People spend their whole childhood and adolescence imagining a bright future for themselves, one filled with a beautiful family and fueled by a great career. But life doesn’t always deal those cards to everyone, and for many, tragedy or hard times cause them to lose everything. You never imagine yourself as one of those people. You believe if you work hard, everything will work out, but sadly that isn’t always the case. Now, can you imagine losing everything? Imagine you’re left with nothing. You have no family, friends, or home. That’s where “Smiley” was when we met him. He was homeless and living in Downtown Greenville.

Smiley was a peaceful man, who never complained about his plight, because he loved life and he loved his freedom. One night, he was minding his own business and crossing the street lawfully when a drunk driver barrelled through the intersection, throwing Smiley over the car and hurling him back onto the street. Smiley sustained fractured ribs and legs, among other injuries. He was sent to the hospital immediately, and while he was there, confused and not knowing what else to do, he reached out to us at Guest & Brady.

This case wasn’t a typical one by any means, we had to do everything in our power to even find him, and we did eventually reach him by asking around to other homeless people in the area. We were able to negotiate and help him recover money to pay his medical bills, and even helped him open a bank account with the leftover money to get him off on the right foot. The story seemed to end on a positive note, until almost exactly a year later.

In a horrible turn of events, Smiley passed away from another accident a year after his first accident. He was hit, again. Because Smiley was such a special person, we knew we had to do something. As a firm, we pursued a claim and negotiated on his behalf and negotiated with a local funeral home to take his body. We even invited members of the homeless community to his funeral. It was such a beautiful scene, where his friends who were a part of his community played organ and even led worship for his service. Everyone was truly touched, especially because we found his ex wife who had a child who was somewhat raised by Smiley, although he wasn’t a blood relative. The child spoke so beautifully at the funeral and everyone was moved to tears.

This really was a unique case, mostly because there were no blood relatives to receive his rewarded money, so we used the leftover money to provide meals for the homeless at a local shelter in Greenville. It was a joy to honor Smileys memory, knowing he’s now in a place of ultimate freedom.

Family vacations really are some of the most special times for any family. Vacations are a time to make memories that last a lifetime and they provide the best stories to pass down for generations. A family we represented was on the way to do just that. It was a father in mother with their two girls, 4 and 6 years old. They were driving through Anderson County on the way to visit family in Atlanta. It was dark and the road was clear, so everything was coming together for an easy, distraction-free drive to Atlanta, until a potentially wonderful memory turned into a painful reality.

A trailer that had been pulled by a vehicle somehow became detached and was left in the road, and since it was dark, there was no way the father could have seen it in time to stop, so they hit the trailer head on and were straggled across two lanes. Just then a tractor trailer comes barreling toward the scene and crashes into the stalled van, sending it hurtling down the highway and eventually over the concrete divider. Tragedy struck immediately as the tractor trailer accident caused the mother to be expelled from the vehicle and die upon impact, while the father was left mortally wounded.

Finally, an officer arrived to the scene of the tractor trailer accident to find the 6-year-old unbuckled and sitting in her wounded father’s arms, clinging to him. She was pleading for his life, but bad turned to worse when her father died shortly thereafter. In an instant, their parents were ripped from their lives right in front of their eyes, and they were left orphaned and alone at such a young age. The two girls were not tremendously physically hurt and walked away basically unscathed by a miracle. Yet inside they were in a dark time of grieving and an intense pain, one that no one else could ever fully understand or articulate.

Thankfully, Guest & Brady was able to get involved in representing the children and pursued claims on behalf estates for them. We also secured relatives to care for them and helped determine their new custodial parents to be their aunt and uncle in a private court. Not only that, but we also filed claims against the tractor trailer company, and by filing a lawsuit, we were able to recover $1.4 million for the family. We set up special needs trusts in order to protect the assets of the children, and determined they would be allowed to collect the funds at age 25. This allowed them to qualify for government benefits and to have money secured for big things like education, housing, and other key needs.

There’s really no way to look on the bright side of such a tragic tractor trailer accident, but we’re thankful that we were able to take care of the logistics and proceedings so the family could have the time and space they needed to grieve. Because of our work, these children have a good home and a bright future, not having to worry that they won’t be provided for.

Life as a mom is no walk in the park. Moms are real life superheroes, always making sure everyone is taken care of, well fed, and gets to where they need to go on time with little to no recognition. But if you ask most moms, it’s all worth it because their kids are an extension of them, forever attached to their heart. This was exactly how our client Laura felt about her family.

