I need a Lawyer:

twistedjeepster

twistedjeepster

Just another American with a gun!
Joined
May 25, 2009
Location
Kannapolis,NC
I am in need a good hit and run lawyer. My wife and three kids were involved in a hit and run on Fri. around 5pm on Monroe rd near Sardis rd. in Charlotte heading towards Mathews. They guy drove across two lanes of heavy traffic into to the turn lane within a couple of feet of my wife. She only had enough time to slam on the brakes going roughly 10mph. Two of the three kids got hurt by the seat belt and car seat straps my wife hit both legs under the dash; there were no serious injuries but we were at the hospital from 9pm til 4am getting them checked out. Amazingly enough there was a cop in the Jiffy Lube parking lot working on another persons hit and run at the time and saw the whole thing. My wife was with it enough to get the license plate number and gave it to the cop to which he called it in and within a few minutes they caught the guy a couple of streets down trying to get away. At that time the police discovered that he had insurance. So obviously he was swept off to jail. Now we are left with the only vehicle we had that ran well can no longer be driven due to a busted radiator and tranny line in contact with the crank shaft pulley. So if any of you guys know of a good Lawyer that deals with these types of cases please let me know.
 
Can't help ya with a name, but dang sure glad your family wasn't hurt worse!
Props to your wife for quick thinking!
 
Another good tid bit of information was that the guy actually had the nerve to smile at my wife as he pulled into on coming traffic and sped away. So I'll smile at him as we sue the pants off of him.
 
In years past I've had to use the services of the attorney general, guardian ad litem, a family law attorney and a lawyer to terminate my mother in law's parental rights and adopt my wife's youngest sister. In every case the best advise I received was to use the best, meanest lawyer from the county that the case will be heard. From judges and lawyers all have said that there is a truth to having home advantage. The relationship between a lawyer and the judge is very important. If you choose a lawyer in county, they will know how best to handle your case and you will have a better chance of winning. Just interview a few in that county and use your own judgement.
 
The vulchers get copies off all our wreck reports then mail out letters trying to solicit you with their business. You should receive them within a few days. Pretty much all the firms charge about the same which is roughly a 1/3 of your settlement.
 
Glad everyone is okay. May you get a new Dodge minivan out of it for your family tank.
 
I was thinking about building an exo-cage and front and rear bumbers for it along with some 4 or 5 points harnesses. Then I can get a good chuckle at the next person that decides to do something stupid and pull out in front it and get hit. I am thankful that there were no serious injuries just bumps and bruises. Poor jeep is gonna need a face lift and some invasive surgery.
 
George Laughren in Charlotte can pretty much get somebody off of a murder charge so I don't see why he couldn't help you with a hit and run. Many of my friends have used him for speeding, wreckless driving, DUI's etc.
 
The guy did or didnt have insurance?
 
First of all I am glad that your family is ok all things considered.

Jerry Miller. good guy. Has served our family for years and we have nothing but good things to say about he and his practice.

Miller and Miller
319 S Sharon Amity Rd # 350
Charlotte, NC 28211-2980
(704) 366-9129‎
 
uncc civilengineer said:
disclaimer: didn't read the entire thread....
1. you have insurance? I would think your insurance would go after him, not you....
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NOPE! If you are involved in a wreck and its not your fault then your insurance company isnt going to get involved. The other vehicles insurance company is going to be who you deal with. They will low ball everything and drag out paying your medical bills to the point that the hospitals and doctors start calling you because they havent been paid. They total out your car and pay you nothing for it so now you have to go out and spend thousands of your dollars to get back into another vehicle. All this for just minding your own business driving down the road and getting hit.
How do I know? Well my wife has been hit twice by drunk drivers in two seperate incidents. One she was stopped at a red light and a drunk didnt even slow down and plows into the rear of her vehicle, and the other time she is driving straight and a drunk female makes a left turn in front of her and plows into the side of her car. The female blew a .19 on the intoxilyzer. Thats almost 2 and half times the legal limit. The drunks insurance carrier was nationwide and they were assholes to deal with. They offered us a ridiculous low offer that didnt even cover my wifes bills. They were like "If you dont like it then sue us." So we got an attorney and sued them. It took 3 years to finally get it resolved and money in our hands, but we had to pay all the bills and new car costs out of our pocket until then.
 
WCURoverd90 said:
George Laughren in Charlotte can pretty much get somebody off of a murder charge so I don't see why he couldn't help you with a hit and run. Many of my friends have used him for speeding, wreckless driving, DUI's etc.
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x2

Ive used him for two speeding tickets and he got them dropped a week after I first talked with him. Many friends of mine have gotten out of drinking tickets and one aiding and abetting.
 
tknopp said:
NOPE! If you are involved in a wreck and its not your fault then your insurance company isnt going to get involved. The other vehicles insurance company is going to be who you deal with. They will low ball everything and drag out paying your medical bills to the point that the hospitals and doctors start calling you because they havent been paid. They total out your car and pay you nothing for it so now you have to go out and spend thousands of your dollars to get back into another vehicle. All this for just minding your own business driving down the road and getting hit.
How do I know? Well my wife has been hit twice by drunk drivers in two seperate incidents. One she was stopped at a red light and a drunk didnt even slow down and plows into the rear of her vehicle, and the other time she is driving straight and a drunk female makes a left turn in front of her and plows into the side of her car. The female blew a .19 on the intoxilyzer. Thats almost 2 and half times the legal limit. The drunks insurance carrier was nationwide and they were assholes to deal with. They offered us a ridiculous low offer that didnt even cover my wifes bills. They were like "If you dont like it then sue us." So we got an attorney and sued them. It took 3 years to finally get it resolved and money in our hands, but we had to pay all the bills and new car costs out of our pocket until then.
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Just out of curosity... who's your insurance with?
 
