Most people who cause car accidents have minimal insurance policies and when there is minimal insurance there commonly are minimal assets to pay your losses.
Most injured people do not carry substantial under-insured or uninsured motorist coverage [known as UM coverage] to make up the difference between what the defendant has and their own UM coverage. Substantial UM coverage can save the day but you cannot buy it after the fact. If you do not fully understand uninsured motorist coverage, do not be surprised. We can teach you that later.
Here is the take away: you can get the money you deserve by having us make a policy limit demand.
You only get one chance to win your personal injury lawsuit and you need to have experienced, dedicated lawyers on your side with a track record of collecting from an insurance company more than the policy.
How it Works: Getting You the Money You Deserve
The Alexander Law Group routinely demands that the defendant’s insurance carrier pay its policy limits in 30 days. The settlement demand meets the technical legal requirements of a “good faith settlement offer.”
In many cases once the insurance company fails to pay its policy by the deadline, a full and fair value can be recovered no matter how small the defendant’s policy. California law holds an insurance company liable for the full value of a claim when it rejects a settlement demand that it should have accepted. Here are a few results for our clients:
| Result | Actual Insurance Coverage |
| $10 million | $50,000 |
| $4.5 million | $30,000 |
| $2.65 million | $100,000 |
| $2 million | $100,000 |
| $1.3 million | $100,000 |
| $750,000 | $25,000 |
| $500,000 | $100,000 |
| $225,000 | $25,000 |
How to Avoid the Common Pitfalls
To qualify for a full value recovery that is more than the defendant’s insurance policy limits here is what you have to do:
- Don’t open a personal injury claim with the defendant’s insurance company. It is an unnecessary waste of time and despite whatever an insurance adjuster will tell you about closing your claim, you have two years from the date of loss to file a lawsuit and opening a claim is counter to your interests.
- OK to settle your car damage with the defendant’s carrier but do not discuss your injuries.
- When the defendant’s adjuster [who has had weeks of training] asks about your injuries, just say “not ready to discuss my injuries with you until I have fully healed.” Say nothing more.
- Don’t get trapped into talking about your injuries. This is important.
- Call ALG for free advice to give us the chance to protect your rights and make a carefully prepared policy limits demand to maximize a recovery for you.
Any lawyer can collect policy limits of $15,000, $25,000, $50,000 or $100,000 when the damages are in the millions.
Our goal is to collect all the damage that has been inflicted on you. There is no guarantee we can do this for you, but we can give you the chance of a lifetime.
You only get to do this once. So it has to be done correctly. We understand that. We are focused. We are on point.
How a Policy Limits Demand Pays Off
We know that our clients need a result that will last a lifetime because brain, spinal cord and burn injuries last a lifetime.
Our report on Rasheed Hilson’s $10.1 million judgment explains what can be done where there is insufficient insurance coverage.
In Rasheed’s case we went to trial and secured a $10.1 million judgment for a severely brain injured 12-year-old boy. The left side of his body is paralyzed and he is confined to bed and a wheelchair. Before we filed, the defendant’s insurance company refused to pay its $50,000 policy to Rasheed to settle all claims because it thought it could defense a case of a 12-year-old boy running directly into traffic.To put in perspective how insurance claims adjusters work, Rasheed’s medical bills for two months totaled $735,000, he will never work and a full-time assistant will be necessary for the rest of his life. Rasheed should have received more, but he was found by the jury to have been 65% at fault in causing his own injuries. $10.1 million is 35% of $29 million, which more closely approximates his actual losses.
George Liu’s video and case report explains in detail how we were able to recover $4,500,000 from an insurance company’s treasury for causing him to be a paraplegic. That $4,470,00 more than the $30,000 policy George would have had if he had hired one of the Bay Area’s television advertising law firms.
At the outset, we offered to settle all claims against the defendant 19-year-old driver’s insurance company for the policy limits. The carrier did nothing. During the year between the crash and an early trial date, the insurance company made no settlement offer to George even though the company had not acted in good faith knowing that George would be a paraplegic and in a wheelchair for life. After trial started and half of our witnesses had testified, the insurance company’s executive committee put $4.5 million on the table, which George accepted.