Laura was spending quality time with her 7-year-old son last year, driving in the car with the windows down on a beautiful day. Like any mom, her worst nightmare was for something bad to happen to her kids, and she would do everything in her power to prevent that from happening. Unfortunately, what happened next that day was a bizarre vehicle accident out of her control. As they were driving down the road a bee flew into the car through an open window. Laura swatted the bee and as she did her wheels went off the roadway and the car flipped. Fortunately, Laura wasn’t badly hurt from the vehicle accident, but her worst fears were coming to life as she realized that her son was severely injured. Despite using his seatbelt properly, her son sustained multi-level fractures in his back. Laura was hysterical. She feared for her son’s life as he was airlifted to the hospital and underwent a procedure for a multi-level fusion in his back.

Laura was utterly traumatized. She continually broke down at the thought of how a vehicle accident like this could happen to her family. She spent months and months blaming herself for what happened. Afterall, she was supposed to be a superhero and protector of her kids. Laura was grieving and all the while she was receiving bills of $80,000-90,000 from the hospital as her health insurance was being extremely difficult to work with. Laura never imagined her insurance company wouldn’t be there to protect and provide during her time of crisis since after all, she paid them her hard earned money every single month. She was so devastated that she could barely eat or sleep. That’s when a prior client of ours referred her to Guest & Brady.

That’s when we discovered that there was no shoulder to the road and it dropped off into a 4 foot deep ditch. We employed experts to investigate to see if there was a violation of set standards with the building of that road, because just looking at it we could tell it wasn’t safe. It was discovered that there was in fact a road defect and we filed claims to Laura’s insurance and to the South Carolina Department of Transportation for improper building of the road and maintenance. Thankfully, we were able to set a very wrong situation right for Laura, and she no longer had to carry the burden of thinking this situation was her fault. We’re so glad she trusted us to get her through such a trying time. We can’t imagine what the next few years would’ve been like for Laura had she not called us, but thankfully we don’t have to.

Having a good job isn’t something to take for granted these days and working hard to keep that job is an extremely important part of a man’s life. It’s a man’s deepest desire to provide a good life and home for his family, at least that’s how it was for Robbie.

Robbie was your typical commuter, working hard to earn a living and constantly enduring that grueling I-85 traffic day in and day out to be on time for work because he loved his job and that made the commute worth it. It was a normal day for Robbie, nothing out of the ordinary. He got to work on time and completed his normal tasks. After finishing all of his work he headed out the door for the long commute home. He couldn’t wait to get there, because there’s nothing like a nice, relaxing dinner with family after a hard day’s work. He got onto I-85 and settled in for his long commute in traffic, but there was nothing settling about what was going to happen to him. He was soon rear-ended by a work van and suffered significant damage to his wrists and his car.

He tried to go it on his own for a while, filing an insurance claim only to get denied like so many do. The insurance company was unreasonably difficult and denied his claim that the accident caused the injuries to his wrists. He was at his wits end. He didn’t know what to do, but no matter how scary it was, he had to go ahead with the surgery on his wrists. Even though the stress and thought of having to take on that financial burden was completely overwhelming, he had no choice.

That’s when he reached out to Guest & Brady. The first step to recovery and compensation was to prove his injuries originated from this accident. Through a consultation with medical caregivers, we were able to establish a direct cause and effect to prove that his injuries came from the accident. The obvious next step was to file a lawsuit against this corrupt and negligent insurance company. At first they only offered $15,000 in damages, but we were not going to allow them to get away that easy. They had caused too much stress in Robbie’s life, and we believed they needed to make it right., Eventually after an aggressive pursuit, they offered $87,000. We settled for that amount because it completely covered Robbie’s medical bills and provided additional compensation for his suffering and injuries. We’re so thankful for another successful case, but more than that, we’re so thankful we were to help relieve a stressful and painful situation for Robbie.

There’s something so relaxing about a joyride on a pleasant and sunny Spring day. It’s a time to relax, reflect, and enjoy the outdoors. This is exactly how things started out for Andy before a terrible, unexpected turn of events changed the course of his life.

The day was picturesque, like a beautiful scene from a movie, and the scent of the breeze was refreshing. Andy was riding his motorcycle through the beautiful South Carolina countryside, as he often did. He loved the outdoors and went riding regularly, so he was an experienced and knowledgeable driver who always used wisdom while enjoying his motorcycle. However, on that fateful day his enjoyment quickly turned into terror when a car suddenly pulled out right in front of him, leaving him no time to stop or avoid impact.

The next thing Andy knew, he was waking up in a hospital with horrific injuries such as a collapsed lung, a fractured hand, and significant memory loss. After his motorcycle accident, he had no idea whatsoever how he got there or what had happened to him. Disoriented and in the midst of overwhelming anxiety, he reached out to our team Guest & Brady, and we visited him in the hospital. Once Andy realized the extent of the insurmountable medical bills potentially hanging over his head due to his lack of automobile coverage, he knew he couldn’t go the process alone.

