Car rental companies shared a large space outside an airport in Washington State. An employee at one of the car rental companies sped recklessly through the shared lot, naïve to the danger he placed on pedestrians. As the worker raced around the parked cars, a young woman — employed at a neighboring rental car company — was walking through the lot on her way to clean a vehicle. Tragically, the thoughtless driver crashed into the woman on foot. She suffered a traumatic brain injury, skull fractures, and spinal damage that would alter her life forever. Edward Le of Le & Kittleson, Personal Injury Attorneys, represented the victim, using animations to attain a $5.9M settlement.
First responders rushed the 20-year-old woman to a nearby hospital. She was diagnosed with a skull fracture, rib fracture, spleen laceration, broken shin, broken leg, and a brain bleed. The woman retained an attorney, who referred the case to Edward Le of Le & Kittleson, Personal Injury Attorneys. Edward hired several experts, including a neurologist, neuroradiologist, neuropsychologist, speech pathologist, and a physical medicine doctor. He found that while the woman appeared to have made a strong recovery from her injuries and looked healthy on the outside, she faced life-altering conditions, including hearing loss, epilepsy, loss of smell and taste, and sciatic nerve pain.
Over time, the young woman made a miraculous recovery, so much so that to an uninformed observer, she looked like she had never been injured. The Defense used her recuperation to push back against Edward’s damages, claiming that because she didn’t look injured, she must not be.
Edward knew that he needed to show how the injuries from the collision affected the young woman both in the short and long term. Despite the army of experts and a litany of medical evidence, he still needed a way to communicate his arguments clearly. Thus, he reached out to DK Global. Together, Edward, his experts, and DK Global created an animation that revealed the gravity of the Plaintiff’s injuries.
The presentation opened with a 3D character image of the young woman. He hair and skin went transparent as the camera zoomed in and around the side of her skull, showing her brain bleeds, hematoma, and skull fractures. Next, the protruding disc was shown in her neck, causing unnatural straightening of her spine. The animation continued with an illustration of the woman’s rib cage, which had been broken in the accident. It further noted her kidney laceration, spleen laceration, and protruding spinal lumbar discs. Next, the Plaintiff’s irritated sciatic nerve was depicted, resulting in leg, back, and hip pain. The video then panned to her lower body, showing fractures in her shin bones, and rods and screws holding one of her legs together. The animation concluded with a list of conditions the woman now faces, including hearing loss, epilepsy, and loss of smell and taste. It also presented multiple illustrations of her brain from various angles, using superimposed MRI and brain scans to emphasize and validate the damage.
The Defense initially offered $2,000,000 to settle the case. However, Edward knew the case was worth more. He showed the animation to the Defense, intent that another subpar offer would mean taking the case to a jury. After viewing the 3D demonstrative, though, the Defense returned with a more appropriate $5,900,000 settlement to help the woman and her lifetime of recovery.
Edward K. Le is a senior partner and founding member at Le & Kittleson, Personal Injury Attorneys, where he focuses on civil cases involving traumatic brain injuries, wrongful death, motor vehicle accidents, premise liability injuries, and insurance bad faith. He is rated AV-Preeminent by Martindale-Hubbell, is a member of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum and Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum, and was listed among the Top 100 Trial Lawyers for Washington by both the National Trial Lawyers Association and the American Society of Legal Advocates. He is a continued legal education speaker and lecturer for the Washington Association of Justice and has been recognized by the Washington State Bar for his pro bono work.
