Car accident victims waiting for settlement payment from attorney

The victims of a motor vehicle accident in 2002 have filed a federal suit in the U.S. District

Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania against the personal injury attorney that represented them, saying he has failed to send the settlement money to the couple.

Andrew and Jennifer Benone, of Arlington, Va., seek compensatory and punitive damages in excess of $75,000 against attorney Adrian Moody on allegations of legal malpractice and vicarious liability for his alleged failure to disburse money the plaintiffs say is due to them.

According to the complaint, Andrew and Jennifer Benone were involved in an accident in Philadelphia on June 11, 2002. The plaintiffs hired Moody to represent them in legal proceedings against multiple parties, including the city of Philadelphia, Geico, Aetna, Progressive and Independence Blue Cross/Blue Shield. The Benones sought monetary damages to help pay for medical expenses from the accident, according to the claim.

The complaint says that Moody conducted several meetings and negotiations with the defendants and succeeded in achieving settlement agreements worth several hundreds of thousands of dollars. However, the complaint says, the plaintiffs have yet to receive the money from those settlements. According to the suit, the Benones reached out numerous times to Moody, but never received any replies or access to the funds.

According to the suit, the attorney-client privilege still exists between the two parties, as the Benones have not terminated their relationship with Moody. They claim that multiple phone calls, emails and submission of documents approving the settlements have not been returned by Moody.

The plaintiffs say that Moody and his law firms have been unjustly enriched by his refusal to transmit the funds to his clients. The claim says that the Benones have also been forced to pay for out-of-pocket medical expenses related to their injuries from the accident, payments that would have been provided by their settlement agreements.

The plaintiffs are represented by Tyler Smith of Bordas & Bordas in West Virginia.

The federal case ID is 2:14-cv-06394-MSG.