Reputation for Strong Preparation and Outstanding Results
Our proof in all major injury cases calls upon a strong team of experts: crash re-constructionists, biomechanical engineers, metallurgists, materials science engineers, physiatrists, neurologists, neuropsychologists, psychiatrists, occupational and rehabilitation therapists, life care planners and economists. We hire the most highly qualified experts to provide state-of-the-art scientific evidence. That is the reason our track record is unmatched. It contains full details of case outcomes and recoveries for our clients. Representative recoveries are listed below.
We are experienced trial lawyers. Fewer and fewer lawyers are trying lawsuits in the last ten years. We have brought in verdicts for clients facing lifetime disability for millions of dollars and the insurance industry and defense bar knows that we are always prepared and always negotiate from a position of strength. That maximizes recoveries for our clients.
Richard Alexander, our founder, was featured in San Jose Magazine for his incomparable record and passion for his clients. We are top-rated by independent rating agencies such as Martindale-Hubbell “highest rating”, Avvo.com “superb 10/10”, Preeminent Law Firms in the United States and Super Lawyers of Northern California.
Bar associations have recognized us as specialists by bestowing multiple awards: Nina Shapirshteyn was awarded Trial Lawyer of the Year by the San Francisco Trial Lawyer and there have been multiple nominations for the coveted Street Fighter of the Year. We also are listed in the 100 Top California Trial Lawyers by the American Trial Lawyers Association and Richard Alexander holds Santa Clara County Trial Lawyer of the Year.
More important to us are our client testimonials that you will find on this website.
Alexander Law Group, LLP attorneys are ready to answer questions and make sure you fully recover for your losses. As your personal lawyers, our goal is to make a difference you, protect you from mistakes and maximize a recovery, because you only get one chance to do so.
If you or a member of your family have suffered a catastrophic injury and are facing a lifetime disability, call 888-777-1776. No recovery, no fees, no charges.
A Strong Record of Success
While it is true that the “past is prologue,” the following results do not constitute a promise, prediction or guarantee regarding the outcome in other matters.
For everyone who puts their trust in us we are committed to doing our best.
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- $79,800,000 trial verdict against Johnson & Johnson for severe intestinal injuries caused by a defective surgical stapler. Awarded outstanding defective product recovery by the Los Angeles Daily Journal.
- $28,000,000 trial verdict for child molestation by a man and woman who adopted a nine year-old from Russia to be their sex slave. Nationally reported news.
- $15,500,000 for terrible burns suffered by a technician working on a reported “de-energized” 12,000-volt circuit that exploded in his face.
- $11,000,000 in a multi-vehicle auto-truck collision that resulted in C-5/C-6 spinal cord injuries.
- $7,500,000 recovery for seniors crushed by bus wheels
- $10,000,000 confidential recovery for a defective fuel system causing lifetime scars and a teenage death
- $8,300,000 for wrongful death and severe crush injuries caused by a teenager with a $15,000 policy.
- $3,500,000 recovery for a 19-year-old passenger in a rollover who suffered a tragic C-7 spinal cord injury and miraculously regained the ability to walk.
- $5,000,000 for an 18-year-old C-7 quadriplegia survivor of a vehicle rollover.
- $4,500,000 for a San Jose State student with an L-1 paraplegia after the defendant’s insurance company refused to pay its $30,000 policy. Mid-trial settlement by the insurance company.
- $8,132,000 trial verdict for a 15-year-old boy who suffered a brain injury caused by a big rig.
- $5,200,000 insurance bad faith and injury recovery collected for a San Jose couple that suffered brain injury and facial and orthopedic fractures, including the loss of an eye.
- $4,250,000 recovery for a five-year-old child who suffered severe brain injury from exposure to methanol fumes and gallium arsenide dust during pregnancy.
- $2,250,000 for a brain-damaged teenager injured by a teenage driver who was intoxicated on beer illegally sold to him by Shortstop.
- $1,750,000 for multiple fractures and brain injuries caused by an illegal CHP pursuit of an escapee from the Youth Authority.
- $2,750,000 for a two-year-old who suffered a brain bruising in an automobile-pedestrian collision.
- $1,000,000 recovery for closed head injury suffered by a 16-year-old thrown from a utility vehicle in a rollover.
- $1,800,000 for a child exposed to solvents during pregnancy causing brain damage.
- $1,000,000 for a guest on a Liberty Ship, the S. S. Jeremiah O’Brien in San Francisco Bay, who fainted and fell five feet from a hatch cover and suffered a head injury. Policy limits recovery.
