Jeffrey M. Byrd, P.A. - Orlando Attorneys

• $3,994,461.63 verdict - Seminole County, Florida
This case took a long time, but exemplifies why you do not let an insurance company force you to settle your claim cheaply before you have a full understanding of the severity of your damages. Our client was injured years ago in a seemingly typical auto crash, but the resulting consequences on his life were far from typical! Due to injuries suffered in this crash, our client was involuntarily medically discharged from the military after 15 years of devoted service, including serving our country in the Middle East after 9/11. His severe back injuries required multiple spinal injections and ultimately a highly specialized back surgery. More expensive care will certainly be required over the course of his life. Unfortunately, the person who negligently caused the crash had very little insurance, but our client had wisely purchased Uninsured Motorist Protection benefits from Nationwide in the amount of $200,000 to protect himself in a moment like this because "Life comes at you quickly". Despite being given multiple changes to settle this obviously significant claim for the UM policy limits, our client's own insurance company only initially offered him $2,500. Nationwide was not "on his side" after all. They gradually increased their settlement offers over the next several years to see if our client would drop his claim. It took 5 years to finally reach trial, but after a hard fought five-day trial, a Seminole County jury returned a just and proper verdict of nearly 4 Million dollars. Nationwide has stated that they will try to avoid payment of this verdict by appealing the jury's decision, but we will continue to fight this case through the appellate court system to ensure the jury's proper decision is upheld.

• $1,009,137.10 verdict - Orange County, Florida
Our client was severely injured when she was rear-ended by an 18-wheeler while exiting Florida's Turnpike. She sustained permanent physical injuries, and severe depression. During the two years before trial, she could not return to work. Shockingly, the insurance company's "top offer" to settle this case before trial was only $30,000, an amount that did not even consider all of the medical bills she incurred in the past! After a hard fought five-day trial, the jury returned a just and proper verdict. The Defendant's insurance company tried to avoid payment of this verdict by appealing the jury's decision, but Jeffrey Byrd fought this case through the appellate courts to ensure the jury's decision was upheld. After a confidential settlement, our client was finally compensated for this devastating event in her life.

• $780,000 verdict - Orange County, Florida
Young man was severely injured in a motor vehicle accident when his leg was broken. State Farm insured the at-fault person, and failed to timely accept our client's settlement terms. After a hotly contested six-day trial, the jury returned a favorable verdict for our client. Although terms of the significant settlement are confidential, our client finally received justice after State Farm lost its appeal.

• $725,000 settlement – Seminole County, Florida
Our wonderful clients were referred to us by a Georgia attorney after he was unable to successfully resolve the claims of a husband and wife. They were down here on vacation, when they were rear-ended by another car. Allstate insured the at-fault driver for $50,000, but refused to settle the case within a reasonable period of time. Allstate did not think our Georgia clients could find a lawyer in Florida willing to fight for them. Boy were they wrong! After surgery was necessary to repair the injuries to one of our clients, Allstate’s attitude changed. Shortly before trial, this case settled for a significant sum of money.

• $675,000 settlement - Orange County, Florida
After dropping her children at school, our client was injured on her way home when a garbage truck negligently turned left in front of her family van. Her injuries were extensive and required numerous surgeries. The insurance company initially offered $150,000 in settlement. After extensive litigation and aggressive representation, a satisfactory settlement was achieved shortly before trial.

• $623,826.18 verdict - Seminole County, Florida
Our elderly client was severely injured when another car ran a red light and struck our client's car in the intersection. Our client had been denied justice for nearly 3 1/2 years by the insurance company for the at-fault party. The insurance company blamed our client's advanced age for many of his health problems despite clear medical evidence to the contrary! A prior attorney for our client was not able to conclude this case; therefore, our client sought out an attorney with aggressive trial skills. The Law Offices of Jeffrey M. Byrd, P.A. were pleased to provide representation to our client, who was a distinguished and decorated war veteran. Because the insurance company's final offer before trial was a paltry $75,000 in settlement, a medically complicated and expensive trial was necessary. Fortunately, a satisfactory verdict was awarded by the jury after they heard all of the medical evidence. Our client is forever grateful that the jury was able to do provide him justice when the opposing Insurance company was unwilling to treat him fairly.

