Jay's Story

Personal injury from automobile accidents can have long-term consequences especially when alcohol is involved.

Jay was an eighteen-year old who had just graduated from high school. In the fall, he was going to start a two-year outdoor education program at a junior college. In all respects, he was a healthy and typical young man—athletic, attractive and a life full of promise. He loved the mountains and, that summer after high school graduation, worked at a ski resort. One night, he and nine of his friends went to a private bachelor party at local bar. Over the course of approximately two hours, the bar served more than one hundred kamikaze vodka shooters to these ten young men, an average of ten per participant.

Jay got into his friend’s car, a fellow attendee of the bachelor party. Jay’s friend proceeded to drive in an irresponsible and reckless fashion, eventually careening off the road and flipping the car within one mile of the party. While the driver walked away unscathed, Jay was flipped out of the car and rendered a paraplegic. His fight to regain control over his body and direction in life is a story filled with courage and enormous hard work.

The attorneys at the Law Offices of Stuart A. Kritzer, P.C. helped Jay obtain a substantial cash and annuitized settlement that protected Jay financially for the rest of his life. He is now able to stand and walk for short distances with braces and crutches, but prefers the more comfortable wheelchair. He lives in Alaska, is married with children, and works in the wilderness in outdoor education and recreation. (Also, see Ruth's Story, below)


Ruth's Story

One summer morning, after visiting family in Texas, Ruth and Frank set out to return home to Denver in their late model Cadillac. After driving for approximately three hours, they stopped for gas at which point Frank asked Ruth to take over driving. Frank, in the front passenger seat, was reading to Ruth at about noon when, about one mile down the road, a 40-ton tractor-trailer was coming toward them, out of control. Ruth doesn’t remember exactly what happened next, just that she needed to get out of the way of a big truck blocking her lane. The rig ended up driving over the right front and passenger side of the Cadillac, causing it to roll over several times and kill Frank. Ruth survived with a badly fractured ankle and ribs, as well as injury to her respiratory system. She immediately underwent surgery. Tragically, she was unable to attend her husband’s memorial service.

When questioned, the truck driver lied about how the accident happened and the state patrolman “investigating” the matter believed him. Ruth was blamed for falling asleep at the wheel and for and being in the wrong lane at the wrong time. The only reason she wasn’t given a traffic ticket, according to the officer, was that he felt sorry for her because she had just lost her husband. Ruth told her story to one attorney who, after reading the accident report and doing nothing more, told her he could not help. She didn’t want to contact another attorney because she couldn’t remember much about what happened and based on what the policeman said, blamed herself for the collision. Finally, after much encouragement from her children, friends and a caring healthcare provider, she was introduced to the lawyers at Law Offices of Stuart A. Kritzer, P.C.

We immediately obtained a copy of the accident report. The facts of the accident and the story of the truck driver just didn’t add up. Our attorneys went to work contacting witnesses at the scene, the New Mexico police officer and an accident reconstructionist. A woman who had just passed Ruth’s vehicle moments before the collision remembered it well. She was impressed by the condition of the late model car and noted the occupants were alert and awake and driving the proper speed. A gentleman we located who was driving behind Ruth’s car observed the truck ahead of him fishtailing on and off the shoulder of the road, throwing up dirt and dust. He was alarmed enough to slow down and wake up his passenger.

During the truck driver’s deposition in Albuquerque, his personnel records produced at that time noted a prior felony conviction for insurance fraud. When questioned, the driver admitted to burning down his mother’s home for insurance money. After reading his driver logs, we found that he’d been driving since 4:30 a.m. that morning. The “expert” hired by the trucking company admitted that his report made one month after the collision incorrectly placed the vehicles’ point of impact 700 feet away from where it actually happened.

After being confronted with the real evidence, the truck driver’s insurance company ended up settling for a substantial sum of money. It was gratifying for the attorneys at Law Offices of Stuart A. Kritzer, P.C. to help Ruth—financially and emotionally. Although she lost her husband, she no longer felt responsible for his death.