The family of a woman killed in a tractor-trailer crash will receive $9.5 million in a confidential wrongful death settlement, the family’s attorney reports.
Cameron “Bozzie” Boggs in Greenville reports that the woman was killed immediately when a tractor-trailer entered a busy intersection during a power outage without stopping and crashed into the vehicle she was driving. The date and location of the crash were not disclosed as a result of the confidentiality agreement.
The woman is survived by a husband and three young children.
Boggs
The action was mediated in October by Greenville attorney Thomas Stephenson and the sealed global settlement was approved Nov. 6.
Boggs said the defense counsel contacted him within days of the accident and offered assistance to the woman’s family. The defense also assisted with the gathering of information for the case and suggested a pre-suit mediation or settlement conference occur when the woman’s family was ready. He also said the defense counsel did not contest liability or attempt to minimize the behavior of the truck driver, and the defendant quickly shared the truck’s dash camera video with the plaintiffs.
“This wasn’t a case of what happened. It was a case of who did it happen to and what are we going to do about it?” Boggs said. “In this day and age of adversarial existence in the legal system, I was so amazed at the cooperation in a good-faith attempt to do what is right and fair under the circumstances, and it’s quite refreshing,” he said.
Boggs said Columbia consulting economist Oliver Wood and videographer Dan Beale of Beale Bagley Creations in Columbia were helpful expert witnesses. Wood provided advice on the financial effects of the woman’s loss of life, and Beale assisted with the creation of a video that combined dash camera video of the crash and images of the woman who died.
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SETTLEMENT REPORT — MOTOR VEHICLE ACCIDENT
Amount of settlement: $9.5 million
Injuries alleged: Death
Case name: Withheld
Mediator: Thomas Stephenson of Greenville
Date of settlement: Nov. 6
Most helpful experts: Oliver Wood of Columbia (consulting economist) and Dan Beale of Beale Bagley Creations in Columbia (videographer)
Insurance carrier: Withheld
Attorney for plaintiff: Cameron “Bozzie” Boggs of the Boggs Law Firm in Greenville
Attorney for defendant: Withheld