Case Examples from San Luis Valley

Gayland Smith was a UPS driver from Manassa, extremely fine man. Worked for UPS, oh, pushing 30 years. Never missed a day of work, ever. It’s the most incredible, you know, that came out at trial. Never missed a day at work. Lady from Texas hit him right out by the theater on highway 160, west of town. Once again, the insurance company said, not much.

The significance in my mind of the Gayland Smith case was that, Gayland had just seen local doctors. He had seen an Orthopedic surgeon, I think in Pueblo, but they couldn’t do much in terms of surgery.

But he couldn’t work anymore lifting all the boxes, you know, all the bending, stooping, lifting, in and out of his truck. It was over for him and he was 57 years old.

And the insurance company told him, “Well, you didn’t see a specialist.” And they brought in one of these paid Orthopedic Surgeons from Springs, I think. And he says, “Oh, I think Mr. Smith can work.” You know the significance to me, in that case, was that the jury listened to the local doctors. The family practice doctors. They aren’t Orthopedic surgeons, no they aren’t the best Neurosurgeon in the state. But one of those doctors testified, in reply to the fancy Orthopedic Surgeon. He said, “I treat more back injuries everyday than anybody ever does.” If you think about it, where do you go to with the average back injury first? Your with the family doctor. And he treats you and he treats you.

I thought the significance was huge because we didn’t have the surgeons, but we had, I think, three local doctors and they simply, they set the tone for the case and it was a winner.

The San Luis Valley, I think about it and you know, I enjoy being there, it’s a beautiful, beautiful place. And, do you know, I just hope I always have more cases and practice there, until I’m done.

If you’ve been injured, through no fault of your own, contact David Hoover about your unique situation.