$500,000 Recovery for Driver With Cervical Spine Injury in Alameda

Kristopher Peerali, Serena Peerali, and Ali Hosseini secured a $500,000 policy-limits settlement for a driver who suffered a cervical spine injury in a rear-end collision in Alameda – a result reached after Peerali Law took over a case in which the insurer’s top offer had been just $200,000, and dismantled the defense’s causation argument in a single deposition.

Our client was stopped at a red light. When the light turned green, they activated their turn signal and began to move forward, then stopped at the crosswalk to let pedestrians cross safely. While the vehicle was stationary, the defendant rear-ended it. Our client did not seek medical care until seven weeks after the collision and then underwent conservative treatment for four years before ultimately requiring a C5-C6 anterior cervical discectomy with neural foraminal decompression and cervical disc replacement surgery.

Causation was the central fight. The impact to both vehicles was minor and our client’s delay in seeking treatment gave the defendant an opening to dispute that the collision had caused the spinal injury at all. Before the matter came to Peerali Law, the defendant’s insurer had offered no more than $200,000. Our team prepared the case for trial. During expert discovery, Kristopher Peerali took the deposition of the defendant’s expert neurosurgeon, and the cross-examination during that deposition proved fatal to the defense’s causation dispute. The case settled at the full policy limits the very next day.

The $500,000 recovery represented the entire amount of the defendant’s insurance policy. If you or a loved one has been injured in an accident, contact us today to discuss your case.