Huntsville car accident lawyer Morris Lilienthal has reached two settlements arising out of a June 2010 car wreck in Randolph County, Alabama (Wedowee is the county seat). The automobile accident occurred when a sixteen year old driver ran a stop sign and t-boned our clients’ vehicle. M&B represented the driver of the car and the back seat passenger. Upon conclusion of the driver’s treatment we were able to reach a policy limits settlement with the tortfeasor (at-fault party) and collect underinsured motorist benefits for our client. Like many people in today’s hard economic times, our client did not have any health insurance. As a part of our representation we were able to assist by asking the medical providers to withhold collection of these bills until the case was resolved, which they all agreed to do.
We were also able to reach a favorable result in the passenger’s personal injury claims. Since the passenger was a minor we had to have a what is known as a Pro Ami hearing with the Court to approve the minor’s settlement. This is a hearing in which the Court appoints a guardian ad litem (GAL) for the minor to review the settlement and make sure it is in the minor’s best interest. Once the GAL has reviewed the case and settlement terms he or she either recommends or does not recommend to the Court that this is in the best interest of the minor. Then, the Court takes all of the evidence into consideration and either approves or does not approve the settlement. In this case, the Court approved the settlement for our minor client. We are pleased that we were able to reach a just and fair resolution of our clients’ claims in this matter.