It was supposed to be another regular Autumn morning in Atlanta, Georgia. A public school bus and a waste management truck traveled southwest on Metropolitan Parkway. As the bus prepared to make a right turn at an intersection, unexpectedly, the garbage truck struck the vehicle on its driver’s side. The bus thrust at an angle and overturned onto Audrey Carson in her 1998 Toyota Avalon, crushing the roof down past her headrest. Miraculously, she survived, and even walked away from the wreckage. While Audrey’s superficial injuries eventually healed, she suffered permanent cognitive impairments. Both parties vehemently denied responsibility and blamed each other for the crash. However, using both Defendants’ evidence against them, Michael Braun of the Law Office of Michael R. Braun created an accident reconstruction that demonstrated their liability.
The City of Atlanta, which owned the school bus, contended the garbage truck made a last-minute lane change and caused the accident. Their attorneys shared surveillance footage from the bus’s cabin that captured the other party veering into its lane. However, the waste management company argued the bus took too wide of a right turn and crossed into the truck’s lane. Ultimately, both parties retained accident reconstructionists who collected crash data and interpreted it to show how the other party was at fault.
Michael Braun was referred by Audrey’s initial attorney to help her tackle this complex case. His mission was to get Audrey the care and compensation needed to restore her life to normal. Thus, he called on a neurology expert to evaluate Audrey and document her impairments.
Michael compelled the city to settle their claim, allowing him to focus on the waste management company. As he prepared for his mediation via Zoom, he recognized there was no efficient way to demonstrate what happened without a visual. He shared his medical reports, the opposing experts’ findings, and the bus’s surveillance footage with DK Global to recreate the incident and convey Audrey’s damages.
The animation commenced with the school bus traveling in the far-right lane, followed by the garbage truck. Then, a side view showed the garbage truck colliding with the bus, demonstrating how the driver was undoubtedly liable. Next, Audrey’s point-of-view captured the terrifying incident as the large bus loomed over her, crushed her car, and nearly killed her. Finally, to show the severity of Audrey’s damages, a slideshow listed her cognitive deficits resulting from the crash: PTSD, confusion, emotionality, and delayed memory.
Michael prepared for the virtual mediation and shared the animation, showing both parties liable for the crash. At the close of the mediation, Michael secured Audrey a confidential settlement.
For over 20 years, Michael Braun has tried hundreds of cases, representing the survivors of personal injury matters. Michael is a certified “Civil Trial Lawyer” through the National Board of Trial Advocacy, is “AV Preeminent Rated” by Martindale-Hubbell, and has been selected by his peers as a “Super Lawyer” for seven consecutive years. Outside of the courtroom, Michael prides himself on being a guest lecturer, sharing his expertise with attorneys on the topic of trials and depositions.
