Two years ago a bike-car collision in Aurora left a young former Marine with agonizing injuries, hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical bills, and a complicated legal case in which the other side was disputing who was at fault.
Many personal injury law firms would have refused to take such a case or would have urged the client to take a quick settlement. But this client hired the law firm of Franklin D. Azar & Associates, which wasn’t shy about taking his case to trial. A few weeks ago, an Arapahoe County jury awarded the man more than $240,000, untangling a formidable series of claims and counter-claims.
“I think it’s representative of the kind of firm we are,” says Azar attorney Josh Hotchkiss, who led the plaintiff’s legal team. “We take on difficult cases, and we’re not afraid to use our resources to help our client.”
In June 2020 the client was on a three-hour bike ride, training for a triathlon, and thirty minutes from home when the smash-up occurred. He was crossing an intersection at East Iliff Avenue and South Salida Way in Aurora when he was struck by a vehicle turning right. The collision sent him and his bike flying and ruptured rotator cuffs in both shoulders.
Attorneys for the driver of the car denied any liability for the incident. They claimed that the injured cyclist was riding after sunset and that there were visibility issues. They counter-sued for the damage to the defendant’s vehicle. Their best offer of settlement before trial was $25,000, which amounted to roughly a tenth of the Azar client’s medical bills. So the Azar team went to court. They presented evidence that their client was in the crosswalk at the time of the collision, with the same rights as a pedestrian crossing the street, and that there was more than adequate light to see the cyclist, but the defendant failed to do so.
The jury awarded the plaintiff the full amount of his medical bills as well as claims for impairment and pain and suffering. The panel also found him thirty percent liable for the accident. The adjusted award comes to $243,543.74 – more than enough to cover the medical costs and aid the client in his recovery.
Attorney Hotchkiss says his client was “very pleased” with the result. “If you go through something like that with someone, you become very close to him and his family,” Hotchkiss observes. “We were on Cloud Nine for a week.”
THE CAR ACCIDENT LAWYERS AT FDAZAR
For more than thirty years the attorneys at Franklin D. Azar & Associates have helped thousands of injured people obtain complete and timely compensation for their losses. Our proven track record and expertise in serious injury cases have allowed us to grow into the largest personal-injury law firm in Colorado, with offices in Denver, Aurora, Thornton, Fort Collins, Grand Junction, Colorado Springs, and Pueblo. If you’ve been injured in a bus, car, truck, or motorcycle accident, you may be entitled to compensation. Please call the car accident attorneys at FDAzar day or night at 800-716-9032, or contact us here for a free consultation and no-obligation evaluation of your case.
