Just as his green light was turning yellow, Mr. Alsina entered an intersection in west Los Angeles, only to be struck driver-side by a Defendant who insisted that their light was green. The Defendant stopped, and then entered the intersection at a red-light, totaling Mr. Alsina’s vehicle. Mr. Alsina suffered numerous injuries, including an aggravation of his pre-existing and asymptomatic anterolisthesis a spine condition in which the vertebrae slips forward, causing radiating pain and numbness. Initially, Mr. Alsina refused ambulatory services to the emergency room, and declined to see a doctor for 2 weeks until his symptoms began to worsen. Justin Effres of Effres & Associates was referred to help Mr. Alsina in this “he said, she said” matter, hurdling over numerous obstacles to establish clear liability and demonstrate the severity of his client’s injuries.

Justin Effres carefully navigated the case when the Defense claimed that Mr. Alsina was at fault, with a couple of eyewitnesses backing their claim. Justin deposed these witnesses and quickly revealed that they did not see the incident in its entirety. Thankfully, there was an independent witness who saw the whole event take place; this witness’ testimony, along with the event-data recorder information from the Defendant’s airbag control module, was utilized to objectively recreate an animation of the incident. Mr. Alsina was referred to an orthopedic surgeon who ordered an MRI of his spine, revealing anterolisthesis at the L4-L5 level. The Defense then retained another medical examiner to assess Mr. Alsina, who concluded that Mr. Alsina was not a surgical candidate, which created yet another obstacle. Despite conservative efforts in managing Mr. Alsina’s pain, Mr. Alsina underwent spinal fusion surgery two years after the accident to recover from his injuries.

Justin Effres and his team were well-equipped for trial with surgical and reconstruction animations before the pandemic darkened courtrooms. Justin sent the Defense a settlement demand letter for $1.5 Million, despite the $500,000 policy, arguing that the policy was open – and that, eventually, jurors would examine the exhibits and award his client a verdict much larger than what was requested. The day before the policy demand expired, the Defense contacted Justin and agreed to settle for the requested $1.5 Million.

Justin Effres is a “rising star” trial lawyer with 8 years of experience advocating for his clients. He was recently recognized by the National Trial Lawyers as one of the “Top 40 Under 40 Civic Plaintiff Lawyers” in California, because of the critical role that he has had in securing numerous multimillion-dollar settlements. Justin prides himself on providing help and obtaining justice for his deserving clients whose lives are affected by catastrophic injuries throughout Southern California.