Originally Posted by
Kaiser
Some short answers...
-Yes, he can sue you.
-Yes, you can countersue, but...really. It's not a bright idea. This isn't Judge Judy.
What you should do: Call your personal insurance company. Tell them what happened. If they give you a big "Sod off, not our problem" then consider switching insurance companies. At the very LEAST, you should get someone to at least tell you what they know about the situation. They have been through this kind of crap before, they have done it, they have experience, and you are paying them. They owe it to you to help you out. Again, if they won't, I'd suggest hopping insurance companies and letting them know why you did.
Next I would call the insurance company for the company you worked for. They were the ones directly insuring you and your activities in the vehicle, if the lawsuit does go to court, they are the ones that should be worried, because the very idea of insurance is to cover this kind of situation. If they refuse to help you, you need to get a lawyer. Lawyer should start with the company's insurance provider first, and will probably get them to help at that point, since they really are required to. Next if it ends up going to court against you, a lawyer is the only way you're going to duck any of this.
Ways this will go down: If he EVER ACCEPTED A SETTLEMENT from ANYONE for this accident, his case will drop dead on the spot. He's already received compensation at this point and has no legal ability to seek further. If he's NEVER accepted a settlement, but has been OFFERED a settlement by the company's insurance provider, his case will likely drop dead on the spot, because he is essentially barking up the wrong tree. If he's never accepted, and never been offered, then his case is legitimate to some degree but will probably get bounced. If this is the situation he is suing YOU because suing a big insurance company is almost guaranteed failure. What the lawyer is looking for in this case is for you to lose, get a judgement against you, and your insurance to pay for you. They aren't trying to dick you personally.
Now. I am gonna point out one thing that really makes me pretty certain that he's gotten an offer and refused to accept it. $50,000 in "pain and suffering" is a TV lawyer myth. That only happens when you have small children injured the accident and lots of medical fees and even then it's not typically more than twice what medical bills are. A realistic demand from this guy would have been his medical and auto plus $7k. Asking for just shy of $60k is ridiculous when the actual bills were $7k. That's a ridiculously huge percentage of the actual for pain and suffering, something like 850% or so. I'm thinking the guy turned down a settlement for $15k (What was reasonable) and hired a lawyer after that point and is looking for more. Also, with only 2k in medical he's going to have a hard time proving decreased ability to work. When me and Vayda where in our accident she had a broken collarbone and rode for free in my ambulance. I was uninjured except for a scrape, she had her broken collarbone. My medical was $1300 for, literally, nothing. Nothing but a bad abrasion. Her medical bills were $3000 for a broken collarbone. Neither of us were anywhere close to having suffered injuries that would have qualified as lowering our quality of life or ability to work. People who actually suffer those kinds of injuries have medical bills in the 15k and up range, especially since you're supposed to have physical therapy to prove that you're permanently limited.
Legal advice needed
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