Thankfully, Guest & Brady was able to take care of all legal actions, negotiations, and logistics so Andy could focus on his recovery without the added stress of legal negotiations. Today, Andy has healed from his motorcycle accident injuries, and since we were able to negotiate his medical bills and insurance liens down, he’s debt free and even collected some added compensation for his injuries. We don’t want to imagine what it could have been like had Andy not reached out, but we’re thankful we don’t have to. We’re honored that Andy chose to trust us during such a difficult time and that we were able to walk him to the other side as seamlessly as it could have been considering the circumstances.

Autumn is a season of joy, happiness, and thanksgiving. A time for making memories with family and for cherishing moments with the people you love most. This was exactly the experience our client set out to create for her family last fall.

As many people do here in South Carolina, our client had planned an outing to a local farm festival for her children and grandchildren. The day couldn’t have been more perfect. A brisk breeze, just cool enough, filled the air, and the leaves on the trees created a gorgeous canvas of crimson, orange, and golden yellow. The festival was filled with fun activities for her grandchildren to enjoy, including apple picking, face painting, and a hayride for the whole family. Fresh apple cider scented the land around them as the entire family enjoyed a truly picturesque day. But then, everything changed.

Our client and her grandchildren had just finished a ride through the farm atop a hay wagon filled with bales of hay and laughing children. As the ride came to a stop and the driver announced that it was safe for people to begin unloading, the grandmother helped her family down from the wagon and started to step off herself. Suddenly, the tractor pulling the hay wagon lurched forward unexpectedly, knocking her off balance and causing her to fall to the pavement five feet below. The bones in her knee were shattered, and several of her tendons torn. What had started as a perfect fall day was now a nightmare for our client and her family.

The grandmother, in excruciating pain, was rushed to the hospital in an ambulance. Upon examination, her doctors informed her she would need a full knee replacement but even with the surgery would never walk the same again. She would be disabled for the rest of her life, unable to spend time with her family in the same capacity she’d enjoyed doing for decades. Not only was she facing mountainous medical expenses, but she was also burdened by months of physical therapy and the task of upfitting her home to accommodate for her new disability. Overwhelmed and terrified, she reached out to our injury lawyers at Guest & Brady.

Luckily for her, the farm where her injuries took place was insured against accidents such as this, so her immediate expenses would be covered in full. But our primary concern, beyond immediate care, was to help her navigate her new life as a disabled person. Her mobility was severely impacted by the injury, and she would require the help of wheelchairs and walking aids for the rest of her life. The grandmother’s home needed to be upgraded to include features such as wheelchair ramps, hand bars, and various fire safety measures. We were able to help her identify the right people to upfit her home with this new hardware and ensure that she would be able to live safely from day to day.

While our team helped the grandmother put together a life care plan for living with her disability, we also ensured that her received the best care possible to help her recover. During the process of her recovery, she visited several specialty doctors to complete her treatment and received a full knee replacement surgery, which greatly improved her degree of disability. Guest & Brady helped our client determine the right doctors and treatment facilities every step of the way so that she could focus on relaxing and healing after her injury.

Sadly, the grandmother is still affected by her injury today and will be for the rest of her life. However, Guest & Brady ensured that she was able to receive the greatest care possible for her immediate injuries and her future care. Our lawyers resolved the entire case without a lawsuit or trial and negotiated a compensation for her that covered the cost of her treatment, physical therapy, and upgrades to her home, and it also left her with a considerable amount of money to cover newly acquired living expenses from month to month.

As a firm, Guest & Brady took care of all legal actions, negotiations, and logistics so that she could focus on her recovery and adjustment to a new lifestyle. Today, our client has healed from her surgery, successfully completed her physical therapy, and is living with her disability in the most convenient way possible. We are so grateful to have had the opportunity to help her navigate such a stressful and uncertain circumstance and to have seen her through to the other side.

Nothing can prepare you for the debilitating fear and anxiety you can feel after an automobile-related accident. Within an instant, an unexpected collision can land you in the hospital with severe injuries, insurmountable medical expenses, and time away from work and family. These obstacles can feel impossible to overcome. Josh is a client of ours here at Guest & Brady, and his recent experience with injury left him with more than he could handle alone.

When we first met Josh, he was a 20-year-old recent transplant to Greenville from Ohio. He moved to the Upstate with a determined attitude, in search of a job. A bicycle was the only means of transportation Josh could afford, and so every day, he cycled many miles to and from work in hopes of saving for a brighter future.

