I was previously employed by Metro-North Commuter Railroad and suffered an injury on the job that aggravated a pre-existing arthritic condition and pre-existing spine defect in my lower back. I underwent surgery that fused my lower back in 2001. I was represented by attorney Ira Maurer at the time and he obtained a substantial settlement for me that required me to resign from the railroad as part of the settlement. In 2010, my back condition got worse and I had to go through another surgery to fuse a larger part of my lower back. I then went on total Social Security Disability.
Four years later, on 1/28/15, my truck was side-swiped by an SUV that was attempting to change lanes while I was driving my pick-up truck on Route 9 in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. During the accident, my truck lifted up off the pavement 22 inches. After the accident, I started experiencing weakness in one leg in addition to back pain. I returned to my previous back surgeon and he ended up operating on my back again. Unfortunately, I developed a life-threatening Staff infection (MRSA) that settled in the surgery wound and infected my vertebrae. This resulted in my being hospitalized on and off for several months, during which time I had additional surgery and treatment. I lost 50 pounds in the process.
I hired Ira Maurer again to handle my car accident injury claim. Ira explained that my previous history of injury and two prior spine surgeries/fusions, my history of substance abuse (Heroin, Cocaine and narcotic pain killers), and my manic depression would be used by the defense lawyers to limit the damages I could collect. Ira assured me he would use everything he’s learned in his 37 years as a personal injury trial lawyer to get me the money I deserved. Knowing Ira, I was totally confident he would keep his word, and he did.
Ira met with my doctors in order to develop a winning strategy that would demonstrate that I had a significant enough injury in the car accident so that it aggravated my pre-existing back problems and required me to have further surgery. Ira hired an accident reconstruction expert who purchased identical vehicles to my pick-up and the SUV involved in the accident and then performed testing to demonstrate how much force I was exposed to during the accident. Ira took the video pre-trial testimony of all four defense experts (accident reconstruction, biomechanical, orthopedist and neurologist) in order to weaken the defense that would be offered at trial. Ira spent days preparing for those depositions, obtaining transcripts of prior testimony given by all four defense experts, and was extremely well prepared for the depositions. Ira was able to prove that the defense accident reconstruction expert made a huge mistake in his calculations and that I was exposed to ten times the force that the expert said I was exposed to in his report. Ira also was able to get both defense medical experts to admit that my pre-existing back condition was aggravated and could have been a serious enough injury to require my additional surgery. Ira also was able to prove that my MRSA infection was either present prior to the car accident in a dormant state (I had a Staph infection after my surgery in 2010) or resulted from my surgery after the car accident, making the defendant fully responsible for everything that happened to me after I developed the infection.
I have known Ira Maurer for 15 years and he can be very persuasive. Ira is a very gifted negotiator who works as a federal court mediator and understands the psychology involved in the negotiation process. This worked to my advantage. Ira’s impressive knowledge of medicine and spinal injuries also gave him a huge advantage in the negotiation process. Following the depositions of the four defense experts, Ira negotiated with defense counsel and the defendant’s insurance company and got them to pay me $2 million to settle my case.
Ira told me at the start that this would be his toughest case in 37 years due to all of the problems, but that he was up to the challenge. He certainly was and I am grateful to him for all of his hard work. I would be happy to put my name on this summary of my case, but the terms of the settlement prevent me from revealing the names of the defendants, the defense lawyers, the insurance company or myself. Insurance companies apparently don’t like to publish when they pay large sums of money to injury victims.
