We are pleased to report another outstanding victory by Alexander C. Eisner.

Dr. Gutierrez, an 85 retired GP MD was sideswiped on northbound 5 FWY, near downtown Los Angeles, creating minimal property damage. Police report was taken, but no ambulance service was deemed necessary.

The defendant had only a $15K policy.

After basic care, Dr. Gutierrez turned to her long-time orthopedist for chronic pain.

Defendant State Farm UIM argued that Dr. Gutierrez suffered preexisting existing medical issues with prior multiple procedures.

Her USC orthopedist was prepared to testify that because of this accident, her prior conditions were dramatically exacerbated, plus she suffered a L2 compression fracture, depression, lumbar spondylosis with radiculopathy, decreased ADL’s. Basically at 85 years old she suffered a permanent reduction of her lifestyle.

State Farm refused to offer any settlement until the day before the long-delayed Arbitration when they tendered policy limits of $1,085,000.

PRO TIPS

• Too many attorneys fail to recognize the key to a successful case are the UIM benefits. 
• Even with prior surgeries, the patient’s doctor can testify that the patient’s pain is exacerbated requiring additional care proving a lifetime disability. 
• Dr. Gutierrez's character and active lifestyle was crucial.

Frances vs. State Farm UM, the Honorable Robert J Polis arbitrator presiding. November 16, 2023

The California Office of Traffic Safety stated that over 15,000 pedestrians are injured each year and over 1,100 are killed annually with MVAs on California streets. California streets are among the deadliest in the nation. Los Angeles leads the pack.

Besides walkers, pedestrians include: joggers, runners, skateboarders, skiers, snowboarders, and ice skaters.

The law often blames the victim, speeding, texting, or disregarding crosswalks. Or, the injured pedestrian is injured by a careless driver, dangerous road conditions or an unsafe sidewalk.

Pickup trucks, SUVs and vans with a hood height greater than 40 inches are 45% more likely to cause fatalities. In the last 30 years American cars an ‘grown’ 4 inches wider, 10 inches longer and 8 inches taller.

Pedestrians can weigh between 125 to 250 pounds vs. a 3,000-pound vehicle, the moving vehicle requires far less force to cause catastrophic injuries.

Jaywalking: the Freedom to Walk Act. And get crushed.

January 1, 2023

This brilliant new law from Sacramento enacted in 2023 [Vehicle Code 21955] permits pedestrians to cross streets outside a marked crosswalk, so long as it is ‘reasonable safe’ to cross. No more tickets from the police. So, you can now jaywalk to the closest 711 store and grab up to $950 worth of merchandise without getting cited for either offense.

The Daylighting Law.

January 1, 2024

This one is good. It prohibits a car from parking 20 feet from a marked crosswalk, so a pedestrian can “see” up and down the street without their view being obstructed.

A pedestrian can sue the blocking car if he is hurt because the car was an obstruction [Vehicle Code 22500, subd. n]

Shawn Steel coined his now-famous ’50 Rules of Steel.’ These “immutable rules” as he likes to say, cover a wide range of topics in PI from hosting depositions in your office to how to handle MedPay issues. We decided to turn these rules into a Youtube video series for posterity and to date, we have a number of short, bite-sized videos available for your pursual. I highly recommend them for when you want to take a 5 minute break and learn something at the same time.

Check out this Youtube Playlist.