The Trial...:Middle of Day Four

I'm tapping my fingers on everything, so why not type, right?

Today is the Expert Orthopedic Surgeon and Tugboat's actual Orthopedic Surgeon. Experts always come under a lot of scrutiny since they are paid for their time and they see the patient relatively infrequently.

However, Tugboat's ACTUAL doctor is a genius and has a knowledge and continuity of care that can't be challenged. Plus, he's also spent the last four years frustrated at the limits put on Tugboat's care by the Worker's Compensation system. So, he's out for little blood, too. Got to LOVE that.

The expert went on this morning and wow'd the jury, as we knew he would. We also got a lunchtime update on the settlement negotiations. It's kind of complicated so here's as much background as I think I can give:

We are suing a city agency. That city agency had hired a contracting company to run the job. The first level of liability lies with the contractor. But, they only have a limited amount of insurance coverage. So, if the trial goes to verdict and it's higher than their insurance coverage, they will be forced to go bankrupt and the city agency will be forced to appeal the decision or pay the balance.

You would think this would motivate all parties to settle this shit before a verdict, no?

Everyone seems to be bickering about a relatively small amount of money. (Though that small amount does put us over the emotional threshold we had been hoping for.) We've made it clear we are willing to settle and are just waiting for them to stop fighting and make the call.

(Sidenote: The scheme I alluded to in the last post was something cooked up by our lawyer that turned out not to be legal, so we won't be doing any of that.)

Comments

[mothergoosemouse]

Did Tugboat's doc testify today too, or just the expert (not to denigrate the expertise of Tugboat's doc by referring to the other doc as the "expert")?

[madge]

Expert in the morning. Actual in the afternoon.

We like the 1-2 Punch effect.

[Marcia]

Good to hear things are going "smoothly". There's always lots of finger pointing. My father's attorney had made a comment about 10 years ago to him, that I keep with me ... The law happens, justice somtimes. I am sending out all the good thoughts I can that this will be one of the sometimes.

Marcia

[Lori]

Thanks for the updates! I checked my RSS feed tonight specifically to see if there was any news. Crossing my fingers and sending good vibes your way. You and Tugboat deserve a break.

[Annie]

It would be wonderful if everyone could agree and let you all go home happy. I'll be sending out good thought to that effect. Hope the one-two punch brought them to their knees.