One evening, on his way home from a long shift at work, Josh is hit by an automobile and thrown from his bicycle to the asphalt. Knocked completely unconscious, Josh wakes up in the hospital with no clue of where he is or how he got there. Josh sustained multiple severe abdominal injuries as a result of the bicycle accident and had to be put on a ventilator during his week-long hospital stay. His doctors forecasted a multi-month recovery period that would keep Josh out of work, a report that was completely devastating to Josh’s financial reality.

To make matters worse, Josh was incorrectly charged with contributing to the accident, and because he was uninsured, he was faced with personal responsibility for his medical bills and time away from work, all while trying to recover from his injuries. Josh was unsure where to go from there. How could he pay off tens of thousands of dollars in medical debt? Where would his next paycheck come from if he was unable to return to work? Would he ever fully recover from his injuries? So many details about Josh’s life were now uncertain and unstable.

One day, while Josh was in the hospital, we received a call from Josh’s friends who were concerned about his wellbeing and also were questioning the charges he’d received. That evening, we visited Josh in the hospital to learn more about his bicycle accident and to see if there was anything we could do to help. We learned that Josh had been incorrectly charged with contributing to the accident and offered to represent him in a claim to the insurance company of the at-fault driver.

Our work with Josh began with an investigation of the automobile accident and a review of the facts and evidence collected at the scene of the crash. We collaborated with forensic experts who were able to prove that Josh had in fact not contributed to the accident in any way and that the driver of the car who collided with Josh’s bicycle had significantly contributed. After this discovery and correction, the insurance company of the at-fault driver offered a settlement that would cover some of the incurred costs, but Josh would still be left with thousands of dollars in debt.

As a firm, Guest & Brady was able to further help Josh by negotiating his medical bills with the hospital and the medical insurance company to an amount that would be covered by the settlement monies awarded by the at-fault driver’s insurance company. Josh’s expenses from the bicycle accident were completely satisfied, and he was able to receive compensation for lost wages as a result from time away from work. Guest & Brady took care of all legal actions, negotiations, and logistics so that Josh could focus on recovering from his injuries. Today, Josh is fully recovered, debt-free, and back at work. We are so thankful to have been involved on such a successful case and to help ease a stressful and painful situation for Josh.

Car accidents can be stressful, traumatic, and painful experiences, even in the best case scenario. Learning that the other driver is uninsured or has inadequate coverage often worsens your anxieties. If a motorist with little or no insurance causes an accident you’re in, you could face a much heavier financial burden than you would had you gotten into an accident with a fully covered driver. The first step to protecting yourself against uninsured or underinsured motorists is to know the laws and your legal options in the event of a car accident.

South Carolina’s Insurance Laws

In South Carolina, you are required by law to carry a minimum amount of liability insurance on your vehicle to cover medical bills, property damages, and other expenses. As part of this insurance requirement, you must carry an uninsured motorist coverage policy. Legally, uninsured motorist coverage must match the total amount of the minimum liability requirements (which are $25,000 per person/$50,000 per incident) plus $25,000 to further protect the policyholder’s property in the event of a car accident.

Even though it is the law for all drivers to carry liability insurance, some motorists make the choice to drive without insurance. The DMV takes precautions to prevent this from happening by suspending the licenses and vehicles of uninsured drivers, but they aren’t always enough to deter reckless motorists. The best means of defense against an uninsured driver is to have adequate uninsured motorist coverage yourself and to practice defensive driving.

Others drivers may have insurance, but their insurance may not fully cover the damages of a car accident. These motorists are called underinsured drivers. South Carolina requires that insurance companies offer you underinsured motorist coverage, but you are not required to purchase it. While underinsurance is not required in South Carolina, this is not an area to attempt to save money on a premium. The cost of underinsurance coverage is much less than liability(unless for a motorcycle) and is a smart way to protect you and your family from financial disaster.

Insurance Companies May Not Work with You

South Carolina is an “at fault” state for car accidents. This means that whoever is found liable for the crash is responsible for paying the resulting damages. Usually, insurance companies pay for their liable clients from their policies. Uninsured drivers, however, do not have an insurance company to help them pay for the damages and underinsured motorists’ policies won’t help them cover the full amount of the damages.

In either case, your own insurance company will most likely be responsible for covering all or a portion of your damages. The inherent issue is that relying on your insurance company in these situations can be perilous. There is a strong possibility that your claim will negatively affect their profits, and therefore they may be more inclined to try and not fully pay for your damages. Your insurance company may go so far as to deny your claim, or in accidents involving underinsured drivers, insurance companies may refuse to cover the costs that are over and beyond their policy limits. As a result, you can end up paying a significant portion of the damages yourself, even if you are not liable for the car accident.

