Situation
Ed Switalski, the Fire Chief in Comstock Township, Michigan, responded to a minor freeway accident where the driver had abandoned the vehicle. After staying at the scene for a while, the Chief headed back to his SUV parked along the side of the road, opened the rear hatch, and began removing his helmet and boots. At that moment, a passing motorist lost control of his car while traveling more than ninety miles per hour. The motorist struck the Chief with the car, and the Chief was pronounced dead at the scene.
"Until I put BRC’s expert on the stand, I was sure I was losing the case.”
Though the motorist went to prison for his role in the incident, he’d had an insurance policy worth only $20,000. Comstock Township had insurance policies that would increase the Switalski estate’s recovery beyond the $20,000 threshold—but only if it could be determined that the Chief was occupying, entering, or exiting his vehicle.
Seeking assistance with this civil case, the Switalski family turned to Louis Corey of The Corey Law Firm, which has represented clients throughout Michigan for more than forty years. Louis’s personal injury specialties include general and professional negligence, auto accidents, and product liability cases.
To prove that the underinsured motorist coverage policies covered the Chief’s actions, Louis had to present convincing, objective evidence that the Chief was getting into his vehicle. He needed the testimony of a highly qualified biomechanics expert. For that, Louis turned to BRC.
Solution
Objectively analyzing complex kinetic events, such as automobile crashes, requires combining engineering and medicine to get the most accurate analysis that science can create. This service is what BRC has provided its clients for more than thirty-six years. BRC has analyzed and reconstructed incidents worldwide during that time, and its consultants have provided testimony in nearly two thousand trials.
"[BRC’s expert was] absolutely stupendous at the trial.”
To help Louis evaluate and explain the case, he brought a biomechanics expert to the legal team. The expert is a physician with an engineering degree, as well as a former firefighter and emergency medical technician.
“Until I put BRC’s expert on the stand, I was sure I was losing the case,” said Louis. “The defense attorney absolutely destroyed my first expert. BRC’s expert was my last witness, and the entire case hinged on her testimony. Fortunately, she used her expertise to present biomechanical and medical evidence showing that the Chief was behaving in such a way that caused the insurance policies to apply.”
According to Louis, BRC’s expert was brilliant in her approach to the case and “absolutely stupendous at the trial.” Thanks largely to the expert witness’s testimony, Louis won the case for the Chief’s family.
