It was two o’clock in the morning in Cartersville, Georgia. An extremely intoxicated driver careened down the street at 70 miles per hour in his company’s Ford F150. As he approached red traffic lights, he failed to slow down, barreled through the intersection, and smashed into the driver’s side of a woman’s SUV. The wreck looked fatal. First responders needed to use heavy machinery to cut through the woman’s crushed vehicle to free her. While she miraculously survived, the woman was rendered into a coma and suffered head-to-toe injuries. Darl Champion of The Champion Firm, P.C. represented the woman and used an accident reconstruction animation paired with a summary of her damages to attain a $10.2M settlement only weeks after filing his demand package.
While the woman remained in the ICU, her family called on their attorney, Darl Champion, seeking help. The day after the incident, Darl arrived at the hospital and comforted her family, vowing to begin her claim immediately. As Darl dug into the traffic collision report, he discovered the man was driving his employer’s vehicle and had a blood-alcohol level more than two times over the legal limit. Multiple eyewitnesses observed the man speeding, knew an accident would occur, and followed behind. Moreover, the man’s event data recorder showed he was so impaired that no braking action was taken before the crash.
After locating the man’s employer, Darl learned he was covered by his company’s robust insurance policy. As a result, Darl looked to increase his case’s value by bolstering his demand package with an accident reconstruction animation and a visualization of the woman’s injuries. His objective was to give the Defense and the courier all the evidence and medical documents needed to agree to the value of his initial demand. As his mountain of records, life care plans, and expert testimony grew, he enlisted DK Global’s help to create an animated demonstrative he could leverage throughout the entire litigation process. Darl felt confident the animation would compel the adjustor and opposing counsel to settle the case. However, if the case had not resolved, Darl anticipated a jury would award a verdict much larger than the policy limits once the visual was presented at trial.
The animation began with the woman driving away from a restaurant, waiting to turn left at an intersection. DK Global animators then reconstructed the collision using the information collected from the Defendant’s event data recorder. As the woman began her left turn, the Defendant blindsided her. The animation replayed from a different angle, following the Defendant’s truck as he recklessly sped down the street. After witnessing the destruction of her vehicle, the woman was shown unconscious as it transitioned to an overview of her injuries: her degloved forehead, disc bulges, fractures, and more, alongside enhanced medical imagery. Finally, four illustrations depicted the invasive surgical procedures the woman endured, including her left tibia fixation and her exploratory laparotomy.
Darl submitted his reinforced demand package to the Defense several weeks before mediation. As a result, he attained a $10.2M settlement to help relieve the woman of her future medical expenses and compensate her for the devastation suffered.
Darl Champion of The Champion Firm, P.C., has served as a personal injury advocate in the state of Georgia for over 12 years, valuing aggressive and compassionate client-centered representation. The National Trial Lawyers has selected Darl as one of the “Top 100 Trial Lawyers in Georgia” and “Top 40 Under 40”. Additionally, Darl is a Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum member and has been recognized as a “Georgia Super Lawyer Rising Star” since 2012.