• $494,889.14 verdict – Orange County, Florida
This was another case where Jeffrey M. Byrd was asked to be the lead trial attorney by a lawyer at another law firm, just 2 weeks before trial. Our client was injured in a collision when another vehicle pulled from a parking spot in front of his truck. As a result of the collision, our client sustained numerous injuries, the most serious of which required neck surgery. State Farm thought that our client, who was from rural Africa, was not “likeable enough” for a jury to fully compensate him. Additionally, the other driver completely fabricated a story of how they crash occurred (which conflicted with photographic evidence). Finally a jury resolved this dispute with a favorable verdict, and our client was able to take care of the extensive medical bills that someone else’s negligence had caused.

• $465,650.29 verdict - Polk County, Florida
Our client was injured in an intersection collision when another, uninsured vehicle pulled out in front of her. As a result of the collision, our client sustained numerous injuries. Also, she lost her job and the career that she loved. She was smart enough to purchase Uninsured Motorist coverage with Nationwide. Prior to filing suit, her company was only willing to offer her $500 to settle her UM claim! At one point, she was willing to settle for the maximum coverage limits of $50,000, but her own insurance company still said "no" to her. Her injuries ultimately required surgery. Finally a jury decided our client was not the one who was being unreasonable. Now her insurance company will have to pay dearly for its delays and efforts to deny our client justice, as the jury's verdict was substantially more than the amount of her insurance policy.

• $453,000 verdict - Orange County, Florida
This case involved a sweet 6-year-old girl who was attacked by a mixed breed dog at her own apartment complex. The apartment complex knowingly allowed this dangerous animal to live on the premises. As a result of the attack, she was left with ugly scars on her face and arm. The insurance company unreasonably fought this case for many years. The litigation was nasty at times. The insurance company felt it was being "very generous" by offering $135,000 to settle the case just prior to trial. Fortunately the jury returned a more realistic verdict and allowed the little girl to have the resources to receive further plastic surgery, and attend college.

• $450,000 settlement - Orange County, Florida
Three years earlier, a nice, elderly woman was walking across the road to get to her bus stop. She was struck and killed by a company vehicle. The police did a terrible investigation of the cause of the crash. Prior to filing a lawsuit on behalf of the surviving family, the insurance company offered an insulting $25,000 as compensation for the loss of her life. The insurance company did not feel her life was worth much because of her advanced age, and because the cause of the crash was unclear to them. It took three years to fight this case. Investigators hired by Jeffrey M. Byrd, P.A. , tracked down some critical witnesses. Just before trial, a much more favorable settlement was reached for the three surviving sons. While no amount of money can ever replace the loss of a mother, at least some degree of justice was served after all the incredible delays by the insurance company.

• $425,000 settlement - Orange County, Florida
This case involved a young man who was rear-ended by a drunk driver insured by State Farm Insurance. State Farm would not pay the maximum $50,000 in coverage, instead offering our client a $5,000 settlement. After a jury trial resulted in a $325,000 verdict, State Farm agreed to settle for $425,000 in consideration of additional attorney's fees and costs owed to our client. This case illustrates yet another example of how insurance companies will play games until impressive results are achieved through aggressive litigation.

• $400,000 settlement – Orange County, Florida
Our client was rear-ended while headed home with his wife. The person at-fault had no insurance, but our client was smart enough to have purchased Uninsured Motorist Coverage with State Farm for $100,000. State Farm initially offered a measly $5,000 to resolve the injury claim. Because of State Farm's failure to settle, litigation became necessary. During the years after the accident, surgery became necessary to give pain relief to our client’s injured back. Shortly before trial, this case settled for $400,000, several times more than the available insurance benefits. Fortunately, the insurance company realized they had picked the wrong person to fight, and a potentially nasty trial was avoided.

• $318,500 verdict – Osceola County, Florida
Our client was a young woman who was to be married 3 weeks later. She was hit by tourists who got lost and turned left from a right-hand lane. A year after the crash, she needed low back surgery. Nationwide refused to pay its $50,000 insurance policy, forcing our client to go to trial to obtain justice. An Osceola County jury awarded a verdict of $318,500 for our client. Nationwide threatened an appeal, but ultimately paid the verdict after numerous post-trial delays.

