Attorney Eric Hageman recently obtained a confidential $4.05 million settlement for the surviving family members of a tragic car crash in which a father and two of his children were killed when an oncoming van crossed the center line and collided head-on with their vehicle.
Attorney Eric Hageman Proves Equipment Failure Caused Accident
A police reconstruction of the crash concluded that the oncoming van’s driver had simply lost control of the vehicle. However, Hageman and attorney Fred Pritzker decided to dig deeper and hired an expert mechanical engineer to accompany them to the salvage yard where the destroyed vehicles had been taken after the crash. There, a more thorough inspection of the van by the expert revealed that a catastrophic – yet undetected – equipment failure had actually caused the oncoming van’s driver to lose control. Armed with this information, Hageman then sought and obtained the maintenance records for the van from two automotive shops which had worked on the vehicle in the months before the crash, revealing they had both failed to detect and repair this significant problem, despite the opportunity—and obligation—to do so.
“I think this case demonstrates how dogged we are in our pursuit of answers to the questions our clients have after the loss of a loved one,” said Hageman. “In any catastrophic injury or death case, we believe it’s always better to conduct our own independent investigation, rather than simply accepting the ‘official story.’ That’s no knock on the police investigation, but they may not be looking for the same things we are looking for when reconstructing a crash.”
After determining what actually caused the crash, Hageman filed a wrongful death lawsuit on behalf of the three decedents against both automotive shops, which led to two years of hard-fought litigation and which ended only on the eve of trial, when both parties agreed to settle.
Obviously, nothing can erase the suffering that the family in this case experienced, but through hard work and a relentless pursuit of the truth, Eric and our team of wrongful death attorneys were able to both hold accountable the parties who were in position to prevent this tragedy and to obtain compensation to help the family move forward from their tremendous loss.
Attorney of the Year Award for $3 Million Wrongful Death Settlement
In 2015, Eric and Fred Pritzker were named “Attorneys of the Year” by Minnesota Lawyer, a legal publication, for winning a $3 million settlement for a family whose son was drown in a swimming pool. To read about this case, please see, “Fred Pritzker and Eric Hageman 2015 Named Attorneys of the Year.”
Eric has helped families in several states get compensation and justice. You can contact Eric for a free case evaluation.