. . . Accident involving Grandma Zbin, Uncle Paul, and Mom . . .. . . Accident involving Grandma Zbin, Uncle Paul, and Mom . . .The Chronicle-Telegram
Elyria, Ohio. March 15, 1929
On November 17, 1928, Grandma Zbin with son Paul and daughter Josephine are driving in their new pickup truck and are involved in an accident, hit by a drunk driver. Mom has a fractured leg and is kept in the hospital to recover for nearly three months. Grandma is hurt the hardest and must remain in the hospital much longer. While Grandma is in recovery, Aunt Anna stays home from school to care for the family.
After her recovery, Mom works in the hospital kitchen to help pay all those medical bills. She doesn't want to quit school but the hospital bills are huge. After much thought, Mom leaves school for a year to work full time, then attends summer school to "catch up" in her schooling. She completes the 10th grade, then leaves school permanently (summer 1932) to continue working.
About four months after the accident, the incident explodes into major news about "ambulance chasing." The March 15, 1929, Elyria Chronicle-Telegram newspaper describes the events.
Because Mom's father, being an immigrant, is rather ignorant of the methods of "helpful" attorneys, he is easily persuaded to sign a settlement that offers the family next to nothing for all their pain and suffering.
The article . . .
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CLAIM THEY DID Three Persons Appear at The ultimate in "ambulance chasing" methods alleged used by some attorneys was revealed here yesterday when three Lorain county residents, in whose names a Cleveland attorney filed a total of $80,000 in suits Dec. 13, appeared at the court house yesterday to protest that they never had brought any suit nor authorized anyone else to bring suits in their names. Three members of the Zbin family, who live near Vermilion in Lorain county, were injured in an automobile accident near Lorain, Nov. 17. They were Mrs. Mary Zbin and her son and daughter, Paul Jr. and Josephine an hour after they were in the hospital they told court house officials yesterday, an attorney attempted to get them to sign over their case to him. They refused, they said, but later saw in the papers that they had filed suits totalling $80,000 against a Chicago man whose auto struck theirs. Civil appearance dockets revealed that a suit for $20,000 had been brought for Mary Zbin, Paul, Jr., Josephine, and for the father, Paul, Sr., who asked damages for loss of his wife's services. The father does not live with the family, but stays in Cleveland. Affidavits accompanying the petitions, however, revealed no name of Zbin on any of them, either of the injured members of the family, or of the father. The Cleveland attorney declared in the affidavits that the Zbins were not residents of Lorain county. and that he was bringing the suit in their names. He deposited $25 for costs in each case. "If I want to sue anybody," Mrs. Zbin said yesterday, "I'll do it myself with out help from some Cleveland attorney." |