The personal injury attorneys at Lipkin & Apter were contacted by JC, a disabled 58 year-old widow who, one week earlier, lost her husband in a motorcycle/automobile collision in LaSalle County, Illinois. JC’s husband, FC was her sole source of financial support outside of a small Social Security Disability payments she received from the federal government.
Under Illinois law, a person who negligently causes the death of another is liable to the estate of the deceased for medical expenses and damages. In this instance, FC was riding his motorcycle on a rural highway in LaSalle County, Illinois on a Saturday afternoon when the driver of an SUV pulled off from a stop sign directly into his path, caused a collision and, tragically, FC’s death. The personal injury attorneys of Lipkin & Apter made immediate contact with the insurer of the negligent driver to confirm her insured status at the time of the crash. We investigated the amount of available insurance, whether assets were available for compensation above and beyond insurance limits, and whether an excess judgment, if we were we to file a Wrongful Death lawsuit on behalf of the Estate, was realistically collectible. We determined that an excess judgment against the person responsible for the crash would not be collectible, as the person was of limited financial means.
We promptly contacted the LaSalle County Clerk’s office and obtained the Death Certificate, Coroners’ Report and other necessary documentation to resolve this claim with the negligent driver’s insurance company. We kept in touch with JC along the way to do what we could to assist her with the challenges she faced in the near future and to advise her of each step of our investigation.
The negligent driver’s insurance company agreed to tender their driver’s policy limits of $250,000.00 as soon as they received the documentation we provided. As soon as possible thereafter, we made a court appearance required by the Illinois Wrongful Death Act and presented our client’s Petition for Court Approval of the Settlement in the amount of the $250,000.00 policy limits of insurance. The Court saw that all documents were in accordance with Illinois law and granted the Petition. We then obtained our client’s money for her.
In most instances such as this, a death investigation can take months or even years to complete, however we obtained the policy limits of insurance for our client within ten weeks of FC’s passing. JC could now begin to move forward with the rest of her life and do so with some measure of financial stability.
Our attorneys possess years of experience investigating automobile crashes and sources of recovery. We will recover all available funds for victims of a car accident. Through our many years of experience, we possess the necessary understanding to bring your automobile injury case to a prompt and satisfying resolution.