When Doing the Right Thing Costs Everything: How Personal Injury Lawyer Brian F. Laule Recovered $1.2 Million for an Injured Medical Transport Driver

Robert Benson wasn’t doing anything wrong. He was doing exactly what a careful, responsible driver is supposed to do — pulling over to make sure a vulnerable passenger was safe. And that decision nearly cost him everything.

Robert’s story is one of profound injustice: a man who stopped to protect someone else ended up shattered by the negligence of another driver, then faced an insurance defense team that tried to blame him for his own catastrophic injuries. It took the relentless advocacy of a Menomonie personal injury lawyer at Bye, Goff & Rohde to expose the truth — and deliver a $1.2 million settlement that acknowledged the full, devastating impact of what Robert had suffered.

A First Day on the Job, and a Life Changed Forever

Robert Benson was a retired concrete worker who had recently taken on a new role driving for a medical transport company. It was his first day. He had picked up a wheelchair-bound patient at a medical center in Menomonie and was transporting him toward Chippewa Falls.

Before leaving the hospital, Robert had carefully checked that the patient’s wheelchair was properly secured. But as he made his first left turn onto the highway, the wheelchair passenger said he felt the chair shift slightly. Concerned, Robert did what any conscientious driver would do: he scanned his mirrors, confirmed no vehicles were approaching behind him, pulled onto the shoulder of the highway, exited the van, and opened the side door to check and tighten the straps that fastened the wheelchair to the floor.

Robert had his head near the wheelchair, focused on making sure his passenger was safe, when the van was struck from behind at high speed by another driver. The impact was violent. The van lurched forward into Robert, catapulting him approximately 18 feet from the vehicle onto the ground.

The injuries were catastrophic. Robert suffered broken toes, internal bleeding, a pelvis split apart, a crushed tailbone, and three crushed vertebrae in his lower back. He endured surgery to insert two screws into his pelvis. He also sustained multiple abrasions, cuts, and bruises. In addition to the orthopedic injuries, Robert suffered nerve damage to his spine resulting in a lasting bladder condition. He spent months as an inpatient, followed by an extended rehabilitation stay.

The Defense Blamed Robert

When Attorney Brian F. Laule of Bye, Goff & Rohde took on Robert’s case, he came face to face with a defense strategy built on a single premise: that Robert Benson was responsible for his own injuries because he had stopped in a location that was not a fully legal parking spot.

The argument had surface-level appeal. Robert had pulled onto the shoulder of a busy highway. There wasn’t a complete lane of space between his van and moving traffic. The defense leaned hard on the idea that a distracted driver had suddenly been confronted with a stopped vehicle occupying a travel lane — and that Robert had created that dangerous situation.

But Attorney Laule wasn’t buying it.

Uncovering the Truth Through Investigation and Discovery

What followed was the kind of patient, methodical case-building that distinguishes experienced personal injury litigators from the rest. Brian Laule and his team at Bye, Goff & Rohde got to work.

The passenger’s own words told a different story. During discovery, the wheelchair-bound passenger acknowledged that he had told Robert the wheelchair felt loose — and that he himself had reached down and attempted to tighten the straps before the stop. He admitted he probably should have let the driver handle it. This was critical. It directly undercut the defense narrative by establishing that Robert was responding to a passenger safety emergency, not creating a hazard arbitrarily.

The at-fault driver’s account fell apart. The driver who struck Robert’s van had told police he had looked away from the road to adjust the car radio — and that when he looked up, the van was suddenly there. Attorney Laule found this implausible. Nobody in 2024 is distracted by their car radio. The explanation had the unmistakable quality of someone working hard to avoid saying what had actually happened.

A key witness changed everything. By working through the police report, the legal team identified motorists who had witnessed the crash and stopped at the scene. One of those witnesses provided devastating testimony: after the crash, the at-fault driver’s primary concern was locating his phone. The witness helped him find it — way up on the dashboard, far from where it would have rested if the driver had simply been driving. That phone had been in his hands.

Engineering analysis exposed the speed lie. The at-fault driver had told investigators he was traveling approximately 35 miles per hour at the time of impact. An engineering analysis of the damage to Robert’s van told a different story: the striking vehicle was traveling at least 50 miles per hour. The driver had lied to minimize his culpability — and the physical evidence proved it.

Faced with this combination of testimony, engineering analysis, witness statements, and a driver caught in multiple deceptions, the defense position collapsed. The insurer paid its policy limits of $1.2 million.

Why This Case Matters Beyond the Dollars

Robert Benson’s case is a textbook example of why injured Wisconsinites need a skilled Menomonie personal injury lawyer in their corner — not just someone who files paperwork, but an advocate who will dig into the facts and refuse to accept a defense narrative that doesn’t hold up.

Without a thorough investigation, Robert’s case could have been framed as simple contributory negligence and settled for a fraction of its value — or lost at trial. It was the combination of identifying and deposing bystander witnesses, commissioning an engineering analysis to disprove the speed claim, and pressing hard on the cell phone evidence that built a case too strong for the defense to contest.

There’s also an important lesson here about timing. Robert’s injuries were severe and permanent. Attorney Laule understood that resolving the case too quickly — before the full picture of Robert’s long-term prognosis was established — would have meant leaving an enormous amount of value on the table. The case took approximately two years from the date of the accident to resolution, in significant part to ensure that Robert’s permanent injuries, including his spinal nerve damage and loss of bowel and bladder function, were fully documented and supported by medical expert opinions. That patience paid off.

Serious Injuries Demand Serious Advocacy

Robert Benson’s injuries will follow him for the rest of his life. He was already living with financial strain before the crash; afterward, without the right legal representation, his situation could have become truly desperate.

Attorney Brian F. Laule and the team at Bye, Goff & Rohde have spent more than 50 years fighting for injured Wisconsinites in exactly these circumstances — cases where the facts are contested, where insurers look for any angle to shift blame, and where only thorough preparation and experienced advocacy can deliver the outcome an injured person deserves.

If you or someone you love has been seriously injured in an accident in the Menomonie area, the Chippewa Valley, or anywhere in western Wisconsin, Bye, Goff & Rohde offers free consultations and works on a contingency fee basis — meaning you pay nothing unless we recover for you.

Robert Benson pulled over to keep someone safe. He deserved to have someone fight just as hard for him. That’s what we do. Call or text Bye, Goff & Rohde at (715) 425-8161 for a free case evaluation.