A young man raced his new Black BMW through Thousand Oaks, California, late at night. He stopped at a red light in the left turn lane. The unprotected green light illuminated, and he quickly stomped on the accelerator, trying to turn left before an SUV in the opposite lane reached the intersection. He collided with the family vehicle, injuring Colleen, a nurse and a mother of two. Despite Soma and Norco prescriptions, chiropractic sessions, trigger point injections, and physical therapy, Colleen needed a discectomy and C5-C6 vertebral fusion surgery.
Colleen was referred to Mark Cunningham of MCIS Lawyers, a former defense attorney, to help recover compensation from the Defendant’s carrier. Mark predicted that the Defense would underestimate the severity of Colleen’s damages. They accused her of exaggerating her pain, that her injuries were pre-existing, and that the discectomy was unnecessary.
With Mark’s background, he predicted the Defense’s arguments and retained several experts, including medical specialists, an economist, and a metallurgy professor, to refute their claims. The professor testified the artificial disc in Colleen’s spine would erode and eventually need to be replaced in 20 years. Finally, to help streamline his evidence, Mark worked with DK Global to create a slideshow presentation that outlined Colleen’s mechanism of injury, her medical care, and his expert-backed counterarguments.
The demonstrative began by describing the collision and showing the immense damage to both vehicles. Importantly, DK Global used photographers to recreate Colleen’s character likeness in the presentation. Doing so allowed viewers to empathize with Colleen’s trauma, to see the pain she experienced during the crash. Her 3D model illustrated how the crash’s forces thrust her forward in her seat, injuring her spine. Then, Colleen’s discectomy was depicted: a metal disc and plate fused her C5-C6 vertebrae. Then, her lifecare plan and economic losses were outlined to show how disruptive Colleen's damages were. Finally, using Mark’s defense experience, the opposition’s claims were displayed, followed by a list of counterarguments.
Shortly after sharing the presentation with the opposing counsel, the Defense’s attorney approached Mark to mediate the case, fearing what would happen if a jury saw the slideshow during trial. Mark’s dedication paid off: the Defense offered a significant settlement to resolve the matter and compensate Colleen for her life-changing injuries.
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 litigated thousands of cases, specializing in handling severe auto accidents.