Take a Stand for Your Rights

Being the victim of a car accident and learning that your insurance company will not support you can put you in a terrifying situation. The financial burden of a car accident can be staggering, with medical bills alone resulting in hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt. Lost wages and property damage can add to the gravity of the situation.

You shouldn’t have to fight insurance companies alone. The experienced personal injury attorneys at Guest & Brady can help you stand up to insurance companies and help you get the highest compensation possible. If you’ve been hurt in a car accident with an uninsured driver, contact us today for a consultation at 864-233-7200.

Being involved in an accident or suffering an injury can be devastating and life changing. One thing is for sure – being involved in an accident isn’t cheap. You and your family have likely been inundated with extensive medical bills, lost wages, property damage, and more.

Understanding the difference between economic and non-economic damages in a personal injury claim is key to maximizing your total settlement.

What Are Economic Damages?

Economic damages are those which are easy to calculate. They are specific monetary damages you and your family incur after the accident or injury.

Examples of economic damages can include but are not limited to:

• Medical, including ambulance, hospital, surgical, medication, and physical therapy expenses
• The cost of repairs to a damaged vehicle, motorcycle, or bicycle
• Lost wages for the time you missed work due to the incident
• Lost wages for any family members who also needed to take off work to take care of you or to help you recover
• Funeral expenses in the event that a loved one passed away in an accident

In order to calculate economic damages, a personal injury lawyer simply needs to add up the figures presented on medical bills, invoices, and other documentation to arrive at a figure for total economic damages.

What Are Non-Economic Damages?

Non-economic damages are more difficult to calculate. These damages are not monetary in nature in and of themselves. However, the only legal remedy for these damages is to provide compensation. So an attorney must look at what type of non-economic damages the injured individual and/or his family may have suffered and assign a fair monetary value.

Examples of non-economic damages can include but are not limited to:

• Pain and suffering
• Psychological damage
• Loss of enjoyment of life
• Disfigurement
• Loss of consortium
• Punitive damages

An experienced attorney is able to use specific formulas to help calculate non-economic damages in a personal injury case, so you can petition the court for the fair financial restitution you deserve for your injuries and suffering.

When to Contact a Personal Injury Attorney

If you or a loved one have been injured, it’s important that you speak with a personal injury attorney as soon as possible. At Guest & Brady, you can speak with someone on our legal team who is well versed in personal injury law and can provide you with compassionate, zealous legal representation during your time of need. Contact us today for a consultation to discuss filing a personal injury claim in detail by calling (864) 233-7200.

When people are involved in a car accident and decide to bring forward a claim for compensation, one of the first things they ask is, “How much will I get?” The final settlement of a car accident claim involves a multitude of factors, and it’s very difficult to determine ahead of time exactly how much you will receive for the damages you’ve incurred.

However, you can use the facts below to get a general estimate of how much your claim might be worth. This will in turn give you a better idea of whether the insurance company is offering you a settlement that is fair or too low.

Calculate Your Medical Expenses

Medical expenses are one of the largest parts of a personal injury claim, and they’re the easiest to calculate. Simply add up all your medical bills and if you win your case, you’re highly likely to get at least that amount awarded to you.

Calculating future medical expenses can be more difficult and typically requires an expert forensic financial advisor to accurately assess, based on a variety of factors, what your future medical expenses are likely to be.

Calculate Vehicle Damage

After being involved in a car accident, your vehicle is likely to be damaged. Vehicle damage is another economic damage that is easy to calculate. Obtain a few different quotes from auto mechanics and body shops on the estimated cost to restore your vehicle to its working condition prior to the accident.

Calculate Lost Wages

Add up all the time you’ve missed from work and your hourly rate to get a basic idea of how much you could be looking at in compensation for those lost wages. However, keep in mind that calculating the total financial impact of an injury that puts you out of work is more than just adding up the hourly rate for your missed time. You need to keep in mind any paid time off, vacation time, and/or benefits that you may have earned if you had been working at that time.

When to Contact a Car Accident Lawyer

There are many more damages that need to be accounted for when putting together a car accident claim, including pain and suffering, psychological damage, physical disfigurement, and punitive damages when appropriate. These values simply cannot be calculated without the help of an experienced car accident attorney.

At Guest & Brady, you can speak with a car accident lawyer that is well versed in how to calculate total damages after a vehicle crash and can provide you with compassionate, zealous legal representation. Contact us today for a consultation to discuss filing a car accident claim in detail by calling (864) 233-7200.