In this terrible tragedy, plaintiff was a 10-year-old girl who was involved in a small plane crash with her parents and uncle. All three adults died while the plaintiff incurred a serious back injury. Over 10 law firms had considered this case but refused it because plaintiff’s father and mother were the pilot of the plane and were uninsured. The plane had been inspected by the FAA and private investigators and there was no defect, the only cause of accident was pilot error.
The case was about to be dismissed by the aunt who was acting as guardian for the young girl when they retained the law offices of Winer, Burritt & Scott, LLP. The law firm then filed a lawsuit and began taking the testimony of people around the airport and learned that the plane rental company had not properly checked the credentials and flight log of the pilot and co-pilot of the plane which is a violation of the law. It was a small rental company with a $300,000 policy; however, after losing a legal motion to have the case dismissed, it paid the plaintiff its $300,000 insurance policy. Although this did not fully compensate the young girl for the loss of both parents and her significant back injury, it did allow for the purchase of a structured settlement (i.e., a settlement which is paid over time) which would support her for the rest of her childhood and through college when she could then earn a living. The structured settlement paid her approximately $1 million over her life.
RESULT: settlement for the plaintiff with a present cash value of $300,000