Our client, a nineteen-year-old young woman, was a passenger in her mother’s car on the way to visit family in Portland, Oregon, when another driver ran a red light and hit her side of the car. 
Besides the injuries she received in the car accident, the collision exacerbated a pre-existing condition that she suffered from. Since infancy, our client had seizures. Just before the accident happened, she had her seizures under control because of a new medical and diet regime. She was even studying to get her own driver’s license. That made what happened after the crash all the more disheartening, as her seizures came back regularly, even more severe than they had been before.
A difficult situation was made worse when the at-fault driver’s insurance company fought the claim aggressively, arguing that she had always had the seizure disorder and the collision hadn’t actually made it any worse. To complicate matters further, our client’s treating physician told her in private that he believed the seizures were exacerbated by the accident, but he didn’t want to put it in the official records or support her legal claims. At this point, unsure of where to turn, our client decided to contact an auto accident attorney to help her fight the insurance company.
When I took the case, I investigated the medical literature at length and contacted several experts regarding epilepsy and whiplash injuries. After a search, we located a seizure expert who was willing to review her records and offer a consultation on her case. He agreed to help her with her legal claim and we were able to go into mediation with the insurance company with a medical expert on our side. His help proved that while pre-existing injuries and health issues can complicate a liability claim, these obstacles can be overcome with the help of a medical expert.
After mediation with the expert on our side, the insurance company offered a sizable settlement for our client. She was very happy that she had made the decision to contact a Personal Injury Attorney at Dwyer Williams Cherkoss.