Car Accident Lawyer Wins $1M Settlement for Family of Man Killed in 2018 Crash by a DUI Driver

The family of a 20-year-old father of two children will receive a $1 million settlement after he was killed in 2018 when his car was T-boned by a drunk driver who had just left a bar in Scranton, Pennsylvania.

The victim, Robert Ortiz, died when his car was struck at the intersection of Breck Street and Pittston Avenue in Scranton early on the morning of April 6, 2018, by a car being driven by Noah Cohen, who had a blood alcohol level that was more than three times the legal limit, according to a March 31 story by PAHomepage news.  

Cohen had left the nearby Levels Bar & Grill at 519 Linden Street minutes before the crash and was speeding down Pittstown Avenue when he T-boned Ortiz’s vehicle on the driver’s side, causing Ortiz to be ejected from the vehicle and suffer fatal injuries, the story reported. Cohen had a blood alcohol content of .25% at the time of the crash. He later pleaded guilty to DUI and reckless endangerment and was sentenced to five to ten years in prison in May 2018.

Ortiz’s mother, Anna Ortiz, filed a lawsuit against Cohen and the Levels bar that served him before the crash that killed her son, according to a March 30 story by The (Scranton) Times-Tribune.

Cohen’s car was speeding down the street in excess of 85 mph when it ran a red light and struck Ortiz’s car, the story reported. The speed limit on the street was posted at 25 mph.

Under the settlement, $950,000 will be paid by Levels to the Ortiz family by its insurance company, while the remaining $50,000 will be paid by Geico to settle auto insurance claims, the story continued. The money will be paid by the bar in a structured settlement for the benefit of Ortiz’s two children, ages 1 and 4, according to filings in Lackawanna County Court. The youngest child was born one week after Ortiz died in the crash.

Legal cases like this one occur around the nation every day and are examples of similar kinds of car crash cases that MyPhillyLawyer attorneys regularly work on tirelessly for our own clients. Often, we are not able to discuss the cases we are actively working on due to confidentiality requirements, so we discuss other relevant cases in the news such as this one to illustrate the legal situations people find themselves in every day.

When you need a car accident injury attorney, we here at MyPhillyLawyer stand ready to assist you with your legal case if you or a loved one is ever seriously injured in any kind of car crash, slip and fall, pedestrian injury, workplace injury or wrongful death in Philadelphia or anywhere in the United States. We pledge to make sure that you and your family get the compassionate, dogged and experienced legal representation that you deserve and expect from a professional legal team which works hard to uncover every fact to bolster your case and maximize your damage award.

We represent the families of victims who die in such tragedies as well, to ensure that their families receive every penny of damages that they are eligible to receive.

Talk to a Philadelphia car crash attorney at MyPhillyLawyer by calling 215-227-2727 or toll-free at 1-866-907-2231 anytime and our experienced, compassionate, aggressive team of attorneys and support staff will be there for you and your family every step of the way as we manage your case through the legal system.

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