A huge commercial pickup truck was approaching a solid red light in rural California, but its driver wasn't stopping. Across the intersection, a middle-aged woman was waiting to turn left. She was on her way home from work at a cosmetics factory. Her light turned green; the vehicles in front of her began their safe procession through the protected turn. Meanwhile, the pickup truck wasn't slowing down. Before the woman had time or space to react, the truck smashed through the rear of the car ahead of her like a battering ram. The brutal collision deflected the truck like a pinball directly into her path. She was helpless to do anything but hope to see her family again. The pickup collided with the front driver’s side of her minivan, crushing the dash into her legs.
Miraculously, the woman survived, and her only apparent injuries were knee lacerations. After receiving stitches at the hospital, she was discharged the next day. Although a Spanish-speaking woman of Mexican descent, the woman’s life had been as full as any American’s — married, two grown children, and decades of hard labor behind her. She returned to work quickly after the accident. However, she suffered from constant pain that prevented her from keeping up with her coworkers and quotas. The perpetual soreness also kept her from enjoying time with her family, and loneliness set in. Months later, the woman sought further treatment. But injections, therapy, and chiropractic care brought no relief. Imaging revealed severe knee and spinal damage that would require multiple corrective surgeries, both immediately and in the future.
Desperate, the victim reached out to the truck driver's employer for help, but they ignored her. She had no choice but to seek legal counsel, and the personal injury experts at BD&J answered her call with aplomb. Partners Shawn McCann and Jesse French had recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for victims of catastrophic accidents. Their stellar advocacy for members of underserved communities made them a perfect match for the woman's case. They were ready to invest the money, time, and effort necessary for a jury to truly understand their client’s circumstances and misfortune.
Shawn and Jesse had to prove liability, so it was critical for them to understand how the collision had occurred. They personally visited the scene of the accident and shot video of it. Conflicting testimony — including the truck driver's brazen insistence that he'd done nothing wrong — led the attorneys to seek outside expertise early in litigation. They hired an accident reconstructionist to make sense of the four vehicles' involvement in the crash and the complex physics at play.
The evidence Shawn and Jesse gathered compelled the Defendant to admit fault for the accident. Proving that the crash caused the Plaintiff’s medical issues, however, was more difficult. The Defense argued that the impact wasn’t strong enough to cause injury, claiming the truck had hit another car first, thereby reducing its speed before striking the Plaintiff. Their tougher argument focused on the woman’s medical and work history — years of standing, excess weight, and an active family life had already contributed to knee and back problems.
Shawn and Jesse's thorough counterattack utilized a neurosurgeon, an orthopedic surgeon, and engineers. This team of experts explained the science behind how every second of the accident had contributed to the Plaintiff's current poor condition. They supported her treating physicians' matter-of-fact statements regarding her past surgeries and prognosis. Shawn and Jesse knew that explaining how the Plaintiff's quality of life had improved following those interventions would be crucial. They also knew that the story of the accident needed to be told concisely and clearly, which verbal testimony couldn't accomplish. With these goals in mind, they contacted DK Global to help them cross the finish line with an ironclad visuals package to present to the Defense.
First, DK Global created an animated reconstruction of the accident. The animation transitioned from a satellite view of the crash scene to a real-time 3D animation of the accident itself. The camera trailed behind and over the truck that caused the accident, showing the red light that it ran right before colliding with three other vehicles. A replay from the truck driver's perspective was a visceral look at each of the three impacts and the speed at which they occurred. Finally, an animation from the Plaintiff's perspective set the stage for showing the accident's aftermath, including pauses to showcase matching photographs.
DK Global also created a 15-minute animation of the Plaintiff's past surgeries and proposed future surgeries. Preceding these procedures were excerpts from relevant operative reports, including diagnoses and brief descriptions of the interventions performed. Every step of the bilateral knee and spinal surgeries was animated with explanatory captions. The musculoskeletal structures and tools involved in each step were shown without overwhelming extraneous data. The steps were showcased for enough time to be clearly understood despite their medical complexity.
Before Shawn and Jesse took on this case, the Defendant had refused to offer any settlement at all. However, after the attorneys spent over a year building their powerful case, the Defense came forward with a considerable settlement offer at mediation. They weren't satisfied with it; the Plaintiff deserved more. And so the duo continued advocate and negotiate. As trial approached, Shawn and Jesse delivered their game-changing package to the Defense — including the DK Global animations and their experts' opinions. Right before jury selection, the Defense came around. They offered such a substantial settlement that the Plaintiff's relief quickly blossomed into outright joy and excitement. She finally had closure, comfort, and the security of knowing that she was set for life.
Shawn McCann is a partner and trial lawyer at BD&J, a California injury law firm that has recovered over $2,000,000,000 for their clients. Shawn specializes in wrongful death and catastrophic personal injury cases and has recovered over $500,000,000 in those cases. He has served as the President of the Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles. Since 2011, he has served on a statewide level as a member of the Board of Governors of the Consumer Attorneys of California. He assisted in the creation of ABOTA SideBar, a program designed to foster diversity and educate young trial attorneys on the importance of civility among lawyers. He has an extensive publication history and is regularly invited to speak at seminars and instruct attorneys in trial skills, civil procedure, and effective litigation practices.
Jesse French is a partner at BD&J who specializes in major personal injury litigation, vehicle collisions, unsafe property, and unsafe products. He has recovered over $100,000,000 for his clients. He has been a member of the National Trial Lawyers Top 40 Under 40 and America's Top 100 Personal Injury Attorneys. He is among the 2.5% of California attorneys to be named a Super Lawyers Rising Star. He completed a prestigious fellowship with the American Board of Trial Advocates and served on the Board of the Western Center on Law and Poverty. Jesse is a member of the Harry S. Truman Foundation, a highly selective organization dedicated to promoting public service.