Both he and my wife have insurance so we are going to get in touch with his insurance company and pretty much put the screws to them. I know how much it is going to cost to get the jeep fixed and how much the medical bills are so I refuse to take anything less than that amount. I was involved with a hit and run many years ago and only got 300 bucks to fix a 500 bumper and nothing to cover medical bills.
 
Glad your family is ok. Trust me, take what both insurance companies say and toss that shit in the trash can. I had state farm, they were great during the whole process but remember no one is looking out for you. His insurance, yours, everyone involved wants its to be as cheap as it can be. Get a lawyer, find someone who specialize in this kind of stuff. If this was Pennsylvania I could refer you to who we used.

We were in a similar situation, without the smile as the dick drove away. Drunk guy driving a brand new tahoe. Blew a red light, I had green and was half way thru the intersection. Saw his lights coming and floored it, in a newer toyota four runner but it caught me at the back of my door, drivers side. All the bags went off but I got nailed, had to cut me out.

The moron had just gotten his licence back and SR insurance from his previous DWI a year before. This was his third DWI. He refused the test but they got a warrant for blood and tested him at the hospital and it was around .28 something. I got the shit end of the stick, spent three weeks in a hosp. One in ICU. The wife was fine to a point (minor cuts, bruise) Because we got the meanest, nastiest, sob lawyer that we could find everything was taken care of. The guy that hit us ended up selling the trucking company he owned and filed bankruptcy. Talk about a good lawyer lol. But the lawyer had a good reputation and only handle traffic accidents where there was injury from drinking.

My hosp bill was around 20k, wife's was about a grand, he totalled our 1.5 year old suv and we had no gap insurance so that gap was paid, suv paid off and the typical pain and suffering, time away from work/school, etc. He went after everything the guy had and made the guy pay. That's the breaks when you screw up.

Hope it works out for you, just cover your ass.
 
highsociety said:
My hosp bill was around 20k, wife's was about a grand, he totalled our 1.5 year old suv and we had no gap insurance so that gap was paid, suv paid off and the typical pain and suffering, time away from work/school, etc. He went after everything the guy had and made the guy pay. That's the breaks when you screw up.
Hope it works out for you, just cover your ass.
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On a similar topic - I'm curious how many/if any folks have extra liability coverage besides the standard minimum required by the state, in maryland it's only 20/40/10 (personal injury indiv/total and personal property).
In many cases you can very easily exceed this amount, like above - $10k wouldn't cover most newer cars. That's the max payout from your insurance company, above that you're left owing the rest and are liable to get sued.

I've never bothered until recently, the accident I was in (admitedly caused) in Jan cost $26k total, 2 cars totaled, another damaged and a (minor) hospital visit. That got me thinking about it.
In my case, I have the (unfortunately) honor of the title "Dr" - people see that and see dollar signs... too bad they don't realize it's not a "real doctor", just PhD and I make beans, less than many teachers here... but that leaves me the potential target for excessive lawsuit. I found out it was only a fraction more expensive to up it to like 100/300/50 or something.
 
Ours is more like 100/300/50k... and honestly, that might not be enough.
 
Update:

Well, the jeep is now in the shop and should be ready next week. We have received checks for two of the three kids that were in the car and just waiting on the check for my wife and the last kid. We were supposed to get a rental until the jeep was repaired but they refused to pay for the insurance on the rental stating that they never do that if you don't have collision on your insurance we are not going to give you something you didn't have before. I basically told them I wasn't going to pay for a damn thing out of pocket let alone the cost of insurance for the rental. I know what they said is all just a bunch of Bull:poop: but while talking to them I was just hitting a brick wall so after a lengthy conversation with the "supervisor" with me not budging on the compensation for the loss of my vehicle they agreed to pay me 15 dollars a day from when the accident happened until I get the Jeep back. That is probably the last check we are going to have to wait for. Right now they are trying to see how much Medicaid paid for the oldest so they can pay them. Problem with that is that medicaid has no idea we even went to the hospital for this since we did not offer up any information to the ER about medicaid. I have made sure that they pay for everything and kept in constant contact with them just so they know this is not just going to go away until they pony up the dough. I just thought I would give you guys an update. So far everything we have gotten is fair which is all I was hoping for; I was never out to get anything more than what was owed to me, I'm not a greedy person and I am more happy that everyone was okay with no serious injuries. As soon as I can I will post pics of the damage and repairs.
 
twistedjeepster said:
We were supposed to get a rental until the jeep was repaired but they refused to pay for the insurance on the rental stating that they never do that if you don't have collision on your insurance we are not going to give you something you didn't have before.
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This is HIS insurance, right? Not yours?
If so, yes they are legally responsible for providing yo ua vehicle. Well technically HE is responsible, the ins. co. is just a sort of proxy for him, they are paying in his stead. Whatever they refuse to pay, then he must cover himself. This is what the lawyer should be for. You should not give in on that, it's a matter of principle.
 
Yes it was their insurance that was telling me this, actually two reps and a manager told me this. The only reason I didn't press the issue after that convo with them about getting the rental is because we have another car we can use so we really were not out a vehicle and I need the money more than anything. You are correct and it's what I was told not only by the rental car company but also by the collision shop manager and as of right now it's not even worth trying to get one since the Jeep is going to be done next week. So that is the only problem we have had with the insurance company so I consider myself lucky cause I know how they can be sometimes.
 
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