Rouda Feder Tietjen & McGuinn Achieved Top Accident Settlement

In 1972, Ignacio Jimenez-Estrada, made the difficult and dangerous decision to leave his home village in Mexico and come to the United States. Four decades later through hard work he bought a home, raised a family, became a U.S. citizen, and achieved the American Dream.

At 66, Ignacio was still hard at work on a farm. He was working in July 2015, when he was driving a John Deere tractor on Hosfield Drive, a straight, flat country road in Tulare County, CA. Hugging the right side of the road, blinkers on, he headed westbound at about 22 miles per hour, back to the farm’s shop. Meanwhile, Thomas Goulart was driving a tractor-trailer owned by his employer, Quinn Rentals, on that same stretch of road. As Goulart approached Ignacio, Goulart swerved into Ignacio causing significant vehicle damage and catastrophic injuries to Ignacio. Goulart would later tell the California Highway Patrol that he must have fallen asleep at the wheel.

Quinn Rentals contested liability and claimed Ignacio was partially at fault for the crash for his failure to wear the tractor’s seat belt.

Ignacio suffered a severe traumatic brain injury, multiple spine fractures, facial fractures, a degloving injury to his right cheek, a collapsed lung, a torn rotator cuff, and a dislocation fracture to a finger. He was taken to the hospital, where he remained for over a month, followed by another month in a rehabilitation facility.

Ignacio could not work after the incident. Ignacio incurred past medical expenses of about $300,000 and would need about $1.7 million in future medical treatment. He will live with the pain and disability from the collision for the rest of his life.

One the eve of trial, RFTM and Tim Tietjen negotiated close to a $4 million dollar settlement. Our team of attorneys achieved a settlement for Ignacio that amounted to the #6 Top Mediated Settlement for a Motor Vehicle Accident in 2018.

If you were injured due to the negligence of another person and are in need of the best legal advocates, contact our firm today. We represent victims of negligence throughout California, with proven results.

Rouda Feder Tietjen & McGuinn Achieved #6 Top Mediated Settlement for a Motor Vehicle Accident in 2018