law Office of David Asch worked the case up with the appropriate experts, forensic investigation and protected our client. The case settled in mediation for the price of a home.