Two checks.
A quick meeting with an attorney partway between Greeley and Denver this morning. Conversations through masks. A stack of paperwork and a CD of additional material.
A couple of deep sighs.
Two checks.
This was the day we were finally able to put January 6, 2017, behind us.
In my last lengthy post in August, I noted we had sat for depositions on the 11th. We combined for 7 1/2 hours of testimony, including a stretch that had me viewing and explaining a group of photos from that day. It was highly emotional and tiring, but we knew it was another step towards ending a three year excursion that began with us going out to eat breakfast after spending a night in our new apartment.
It wasn’t a week before settlement talks began.
The first indication that this matter wasn’t going to be easy to get taken care of, despite our best efforts with our insurers and the insurer of the driver at fault was in the summer of 2018. We were in a grocery store in Monica’s hometown when I took the call from the attorney for the UNC student who was injured, having been in the car in the right lane, next to us. I talked with him for a bit and learned that she had suffered a closed head injury, which meant their claim was going to be high. He said he’d be in touch.
Things went quiet again.
We continued to do our diligence, talking with the insurers to ensure all of our claims were in place and submitted.
It wasn’t until just before Thanksgiving 2019 that we heard again from the attorney for the young woman. The key point: the statute of limitations would run out on January 6, 2020. If nothing was settled or a court case filed, we would not have any recourse to get our claims paid.
The scramble was on.
There were so many things going on that week.
My friend, Earnest Collins, Junior, was fired as head coach of the UNC football team while I was headed to the airport with the men’s basketball team. I was flying with them to Cancun, Mexico, for a basketball tournament, marking my first international trip.
I was worried about having to find an attorney and get them up to speed in short order.
Championship night at the Cancun Classic saw me walk out of the makeshift arena to find a quiet spot to talk with my brother via phone.
There is something to be said for having an attorney in the family.
We set out our process for finding an attorney on the Front Range to potentially take our case.
Thanksgiving was the following day and the trip back to Greeley would be that Friday.
The next four weeks went by in a blur. Between games, dealing with ongoing upheaval at Monica’s job and getting ready for traveling back to Kansas for Christmas, it was a hectic time.
Plus the effort to lock in an attorney was coming up empty.
Two days before we left Greeley for Christmas, I made contact with a “secondary suggestion”–an attorney suggested by one of those Brent had been recommended. Brian Weiss wasn’t greatly interested in the case, thought it would be tough to get up to speed in the short time frame, exacerbated by the holidays.
We left for Kansas unsure what we were going to do. Those discussions would continue while we were at Casa Coverdale. We could at least get started with Brent handling the case if necessary until we could lock in someone local.
We got a Christmas gift.
Brian called while we were at my parents’ home, saying he had been thinking about our case and that he would like to help us.
We couldn’t have been any luckier.
By now, you know what the process wound up entailing, all the way through those depositions on August 11th.
Ironically, we were closing in on another trip to Kansas when the settlement finally came into being. The bulk of the money–almost a 4-to-1 difference–would go to the young lady who suffered the head injury, as it should.
We got what was fair, which was all we wanted from day one of dealing with the aftermath.
Today was the day that it was final. A weight lifted. A time to move forward.
Two checks.
Troy Coverdale 