Guenard & Bozarth LLP recently settled a slip and fall case for $500,000 a couple weeks before trial. The client slipped and fell on a wet piece of cardboard in a grocery store and sustained a serious shoulder injury that required surgery. The client also lost a couple years of wages. In this case, our client first contacted us about a month before the two-year statute of limitations. She previously hired a law firm that advertised a lot on the television in our local area. That law firm hardly ever communicated with the client.

The insurance company for the grocery store denied the injury claim on the basis that they were not negligent and the client should have been looking where she was going. Based on this form denial, and with only a month left to file a lawsuit, the television firm told the client they could no longer represent her and that it was a “business decision.” An experienced practitioner would know they were telling her the case was not an easy one to settle and they were not willing to file a lawsuit. The reality is they were not fit, able, or prepared to spend the time, effort, and money necessary to get the client fully compensated.

Glenn Guenard, the senior partner at Guenard & Bozarth, LLP, has litigated more than a hundred slip and fall cases during his 31 years of representing injured victims. He was more than happy to take on the case for the client because he knows that slip and fall claims are often initially denied by insurance companies. Glenn was very aggressive in obtaining information from the defendant grocery store. He sent hundreds of written questions, document requests, and took several depositions of employees, management, as well as the owner of the grocery store.

He discovered was that the cardboard was wet because a produce misting machine had been leaking water on the floor for several weeks. He also uncovered that the grocery store did not even follow its own procedures to prevent this type of accident from happening. By way of vigorous discovery and investigation, Glenn even got the defendants to admit they were negligent. Two weeks before trial, the case ultimately settled for $500,000 at private mediation—which included $70,000 for medical bills, $60,000 for wage loss, and $370,000 for pain and suffering.

You get a better settlement if your lawyer is willing to go to trial and has a reputation for doing just that. Insurance companies know the lawyers who only settle cases and those who are eager to take cases to trial. Lawyers with a reputation for only settling cases either get their claims denied or receive nominal offers. Lawyers with a reputation of taking cases to trial receive much higher settlement offers. Glenn Guenard has a reputation for taking cases to trial and for large verdicts.

The moral of the story is do not hire a lawyer just because they are on television. Instead, hire an experienced lawyer who has a reputation for doing what is necessary to make sure you are fully compensated for your damages.