It was the last day of Dungeness crab season at the Santa Cruz wharf when Dan Schaar’s client, Yolonda, was struck driver’s side by a taxi as she entered an intersection. Yolonda walked away from the crash that totaled both cars and refused medical care that night. This made for complications, as the Defense denied the release of the dashcam footage and argued that Yolonda’s injuries were minor because she walked home that night. However, when Yolonda began medical treatment the following day, the treating doctors conveyed the severity of her permanent injuries. Dan Schaar and the team at Carpenter, Zuckerman & Rowley worked with DK Global’s illustrators to depict the extensive work and rehabilitation Yolonda endured recovering from the incident.

Medical Illustrations Conveying Rehabilitation Effectively 

Multiple medical illustrations were utilized to illuminate the severity of Yolonda’s injuries, and the invasive procedures required to rehabilitate her. Yolonda underwent a cervical discectomy – a procedure to remove a herniated disc, typically through the front of the neck and replace it with an endplate, which acts as an artificial disc. She also underwent a subacromial decompression of her shoulder, a procedure in which damaged portions of her shoulder are excised to allow for improved movement.

Finally, Dan and his team utilized a medical illustration depicting the numerous injections Yolonda endured over 2 years to recover from her injuries. Not including the radiofrequency ablations, Yolonda received over 70 grueling epidural and trigger-point injections. The visual presentation chronologically illustrates the injections one-by-one at their locations, until a summation of all the injections blankets her back. Dan Schaar and his team attempted to resolve the case for $500,000 but the Defense refused to ever come close to that demand. The case went into trial where Yolonda was awarded $1.51 million in non-economic damages. After being awarded costs and interest, the final judgment was $1.72 million.

Dan Schaar has over a decade of commendable experience in the courtroom, achieving multiple six- and seven-figure results. Dan has received large recognition by his peers having been nominated Trial Lawyer of the Year for 3 years by the Santa Clara County Trial Lawyers Association, having been awarded the Distinguished Advocate award in 2019. Dan has also received honorable mention as a SuperLawyer for the past two years while also committing as a Trial By Human instructor assisting lawyers pursue justice for their clients.