A driver was rushing through a busy thruway in Harford County, Maryland. In his hurry, he made a U-turn amid the heavy traffic. What he hoped would be a quick shortcut turned into a near-tragic decision. Traveling in the opposite direction, a 28-year-old woman was going through her usual busy day, juggling her roles as a dedicated mom and wife. As a homeschooling parent to her young children, life was always active for her and her family. Part of her routine involved loading her two children to run errands and drive around town together. With no time to react, the impatient U-turner collided with the mother’s vehicle. The impact sent her car into a violent spin. Though injured, when her vehicle finally came to a rest, the mother’s immediate concern was for her precious cargo: her children. Thankfully, they were unharmed. Their car, though, was totaled.
The busy mother’s life was forever altered. The impact left her with cuts, bruises, and a broken ankle in two places. More seriously, she suffered a herniated disc in her neck and back strain. To address the damage, she required an anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) surgery for the C4 and C5 regions of her neck to relieve pain from pinched nerves. Unfortunately, her challenges didn’t end there; her surgeon indicated that she would need another surgery for her C5 and C6 discs, complicating her recovery even further. The lengthy medical treatments took precious time away from her family, leaving her unable to perform her usual activities, including homeschooling her children, who felt the impact of their mother’s absence.
With her life turned upside down and no accountability for the at-fault driver, she sought the help of attorney Tara Westra of Parker, Pallett, Slezak & Russell, LLC. With over 24 years of experience in personal injury law, Tara immediately recognized the severity of the devastating accident, as well as its impact on the woman and her family. Without hesitation, she agreed to take on the case, eager to provide the support and assistance they needed.
Tara's goal was to help the mother and her family regain some semblance of normalcy after the crash. She enlisted the support of the surgeon who performed the discectomy and the doctor who treated her foot — both prepared to testify in court. The Defense had little to argue, as it was clear the driver’s U-turn caused the accident. Still, they downplayed the Plaintiff’s injuries, attempting to minimize the damages and refusing to pay what was truly fair.
Recognizing that her medical experts and documentation alone weren’t convincing the Defense of the severity of her client’s injuries, Tara decided to take a different approach. She reached out to DK Global to create a set of visuals to illustrate the extent of the injuries clearly. Tara was determined to demonstrate just how serious the situation was and was committed to ensuring her client received the compensation she deserved.
To do this, Tara needed impactful, short videos that grabbed anyone’s attention so they could easily understand the severity. The strategy was simple: tell the story of what her client had gone through and will be going through in vivid detail. DK Global worked with the surgeon and helped create an animation that showed the journey of surgeries and hardship the client had endured and was continuing.
The presentation began with a 3D depiction of the Plaintiff on a surgical table. It showed how her head, resting on a horseshoe headrest, was fixed in place with a harness traction. From there, a scalpel cut open the front of the Plaintiff’s neck to access the cervical spine. Retractors spread the incision apart to widen the opening surgeons used to repair her broken spine. Next, the animation focused on the damaged discs between her C4, C5, and C6 vertebrae. Curetting, rongeuring, and drilling techniques scraped out the injured tissue. Then, artificial replacement discs filled with grafted bone were inserted into the open spaces between her vertebrae. Finally, plates and screws were drilled into the mother’s spine to hold the new fixtures in place. An x-ray of the Plaintiff’s spine validated that the 3D animation matched what really took place.
Harford County was small and conservative — where every dollar of every verdict is hard-fought. Nevertheless, Tara was undeterred. About a month before trial, she met with the Defense in the historic courthouse for a settlement conference. Both parties went back and forth, trying to resolve the case. Towards the beginning of the meeting, Tara showed the Defense the surgical animation. After seeing the video, the other side understood clearly that Tara wasn’t backing down and was ready for a trial. They settled soon after. Tara secured $425,000 for the young wife and mother, $25,000 more than what the Plaintiff initially wanted. It was a victory for the young lady, who was relieved her case didn’t have to go to trial after all she’d been through. The injuries would always be with her. But even though her life wouldn’t be as fast-paced as it once was, she could at least move one and return her focus toward her kids and husband.
Tara Westra at Parker, Pallett, Slezak & Russell, LLC, has been practicing law for over 25 years. She’s admitted to practice at all levels of Maryland courts and the United States District Court. She concentrates on personal injury, workers’ compensation, domestic law, and bankruptcy. Tara is active with the Maryland Association for Justice, the Maryland volunteer Lawyers Service, and is a Judicial Panel Attorney for the Baltimore County Bar Association.
