Car collisions can be a life-altering event.  According to its Early Estimate of Motor Vehicle Traffic Fatalities for the First 9 Months in 2019, the United States Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimated that 26,730 people died in motor vehicle traffic collisions from January through September 2019 in the United States.   Furthermore, hundreds of thousands of people suffered injuries due to car collisions.

What happens when Party 1 causes harm to Party 2 through a car collision?  One may expect Party 1's car insurance would cover all the property damage, medical expenses, lost wages, and pain and suffering incurred by Party 2.  This may not be the case, though, when the injuries are significant enough to warrant surgery, necessitate frequent physical therapy for the course of several months, or cause long term pain.  In California, the minimum bodily injury policy limit is $15,000 per occurrence.  I assume that most drivers on the road have the minimum policy.

Does this mean that if Party 1 has the minimum bodily injury auto policy required by California and lives paycheck to paycheck that Party 2 has the misfortune of being harmed more than Party 2 can be recovered?  What if Party 1 does not even have auto insurance?  If Party 2 has sufficient uninsured/underinsured motorist (UM/UIM) coverage, then Party 2 can recover enough through his or her own insurance to cover the damages caused by Party 1.

How does UM/UIM coverage work?  Let's use the scenario that I used above assuming that Party 1 has a $15,000 bodily injury policy limit and Party 2 has a UM/UIM with a policy limit of $250,000.  After the case against Party 1 resolves (either through settlement or judgment after trial) for the policy limits of $15,000, then Party 2 can make an UM/UIM claim for the rest of the policy, i.e., $235,000.  If a settlement cannot be reached, then Party 2 and the insurance carrier for Party 2 can go to arbitration to determine how of UM/UIM policy to award Party 2.   A skilled attorney can help navigate both claims to get Party 2 as much money possible to compensate for the harms caused by the negligence of another person.

I have seen how the lack of UM/UIM coverage can devastate a person who was harmed through no fault of her.  SN was a client of my former firm who was rear-ended at a high speed on the I-405 freeway.  She suffered significant injuries, including a significant traumatic brain injury that required immediate surgery.  Her life was never the same.  The man who hit her had no the minimum required bodily injury policy limit of $15,000, which was the most his insurance company had to offer to fulfill its obligations to its insured.  SN thought she had UM/UIM coverage but learned that her husband had actually cancelled that part of their auto insurance just a few months prior to her life-altering car collision.  Her case is still pending now, but there is a good chance that the only amount she will be able to recover is $15,000.

Contrast SN's situation with my client LH who suffered back and neck injuries when a man ran a red light and crashed his vehicle into LH's vehicle.  Fortunately, LH was able to avoid surgery and recovered well after several months of physical therapy.  The man who crashed into LH also had the minimum required bodily injury policy of $15,000, which his insurance company offered after I took his deposition.  I then made a demand for remaining amount of LH's UM/UIM policy.  After a relatively quick negotiation, we reached a settlement with LH's insurance company that provided LH with more than double what she would have been left with if she did not have UM/UIM coverage.

LH did not suffer nearly the amount of damages as SN, but received more than twice the amount as SN is likely to receive due to her UM/UIM insurance policy.  Please check your UM/UIM policy as soon as possible and raise its limits as high as you think is necessary.  Please also make sure your family and friends do the same.  Sufficient UM/UIM coverage can make all the difference.

There may come a time that a lawsuit is your only option left to get compensation for harm for which  another person is responsible under the law.  Perhaps an automobile insurance company refuses to provide you with fair compensation for you to cover your medicals bills, lost wages, as well as pain and suffering.  Or maybe your employer has let you go based on a protected characteristic, such as due to a disability.  It could be that your landlord refuses to make necessary repairs to the apartment you lease.  A civil lawsuit may be the only way to get justice.

After making decisions on whether to retain an attorney, who to choose as your attorney to represent you, and what claims to bring against the defendants, the life of a plaintiff begins once a civil complaint is filed in a court.  In most instances, you will have to answer questions and respond to requests in writing under oath and go to a deposition in which the defendant's attorney can ask you questions about your background and your claims.  There may be a mediation or you may have to go trial.  The judge or jury may not find in your favor.  There are no guarantees in litigation.

Remember though that you as the plaintiff are in control.  You are the one bringing the claims and taking the defendant to court.  You make the ultimate decisions on whether to keep fighting for a fair settlement or go to trial to see if a jury of your peers agrees that you should be allowed to have full compensation.

Here are five tips to ensure that you feel in control during this entire process:

• Be fully honest and upfront with your attorneys about the facts of your case and your expectations.  I can handle "bad" facts, but I cannot handle lies.  Also, I do not know what you do not share with me.  I want to get every bit of information that you think is remotely relevant to your case.
• Stay in contact with your attorneys to see if you can provide any additional information to help.  I like when my clients call me or send me periodic emails to let me know important things in their lives are happening.
• Make sure to give yourself plenty of time to prepare for important events.  Keep track of dates of those events.  Schedule time off for your deposition, mediation, or trial.
  
• Before speaking or meeting with your attorney, gather all of the information that you will need to make those sessions productive.
• Keep living your life.  Do everything in your power to regain your sense of self.