It was a humid night in Springfield, Missouri. The driver of a large tractor-trailer hauling a tanker barreled towards a red light with no signs of stopping. As he ran through the intersection, he smashed into the side of a family vehicle that was returning from a school recital. He injured all six occupants. However, Virginia, the mother, sustained catastrophic injuries that uprooted her life forever.
Virginia arrived at Mercy Hospital with nearly every rib in her body broken, causing labored breathing. Medical staff needed to insert chest tubes into her torso to alleviate her collapsed lungs. Radiologists revealed an overwhelming number of fractures to her spine, clavicle, and more. However, despite the brutality of the collision, scans only uncovered symptoms of a mild traumatic brain injury. To make matters worse, she accidentally extubated herself while languishing in the hospital, suffering an anoxic injury, and ultimately, encephalopathy.
As she and her family pieced their lives back together, they sought help attaining justice. In their search for an attorney, Jason Smith of Spencer Fane, a former co-counsel of Strong-Garner-Bauer P.C's Chandler Gregg, referred him to take on the case together and help the family recover compensatory damages.
As Chandler began discovery, he obtained surveillance footage of the Defendant running the red light. Additionally, body camera footage from first responders showed the crash’s devastating aftermath. With enough evidence showing the truck driver undoubtedly liable, Chandler focused on communicating Virginia’s damages. Gathering medical records and discussing Virginia’s condition with her physicians, Chandler looked to understand how the crash changed Virginia. As he met with her family, they shared how Virginia’s cognitive difficulties made her into a completely different person. Indeed, Virginia herself knew something was wrong and felt her former self had died in the crash.
Because Virginia’s original brain scans only identified signs of mild traumatic brain injury, Chandler sought further evidence to make sense of her impairments. He organized Virginia to be evaluated by several medical experts, including a neuroradiologist who performed DTI MRIs of her brain. It was only then that the expert unearthed further evidence of brain damage linked to her anoxic event and ongoing symptoms. Additionally, due to her massive number of orthopedic injuries, Chandler retained a trauma surgeon who composed a life care plan outlining her future medical needs. As Chandler prepared for trial, he contacted DK Global to help compile Virginia’s injuries and expert evaluations into a 3D medical animation so that a potential jury could understand how the crash disrupted her life.
The animation commenced with a 3D model of Virginia’s likeness. Then, an internal view of her injuries was displayed alongside her medical imagery, revealing her collapsed lungs and the staggering number of fractures in her torso. Next, surgical rods, screws, and plates were animated drilling into her ribs and spine to fixate her broken bones. Finally, Virginia’s results from the DTI evaluation displayed, highlighting her afflicted lobes and the corresponding deficits.
Two weeks before trial, Chandler and Jason attended a mediation conference armed with the damages animation. After sharing the presentation and his demand, the Defense agreed to settle the matter for $16 million.
For 18 years, Chandler Gregg of Strong-Garner-Bauer P.C has focused his practice on personal injury, products liability, wrongful death, and more. Listed as one of the “Top 100 Trial Lawyers” by The National Trial Lawyers, Chandler was recently named Springfield, Missouri’s “Lawyer of the Year” by Best Lawyers for his products liability specialization. Notably, since 2013, he has been consecutively recognized as a “Super Lawyer”.
