October 30, 2017
I fell at a restaurant and went through the deposition process. When the case was first filed, the restaurant informed my lawyer that they did not have insurance at the time of my slip/fall. After the deposition, the restaurant agreed to settle. However, the amount is unbelievably low supposedly due to the fact they did not have insurance at the time of my slip/fall. Do I have any other rights in this matter? I don't want to go to trial, and even if I do it may mean that they will pay me whenever they want to according to my current lawyer.
It's a tough situation. I hope you weren't injured too badly.
1) If they had no general liability insurance, collecting on a judgment will be difficult if it already has debts. Apparently, lots of NYC restaurants fail over money issues.
2) Even if you get a million dollar judgment from a trial, once they declare bankruptcy, your judgment will have to "get in line" behind the IRS and secured debts, like mortgages on the restaurant and other priority claims.
3) If you don't want to go to trial, there's little that can be done to leverage them into raising their offer. Without insurance, they are however, paying their own defense costs, so that's something... I wish you the best of luck.
Contact us today if you need help with a similar matter.
Online answers to questions do not create an attorney-client relationship. There is no attorney-client relationship without a signed retainer agreement.
See All Questions & Answers