How Stratford Attorney Clinched $85,000 Settlement for His Client in MVA
Stratford attorney Ryan Miller has secured an $85,000 settlement for his client injured in a 2017 car wreck.
May 11, 2020 at 04:08 PM
4 minute read
Bridgeport Superior Court. Photo: Google
Faced with a defense offer of only $10,000 for a client who suffered left knee pain from a car accident which was not cited in a workers' compensation claim, plaintiffs attorney Ryan Miller had to fight back on two fronts.
Miller, co-owner of Statford's Miller & Morilla, had to deal with the fact that not only was the left knee pain, which culminated with surgery following the February 2017 car accident, not cited in workers' compensation reports, but he also had to answer pushback from insurance defense counsel, who said his client, Michael David, didn't complain about the injury for more than a year.
"If an injury is not accepted or included in a workers' compensation claim, the insurance company will ask why they should pay for it," said Miller, who was not the attorney in the workers' compensation claim aspect of the case.
Christopher Hite of Stratford-based Rosenberg, Whewell & Hite represented David, a 53-year-old Bridgeport resident, in his workers' compensation claim. David was driving a company car at the time of the accident. The workers' compensation matter was resolved for $31,000 in August 2018. David had surgery on his left knee in 2019.
Miller settled his part of the case for $85,000 on April 20 via a Zoom mediation with mediator-attorney Thomas Barrett.
Hite said Monday the injuries to the left knee weren't cited in the workers' compensation claim "because we didn't have real medical substantiation at the time to pursue it."
Having no left knee injuries cited in the workers' compensation report was a burden Miller had to take on in his representation of his client for damages in the lawsuit he filed.
"The only thing accepted in the workers' compensation claim was for a cervical injury," Miller said Monday. The defense, Miller said, felt emboldened to mention that, since there was no mention of the left knee injury in the workers' compensation case, therefore, it wasn't that serious or the injuries to his left knee didn't come from the car accident, In addition, the defense maintained, David waited more than a year to complain about his left knee injuries.
Miller said he was skeptical of the defense's claim that his client waited more than 12 months to complain of those injuries.
"I basically combed through medical notes and found several occasions where my client did report to a doctor that he had left knee pain or radiating pain to his left leg," Miller said. "The doctors were focused more on his neck injury early on. It wasn't until after a year that anyone ordered an MRI for the left knee and left leg. Once the MRI came back, it tested positive for a tear. The doctors didn't take him seriously until we had the MRI and the tear."
The motor vehicle accident occurred on Route 25 South in Bridgeport in February 2017. According to Miller and a January 2019 lawsuit filed in Bridgeport Superior Court, a vehicle Patrick Gravelle was driving rear-ended David's work van. Gravelle was cited for following too closely.
Representing the insurance carrier, The Travelers Companies, was Laura Warsawski of the Hamden-based Law Offices of Cynthia M. Garraty. Warsawski did not respond to a request for comment Monday.
The defense in its answer to the lawsuit said it has insufficient knowledge as to the allegations spelled out in the lawsuit and left it to the plaintiff to prove his case.
Related stories:
Police Cameras, Video Interview Help Cheshire Attorney Clinch Settlement After Car Crash
Expert Testimony Leads to $100,000 Settlement in West Haven Fender Bender
Danbury Attorney's Secret Weapon: Martial Arts Video That Led to Settlement
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