I found Steve Morton, because I was firing my previous attorney who was handling my Mother's accident case. The previous attorney was horrible -- a typically arrogant lawyer, and one who did not respect his clients. Given I come from a "lineage" of attorneys, I know that not all of them think they're God and behave that way.
So I got referrals to some new attorneys, interviewed them, and settled on Steve Morton. And I couldn't be happier with how he handled our accident case. He believed in the case, and was willing to fight it as far as needed.
In a nutshell, my Mother was walking in a parking lot and struck by a car backing out of a parking space. What should be a slam dunk personal injury case, but the driver didn't have insurance and was driving on a suspended license. While not struck hard, my Mother was knocked to the ground and her injuries were significant enough, given her elderly age. This accident led to a downward spiral of her health, resulting in her death 19 months later. And because of the amount of time that passed, linking her death with the accident was not a simple matter. Furthermore, she had some pre-existing issues, which the insurance company attempted to use against her.
Due to the driver being 19 years old, with no assets whatsoever, our only recourse was to recover medical costs and out-of-pocket expenses from my Mother's own insurance company, under her Uninsured Coverage. That company was Liberty Mutual (a really dishonest and sleazy company), who low-balled us continually, attempting to pay out as little as possible on their insured.
Our refusal to accept their paltry offers moved into litigation. After 4 years, we finally got our day in court. (The delay was not Mr. Morton's fault; it was Liberty Mutual, as well as the previous firm dragging their feet.) A panel of 3 judges heard the case, which took nearly an entire day. When the verdict came in a couple weeks later, ALL 3 judges had reached agreement in our favor -- even the judge selected by Liberty Mutual to represent them.
So what did Liberty Mutual do? They rejected the award -- which they have the prerogative to do with Illinois law -- and attempted to low-ball us again to make us go away. I refused their insulting offer once again, and all credit here goes to Steve Morton, who stood by us and played hardball with the insurance company. Without going into major detail, he fought back their rejection of the Award, and after some back and forth legal "jujitsu," Liberty Mutual caved in, settling for about 99% of the Award by the 3 judges.
Not only because of this outcome, but having been through some previous accident cases, I can frankly say that Mr. Morton did a fantastic job. Just fantastic. Had we not successfully fought Liberty Mutual's rejection of the Award, he was willing to take this to a jury trial, which was my next desired step. Should I ever need an attorney again, I would not hesitate to call him and have him handle my case.
Thank you, Mr. Morton, for believing in our case, for handling it, and for bringing it to a successful conclusion. read more
