Harris Personal Injury Lawyers, Inc. represented Jason Kelly: Kelly v. Lam, et al.: Case RG17878979

News provided by

Harris Personal Injury Lawyers, Inc.

Apr 28, 2020, 21:08 ET

OAKLAND, Calif., April 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- In November of 2016, Plaintiff Jason Ryan Kelly suffered a burst fracture to his L1 vertebrae as a result of a motor vehicle collision that occurred on I-880 in Fremont, California. According to the police report, the collision was caused when Johnson Lam lost control of a Chevy Express Van and swerved across four lanes of freeway traffic, smashing Mr. Kelly's vehicle into the concrete center median and totaling both vehicles. Mr. Kelly was rushed by ambulance to the hospital where he underwent a painful lumbar fusion surgery and spent eight days in recovery before being discharged with two metal rods and five screws in his spine.

Mr. Kelly worked with two different law firms before seeking help from Harris Personal Injury Lawyers. Although Johnson Lam was uninsured at the time of the incident, Harris Personal Injury Lawyers discovered that, at the time of the collision, Mr. Lam was driving a van filled with OnTrac packages en route to make his daily deliveries when he crashed into Mr. Kelly's vehicle. OnTrac is a large regional package delivery company that utilizes independent contractors like Mr. Lam to deliver packages to OnTrac's customers. During litigation Harris Personal Injury Lawyers discovered that Johnson Lam had no prior professional driving experience, no valid registration or automobile insurance for the vehicle, was hired without any background checks, drug testing, or vehicle inspection, and was driving an overloaded delivery vehicle with inadequate tires. OnTrac denied any liability, claiming that Mr. Lam was an independent contractor and not an employee.

Mr. Kelly asserted a vicarious liability theory against OnTrac on the basis that Johnson Lam was in the course and scope of his employment and/or agency with OnTrac at the time of the collision. After a long battle involving twenty depositions and numerous hard-fought legal motions over the span of more than two years of litigation, Harris Personal Injury Lawyers, Inc. won a $2,000,000.00 settlement for Mr. Kelly on the morning of trial. Harris Personal Injury Lawyers also made sure that Mr. Kelly's insurance company, State Farm, honored their pre-litigation promise to pay Mr. Kelly's entire $50,000.00 uninsured motorist (UM) policy limits, which State Farm later claimed no longer applied due to third party coverage being discovered.

Jason Kelly is represented by attorneys Daniel Hoer and Ranger Wiens of Harris Personal Injury lawyers, Inc. in Oakland, California.

Harris Personal Injury Lawyers, Inc. represents the rights of individuals and their family members in connection with car accidents, dog bites, motorcycle accidents and other incidents caused by the negligence of others.

Superior Court of The State of California - Alameda

SOURCE Harris Personal Injury Lawyers, Inc.