I could not pull the story up it was behind a wall. The drunk driver is the one who brought the claim?

From the Pennsylvania Record:

A New York man who is said to be paralyzed from the neck down due to injuries he sustained after driving home drunk from a northeastern Pennsylvania bar has reportedly reached a $6.6 million settlement in his Dram Shop case against the drinking establishments and a bartender.

Manolin Jason Mercado, 36, of the Bronx, N.Y., filed suit in December 2011 at the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania against Pub 570, bartender Brittany Marie DeBias, and Sticks N Stones Bar and Grill over a May 2, 2010, vehicle accident that ended with the plaintiff suffering paralysis.

SOURCE: http://pennrecord.com/news/12392-drunk-driver-paralyzed-in-accident-reportedly-reaches-6-6-million-settlement-with-bars-in-dram-shop-case

Also here: http://articles.mcall.com/2013-12-11/news/mc-drunk-driver-settlement-east-stroudsburg-20131211_1_mercado-bars-drunk-driver

Nice to see you abandon the dark side on this one Ron. 🙂

Merry Christmas to you, your friends and family.

The quote in the original post above makes clear that the plaintiff was the drunk driver himself. No need to look behind some paywall.

“Two Northeastern Pennsylvania bars have settled for a combined $6.6 million with a man who became quadriplegic after driving drunk and crashing his car into a tree.”

I don’t see anyway you could read this as someone other than the drunk driver himself was the one who sued.

THE INSURANCE INDUSTRY IS PART OF THE PROBLEM HERE.

Because they seek to make a “business decision” by settling for $6 million, they bypass what should be a MORAL rejection of the demand (and yes, I see there were aggravating factors) by the plaintiff.

Same for so many of the country’s overabundance of frivolous personal injury suits.

THE SYSTEM WORKING AS AN EVIL WHOLE — greedy and undeserving plaintiffs, unscrupulous plaintiff’s attorneys, insurance companies and their business models, insurance defense lawyers looking to rack up billables, willing court systems, compliant legislatures and a clueless media — help to siphon off billions from consumers.

I could not pull the story up it was behind a wall. The drunk driver is the one who brought the claim?

All of the people on here would I usually agree disagree with? I’m with you on this one. I realize there were so bizarre circumstances that have been pointed to in this case that may have helped the plaintiff, but at the end of the day he is the one that chose to get in the car and he is the one that crashed that car. I feel great sympathy for him but I don’t think he should be compensated by the bar.

Now, I really question the wisdom in settling this case. The plaintiff had every right to file the claim. But I can’t imagine too many juries finding this guy not 51% responsible for the injuries. Some defense lawyers are chickens. You can’t put that on the civil justice system.

Apparently, they not only strapped him down and poured copious amounts of alcohol into his body, they also must have strapped him behind the wheel of a car.

//European bachelor of law.