• $300,000 settlement - Hillsborough County, Florida
Recently our firm resolved a case of a gentlemen who was rear-ended by a State Farm insured. State Farm initially refused to pay the maximum $25,000 in coverage on behalf of the lady who rear-ended our client. Because of State Farm's failure to settle, litigation became necessary. Shortly before trial, this case settled for $300,000, 12 times more than the available insurance benefits. This case proves that aggressive litigation often results in favorable outcomes.

• $240,000 settlement - Orange County, Florida
This case involved an elderly gentlemen who tripped and fell due to a defective elevator. Our client was originally represented by another law firm for 3 ½ years, but when State Farm Insurance denied all responsibility, the prior lawyers "fired" our client. Our client came to our firm seeking help, and litigation followed. Through our aggressive litigation efforts, we uncovered documentation showing the elevator was indeed defective prior to the accident in question, resulting in a significant settlement. This case demonstrates how aggressive litigation skills and tactics uncover evidence leading to impressive results often overlooked by other, less assertive lawyers or law firms.

• $230,000 settlement - Orange County, Florida
This case involved a complete denial by Nationwide Insurance of any responsibility for injuries sustained due to a fire. To escape certain death from fire, our client had to jump from a second story window of his burning apartment. He injured his back and wrist in the process. Although Nationwide denied any responsibility through out the entire case, shortly before trial a $230,000 settlement was obtained for our client.

• $203,200 verdict - Orange County, Florida
This case involved a long battle with State Farm. 5 years earlier, our client was rear-ended while on his way home. The negligent driver was insured by State Farm for $25,000, but State Farm was only willing to offer $10,000 to resolve the claim of a client. Our client needed surgery to fix a herniated disc that was caused by his crash. State Farm kept arguing that the damage to our client’s car was minor, even though he had no history of back pain before. The company also thought he would not receive much compensation from a jury because he did not speak English very well. An Orange County jury returned a verdict in the sum of $203,200 for our client after a lengthy jury trial.

• $200,000 verdict - Orange County, Florida
This case involved a young man whose S.U.V. was struck in the side by a large commercial vehicle. The insurance carrier offered a final settlement of "$25,000" prior to trial. An Orange County jury returned a verdict of $200,000 for our client, finding the commercial driver entirely responsible for all of the damages he caused. After a successful appeal, our client was properly compensated.

• $157,000 verdict - Orange County, Florida
This case illustrates the lengths to which an insurance company will go to deny justice. Our middle aged female client was involved in a motor vehicle accident with someone insured by Allstate. Allstate offered our client only $101.00 to resolve her spinal injury claim!! Allstate forced our client to go to trial by their insultingly low offer. After a jury verdict of $157,000, Allstate was required to pay an additional $75,000 in attorney's fees and costs for failing to settle. At one point, our client was willing to settle her case for a mere $4,000, but the corporate greed of Allstate forced this case to a trial, yielding an impressive result for our client as a result of the aggressive litigation skills at Jeffrey M. Byrd, P.A.

• $85,000 verdict - Orange County, Florida
This is a great case of “the little guy” receiving a just result from a jury when a greedy corporation would not pay. This young father was broadsided on his way to work. He survived this huge crash, and fortunately his injuries were not a severe as they could have been, but nevertheless, his family’s life was forever changed. The at-fault car was owned by a car rental company. Literally days before trial, the car rental company, for the first time, offered an insultingly low sum of $5,000 to resolve our client’s injury case. For obvious reasons, it was rejected! An Orange County jury was not as unsympathetic, awarding $85,000 to our client for his damages. As a penalty for the car rental company’s delays, our client received an additional $60,000 to reimburse him for his legal fees and costs.

• $71,000 verdict - Seminole County, Florida
This rear-end collision was caused by an Allstate insured. When Allstate offered a mere $3,500 to settle this case, trial became necessary. Years later, a Seminole County jury awarded our client $71,000. As a penalty for failing to settle, Allstate was also required to pay an additional $62,500 for payment of attorney's fees and costs they unnecessarily caused our client to incur as a result of their failure to reasonably resolve this case.

• $20,000 settlement - Orange County, Florida
Although this settlement may not appear significant, this case illustrates the brazen attitude of certain insurance companies. Earlier, State Farm's representative told our client to accept $2,000 and "take it and go away". This attitude is exactly what is wrong with insurance companies these days who place corporate greed over fairness and justice. After extensive efforts by the aggressive attorneys at Jeffrey M. Byrd, P.A., a $20,000 settlement was obtained shortly before trial for our client.