Michael Rader obtains $1.3M wrongful death award on behalf of a father and young son.
At 5:00 p.m. on April 29, 2019, decedent was traveling westbound on Dennis Avenue just west of Ward Cliff Drive. She was operating a Toyota Rav 4. At the same time a Jeep Liberty owned by defendant was being driven eastbound on Dennis Avenue by a consensual driver. Defendant’s vehicle suddenly veered left and crossed the centerline violently striking the decedent’s vehicle head on. Decedent had no time to take any evasive action to avoid the collision. Multiple eyewitnesses interviewed by Mike’s investigator confirmed defendant’s vehicle turned suddenly into the oncoming traffic. The decedent was emergently transported from the scene to a local trauma center where she was pronounced dead.
It was later determined by medical care providers that the decedent likely died upon impact. At the time of her passing, decedent was a stay at home mom to her 5-year-old son and married. The current $250,000 wrongful death damage cap in Kansas applicable to non-economic damages necessitated an exhaustive evaluation of all possible economic loss claims. This included lost family and household services. As a result of Mike’s work and the help of two retained economic experts, he was able to collect $1,300,000 which represents the total amount of available proceeds from all parties (the owner of the vehicle, the driver and the driver’s two parents).