Personal injury claims can be complex. If you get hurt by someone else’s acts or omissions, you can file a lawsuit to make them compensate you for the injuries that you suffered at their hands. If you choose to pursue a lawsuit, then there are a myriad of complex issues that your attorney will have to handle, such as the statute of limitations, discovery, and actually proving your case.
However, the context surrounding some cases makes them more complex than some others. In one case in Maryland, the victim of a car accident found this out the hard way when her bankruptcy proceeding impacted her personal injury lawsuit.
Car Accident Injures Plaintiff
The case all started when Cindy Schlotzhauer got involved in a car crash with Kevin Morton, Jr. At the time of the accident, Mr. Morton was on the job, working for Uni-Select USA. This allowed Ms. Schlotzhauer’s attorneys to sue both Mr. Morton and the company that he was working for, through the concept of respondeat superior.
Personal Injury Lawsuit Filed, Bankruptcy Declared
Ms. Schlotzhauer’s attorneys waited for three years to file the lawsuit, to make sure that they fully understood the extent of her injuries from the accident before taking the case to court. However, over the course of these three years, Ms. Schlotzhauer was unable to make ends meet, and filed for bankruptcy before she filed the personal injury claim.
As part of her bankruptcy proceeding, Ms. Schlotzhauer had to list all of her assets. However, she mistakenly forgot to include the potential personal injury lawsuit against Mr. Morton and Uni-Select USA in her assets for her bankruptcy proceeding. Because personal injury lawsuits have the potential to lead to significant amounts of money in compensation, they have to be listed in bankruptcy proceedings, even if they have not been filed, yet.
Bankruptcy Error Impacts Personal Injury Lawsuit
When Ms. Schlotzhauer’s mistake came to light, she had to reopen the bankruptcy proceeding, which had come to a conclusion before the lawsuit for the car accident was ever filed, to try to get her personal injury lawsuit exempted from the listing of assets that she had to file with the bankruptcy court.
Meanwhile, Mr. Morton and Uni-Select USA claimed that, because whatever Ms. Schlotzhauer would recover from them in her personal injury lawsuit would go to her creditors, she would recover nothing from the suit, so no longer had the standing to be a part of it, and therefore the case against them should be dismissed.
Things took a strange turn when the bankruptcy court re-vested Ms. Schlotzhauer with her claim, and the trial court dismissed her claim within a few days of each other, pushing her to appeal to the Maryland Court of Appeals.
Maryland Court of Appeals Rules for Plaintiff
The case ended up being resolved by the Maryland Court of Appeals in Ms. Schlotzhauer’s favor, allowing her to continue her personal injury lawsuit against Mr. Morton and Uni-Select USA. However, the complications from her bankruptcy mistake drew out her personal injury lawsuit for months, delaying resolution and costing her in court costs and attorney fees.
Get the Legal Help You Need
Having a personal injury attorney, like Cobb County attorney Joel Williams, on your side can make a huge difference. Contact his law office to explore your legal options.
