Arbitration

In February 2006, Nathan was hit by a car about one mile from our home, on his way home from work. Gosh, that was just so much fun. It was a really nightmarish year or so, between ER visits, physical therapists, massage therapists, insurance companies, lawyers, and chiropractors. He finally reached the point where the chiropractor thought he was as close to normal as he'd get, and then our lawyer started arguing with the other insurance company.

Today was the arbitration date. I ended up going. We sat in a room with our lawyer, the other insurance company's lawyer, and an arbitrator. It was like a mini-trial. They weren't there to argue whose fault the accident was - that was obvious from the start. They were there to argue how much of the medical treatment was related to the accident and how much of the time Nathan took off work was justified. Nathan has a lousy memory and this has dragged on for so long that I also had to give testimony about the facts. It was interesting and nerve-wracking and frustrating all at once.

The most annoying part is that we thought we would be told a settlement amount today. The arbitrator actually won't make his decision until 1-2 weeks from now. Then the lawyer pays all the liens, repays the insurance companies for what they already paid, takes his cut, and hopefully there will be something left over. We're so happy to have it done!

Thank you everyone for your thoughts and prayers!