First court expereince today

[bdcardinal]

I had my first experience as part of a court case today. I was involved in an accident 2 years ago which I was found at fault, for the purposes of the case I accepted liability for the accident.

I was being sued for medical bills that the plaintiff racked up for a period of time. The plaintiff was unable to come to an agreement with my insurance. Unfortunately for the plaintiff he never sought medical treatment after the accident. He waited 2 months after the accident and then was treated by a chiropractor. At no time did the plaintiff ever see a Physician, go to an ER, Urgent Care. Thankfully the judge found in my favor based on the gap in time between the accident and "treatment."

I do feel bad for him in that he is now out money. However he stated in court that he was under the impression that he could not seek treatment until his car was repaired. The look on the judge's face was amazing when he said that.

 

[InfmousCornholio]

Originally Posted By: bdcardinal
I had my first experience as part of a court case today. I was involved in an accident 2 years ago which I was found at fault, for the purposes of the case I accepted liability for the accident.

I was being sued for medical bills that the plaintiff racked up for a period of time. The plaintiff was unable to come to an agreement with my insurance. Unfortunately for the plaintiff he never sought medical treatment after the accident. He waited 2 months after the accident and then was treated by a chiropractor. At no time did the plaintiff ever see a Physician, go to an ER, Urgent Care. Thankfully the judge found in my favor based on the gap in time between the accident and "treatment."

I do feel bad for him in that he is now out money. However he stated in court that he was under the impression that he could not seek treatment until his car was repaired. The look on the judge's face was amazing when he said that.


Amazing Judge faces are awesome. It's even more awesome when they don't mean anything. I'm getting my tickets dismissed and downgraded when I go in another two weeks..

I remember my first time in Court. I was so scared.

 

[John_K]

So I guess you bleed to death waiting for the body shop to finish? I don't know where people get their ideas.

John

 

[InfmousCornholio]

Originally Posted By: John_K
So I guess you bleed to death waiting for the body shop to finish? I don't know where people get their ideas.

John


If death occurs first then the case is dismissed.

Sincerely, - Cornholio

 

[bdcardinal]

Originally Posted By: John_K
So I guess you bleed to death waiting for the body shop to finish? I don't know where people get their ideas.

John


That was the one that shocked me. He said that he started hurting a week after the accident, but then waited 7 weeks to get any sort of treatment. I just don't get that at all.

 

[eljefino]

Was your insurance company in court with you, representing you, and them? I'm glad they didn't settle with the joker for a few thousand bucks to keep it out of the courtroom.

 

[bdcardinal]

They were not physically with me, but they provided amazing support. They actually had reached a settlement with the plaintiff, but then before he signed he demanded an amount 10 times the agreement.

 

[HTSS_TR]

I think the judge had experiences with these types of extortion. Probably someone told him that it was an opportunity to make some money few months after accident, even-though he didn't suffer any injury. Chiropractors had reputation of scamming insurance companies with fake injury. Real/honest medical doctors don't take risk faking medical exams to bilk insurance companies, they may loose license and loose 6-figure salary.

 

[SumpChump]

Why the heck wouldnt the insurance company be there?!

They were ok doing all those negotiations, carefully building a defense of their cash and then..... Let you hang on the hook to defend alone?

The logic escapes me.

 

[bdcardinal]

Originally Posted By: SumpChump
Why the heck wouldnt the insurance company be there?!

They were ok doing all those negotiations, carefully building a defense of their cash and then..... Let you hang on the hook to defend alone?

The logic escapes me.


This was in small claims court, so they could not have a lawyer present. Frankly I only said a couple things and let the plaintiff dig his own grave. The plaintiff could barely form a coherent sentence. He used "like" "well uh" "kinda" "you know" excessively when he was giving testimony.

 

[SumpChump]

Originally Posted By: bdcardinal
Originally Posted By: SumpChump
Why the heck wouldnt the insurance company be there?!

They were ok doing all those negotiations, carefully building a defense of their cash and then..... Let you hang on the hook to defend alone?

The logic escapes me.


This was in small claims court, so they could not have a lawyer present. Frankly I only said a couple things and let the plaintiff dig his own grave. The plaintiff could barely form a coherent sentence. He used "like" "well uh" "kinda" "you know" excessively when he was giving testimony.


Safe enough i suppose .

If things had gone badly, who would be on the hook for the cash?

 

[bdcardinal]

It would have been my insurance, but I was treating my argument as though it was my money.

 

[bdcardinal]

Another thing for anyone going to court is to dress properly. He wore a dress shirt while I had a suit on.

 

[02SE]

wrong thread

 

[BigD1]

He can still appeal, and go get a lawyer, so it's not over till it's over.

 

[Bluestream]

Originally Posted By: bdcardinal
Another thing for anyone going to court is to dress properly. He wore a dress shirt while I had a suit on.


Yes, and show respect for the Judge and court officials.

 

[bdcardinal]

Originally Posted By: BigD1
He can still appeal, and go get a lawyer, so it's not over till it's over.


No he can't. He had to acknowledge in court that if he lost he could not appeal. Plus he is past the statute of limitations to file, he beat that by 7 days for this case.

 

[BigD1]

Originally Posted By: bdcardinal
Originally Posted By: BigD1
He can still appeal, and go get a lawyer, so it's not over till it's over.


No he can't. He had to acknowledge in court that if he lost he could not appeal. Plus he is past the statute of limitations to file, he beat that by 7 days for this case.


Never heard of this, but I have no reason to doubt you. If he agreed to that in court, then this person is truly clueless.

 

[BISCUT]

I would imagine there was a motion for dismissal? From your (OP) insurance co? At min a summary judgement as this is a colossal waste. This dude will get zero since he waited 2 months. No way he can link the injuries to YOUR accident with certainty.

 

[bdcardinal]

This was all small claims. My insurance felt confident that we had a good case so we went for it. Fact was that just me showing up and letting him dig himself deeper and deeper was all i needed to do.