Insurers for Comp Firm Must Pay $5 Million in Wrongful Death Suits
Friday, June 28, 2019 | 0
Insurance carriers have agreed to pay $5 million to settle three wrongful death lawsuits against a prominent Virginia workers' compensation defense attorney who is accused of texting while driving.
Richmond attorney Claire Carr, who established the workers' comp practice at the firm Kalbaugh, Pfund & Messersmith in 1999, was accused of distracted driving one year ago today, according to local news reports.
Another motorist had struck a deer on the highway that night and came to a stop. Two other people stopped to assist, and all three were standing in the median. Attorneys for the victims charged that Carr was driving a company vehicle, was texting and didn't see the stalled vehicle until it was too late, then swerved into the median, killing all three people.
Carr's attorneys denied the allegations, but a judge this month approved the $5 million settlement. A commercial automobile policy will pay $1 million, and a commercial liability umbrella policy will pay $4 million, according to the news reports. The money will be split evenly among the three families.
Carr faces trial this fall on criminal charges in connection with the crash.
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