A young man sped through Thousand Oaks, California, in his Black BMW. As he stopped at an intersection, an unprotected green light beamed. In the opposite direction, an SUV carrying a family cruised along. The man in the BMW’s engine roared as he raced to turn left onto Avenida de las Flores, trying to beat the SUV through the intersection. However, he timed his turn incorrectly and crashed with the family’s vehicle. The collision seriously injured Colleen, a nurse and a mother of two, who was asleep in the front passenger seat. Using a DK Global slideshow, Colleen’s attorney, Mark Cunningham of MCIS Lawyers, secured a favorable settlement after the Defendant’s insurance refused to compensate her sufficiently for the damages she suffered.
Colleen and her family were on the way back from an outing. The accident jarred her awake with the sound of crashing metal and shattered glass. She whiplashed forward, then braced for a second impact with the southwest curb. When the vehicle stopped, she looked to the backseat and found her children visibly shaken, though unharmed. Colleen refused ambulatory services despite having immediate complaints of sharp pain radiating from her neck and chest. However, her pain worsened over the next week, and Colleen felt compelled to seek medical care.
Colleen’s initial doctor prescribed her painkillers like Norco and Soma, but these only alleviated her symptoms temporarily. MRIs revealed the collision dislocated Colleen’s C5-C6 disc, causing cervical radiculopathy and vertebral fractures. Before undergoing invasive surgical procedures to rehabilitate, Colleen opted for more conservative methods, such as trigger point injections, physical therapy, and chiropractic sessions.
Mark Cunningham, a former insurance Defense attorney, was referred to help Colleen attain compensatory damages from the Defendant’s carrier. He encouraged Colleen to proceed with her noninvasive medical treatments before resorting to surgery. Unfortunately, her pain continued, prompting her doctors to recommend a cervical discectomy. Collen’s insurance denied coverage for the operation, forcing her to pay out of pocket. Thankfully, because of her career as a nurse, her surgeon agreed to treat her at a generous discount.
As Mark litigated the case, he predicted that the Defense would claim Colleen’s injuries were pre-existing, that she exaggerated her conditions, and that her doctors recommended unnecessary treatments. To rebut these claims effectively, Mark retained several experts, including an economist and a metallurgy professor, who testified that the artificial disc in Colleen’s spine would deteriorate. Mark needed a way to streamline his evidence, expert testimonies, and Colleen’s long timeline of medical care into a comprehensible presentation. Thus, he worked with DK Global to create a slideshow presentation outlining Colleen’s mechanism of injury, her medical procedures, and a list of counterarguments to all the Defense’s claims.
The presentation began with an overview of the collision, depicting the impact’s violent aftermath. Then, Colleen’s likeness was recreated to show how the wreck's forward momentum injured her cervical spine. The deck then illustrated Colleen’s discectomy, including how the artificial disc between her C5-C6 vertebrae and how it would need a replacement in 20 years. Next, Colleen’s future medical care listed her lifelong road to recovery. The Defense’s claims were displayed, followed by a list of counterarguments defusing their validity. Finally, Colleen’s lifecare plan described her economic losses and the mountain of expenses she would incur in the future.
After sharing the presentation with the adverse party, the Defense’s attorney approached Mark before being assigned a trial date, looking to mediate the case. After litigating the case for years, Mark’s diligence was rewarded, obtaining a significant settlement to compensate Colleen for the damages she suffered.
Mark Cunningham of MCIS Lawyers is a proud ABOTA member with over 35 years of experience as an attorney. Mark has a unique history as a defense attorney for large insurance companies. Knowing how to be one step ahead of the opposing counsel, his firm has secured just and fair compensation for their deserving clients. Mark has handled and litigated thousands of cases, specializing in severe auto accidents that resulted in catastrophic injuries and wrongful death.
