Jany Martinez-Ward, left, and Gregory Ward, right, founding partners of The Ward Law Group. Courtesy photo.
In the weeks before obtaining a $1.15 million pre-suit settlement, they claim one insurer refused to adjust the claim, deeming it "too complicated" to process during the virus outbreak.
Their 77-year-old client, driver Roberto Martinez, was coming back from a grocery store in Westchester on Nov. 25, 2019, when another motorist allegedly drove through a stop sign, and crashed into his driver's side. Diagnosed with a broken neck, Martinez had to undergo neck surgery to fuse a portion of his cervical spine.
The defendant's underlying insurer Florida Farm quickly tendered its $300,000 policy limit, but collecting from CNA Insurance's $1 million-plus policy wasn't easy, according to Ward, who said he sensed it was trying to "play the delay game."
"It was hard even to get in touch with anybody. They were basically saying they can't adjust any claims because COVID-19 has shut them down," Ward said. "We know that's not true. Most adjusters work from home, and in fact, it's a responsibility of insurance companies to continue to process claims even if there is a serious virus outbreak."
But with Florida's pro-consumer and pro-driver laws on their side, Ward and Martinez-Ward say the case moved forward after they sent letters, pointing out the insurer's potential exposure to a bad-faith claim if it didn't act.
"Florida law is pretty clear about what bad faith is, and so it does really compel insurers to take these cases seriously and timely handle the claims," Ward said.
CNA Insurance did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
'He gunned it'
But that wasn't the only roadblock to settlement as Martinez lost consciousness and was so disoriented at the scene that he couldn't remember how the accident had happened. For his lawyers, that meant a protracted fight over liability if they couldn't find evidence establishing fault.
"As an attorney this is one of the hardest cases to do because it's like a puzzle," Martinez-Ward said. "And you have to fit all the pieces of the puzzle and align them to prove that the client is the victim and how serious their injuries are."
Martinez's story also hit a personal chord for Martinez-Ward, as he had spent 16 years in a Cuban prison for anti-Communist remarks.
"Here you have a person like my grandfather that came here to the United States to find freedom but doesn't really know how to explain himself, doesn't have the education level, and on top of that, suffers a traumatizing accident. And now he's helpless because he doesn't have evidence," she said.
To prove what happened, the attorneys sought out the defendant's event-data recorder — a feature of most modern cars that memorializes information about speed, braking and steering wheel position in the moments before a crash.
In this case, data downloaded from the defendant's vehicle revealed he slowed down to about 12 miles an hour before suddenly accelerating, according to Ward.
"One second before the crash he gunned it, so he was trying to beat our client through the intersection where the crash happened," Ward said.
CNA Insurance agreed to settle Martinez's claim without a lawsuit.
After months in a neck brace, Martinez has to wear a bone stimulator around his neck at all times to help facilitate the fusion, according to his lawyers, who said the money will cover his medical bills.
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Raychel Lean
Raychel Lean is ALM's Florida bureau chief, overseeing the Daily Business Review. Email her at [email protected] or follow her on Twitter via @raychellean.