$647,000 Recovered for Young Pennsylvania Woman After Serious Injury and Insurance Company’s Relentless Legal Battle

A young woman from Pennsylvania was driving to work one January morning in Bethlehem Township when another driver ran a stop sign and slammed into her vehicle. In an instant, the force shattered her right ankle. She was rushed to the emergency room, where imaging revealed a catastrophic fracture involving multiple displaced bone fragments across the critical weight-bearing surface of her joint. 

The recovery was long and brutal. She underwent open reduction and internal fixation surgery, with three plates and ten screws permanently placed in her ankle, and spent months on crutches and in a wheelchair. Even with expert surgical care, her injury triggered progressive post-traumatic arthritis that will worsen over her lifetime.

The impact went far beyond the physical. Once an active young woman who had worked her way into a management position and loved sports and outdoor activities, she can no longer run, jump, or keep pace with her young child at the playground. She developed depression and PTSD, struggles to sleep. 

What made this case truly exceptional was the legal battle required to deliver justice. The UIM insurer denied coverage outright and then spent years attempting to raise defenses to disclaim coverage path attempts to settle. Our attorneys defeated multiple motions to amend the insurer’s affirmative defenses, prevailed at trial in federal court in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, and then successfully defended that result before the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit after the insurer appealed. 

After years of relentless advocacy – through motions, trial, and a federal appeal – our firm secured a total recovery of $647,000, delivering the justice our client deserved and the financial foundation she needs for the road ahead.