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Porch Collapse Settlement, does this seem right?
In August of 1999 in Massachusetts I was at a graduation party for 3 friends when the second floor porch collapsed out from under 25 of us. Went to the hospital and I had no serious injury. 1 week later had severe pains and loss of feeling in my left shoulder, arm & hand. I went to the doctor and got checked out. Went to Physical Therapy for 3 months and it didn't seem to help. Had many other test done, 2 MRI's, EMG, CAT Scan, Mylogram, got checked out by a nuerologist and they couldn't find anything wrong or damaged. The injury ended up being streched nerve roots that connect to my spine and go down my arm. I started seeing a Chiropractor and the severe pain went away very quickly and after 3 years the only pain I get is some soreness and trouble sleeping.
Now, the landlord of the house was found at fault, he had no permit to reconstruct the porch and it was built with many code violations. I went to a lawyer that was refered to me by a friend. We went through the whole process and it seemed like he knew what he was doing and seemed very good. This was the first lawsuit I ever had and was the first time I ever interacted with a lawyer and the whole justice system, I was very niave. We went through a series of offers and negotiations. My lawyer didn't think going to a court with a jury was the best approach so he wanted to go through arbitration. Anyway, my lawyer calls me up 1 day before the arbitration and highly recommended I take the lastest offer and settle, he thought the arbitrator might not go as high as the offer. So I settled for $65,000. Now deduct the 1/3 lawyer fees and the $20,000 in medical expenses and it basically left me with a little more than $20,000. I was very disappointed because this event basically changed my whole life, I was a vegtable for about 8 months after the accident and I really couldn't do active things I used to do before the accident because it aggravated my injury.
Do you think I was taken advantage of? Do you think my lawyer might have been infuenced my the defense attorneys? I think my lawyer was not experienced in this type of case which I didn't know at the time. If I go to another attorney is there anyway I can open another lawsuit even though this has already been settled? Thank You
In August of 1999 in Massachusetts I was at a graduation party for 3 friends when the second floor porch collapsed out from under 25 of us. Went to the hospital and I had no serious injury. 1 week later had severe pains and loss of feeling in my left shoulder, arm & hand. I went to the doctor and got checked out. Went to Physical Therapy for 3 months and it didn't seem to help. Had many other test done, 2 MRI's, EMG, CAT Scan, Mylogram, got checked out by a nuerologist and they couldn't find anything wrong or damaged. The injury ended up being streched nerve roots that connect to my spine and go down my arm. I started seeing a Chiropractor and the severe pain went away very quickly and after 3 years the only pain I get is some soreness and trouble sleeping.
Now, the landlord of the house was found at fault, he had no permit to reconstruct the porch and it was built with many code violations. I went to a lawyer that was refered to me by a friend. We went through the whole process and it seemed like he knew what he was doing and seemed very good. This was the first lawsuit I ever had and was the first time I ever interacted with a lawyer and the whole justice system, I was very niave. We went through a series of offers and negotiations. My lawyer didn't think going to a court with a jury was the best approach so he wanted to go through arbitration. Anyway, my lawyer calls me up 1 day before the arbitration and highly recommended I take the lastest offer and settle, he thought the arbitrator might not go as high as the offer. So I settled for $65,000. Now deduct the 1/3 lawyer fees and the $20,000 in medical expenses and it basically left me with a little more than $20,000. I was very disappointed because this event basically changed my whole life, I was a vegtable for about 8 months after the accident and I really couldn't do active things I used to do before the accident because it aggravated my injury.
Do you think I was taken advantage of? Do you think my lawyer might have been infuenced my the defense attorneys? I think my lawyer was not experienced in this type of case which I didn't know at the time. If I go to another attorney is there anyway I can open another lawsuit even though this has already been settled? Thank You
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