On May 17, 2004, four-year-old Maika Thao was walking home from school with her siblings when she was viciously attacked by a pit bull. At the time of the attack, the dog was neither leashed nor attended. The animal bit her in the arm and locked its jaws on the back of her skull.
Maika was immediately airlifted to Children’s Hospital in Milwaukee, where she underwent the first of many surgeries to reattach her scalp. Her doctors reported that she had been extremely brave throughout her treatment and, although faced with more surgeries, had made great progress in attempts of returning to her normal life.
Following the attack and advice of their family lawyer, the Thaos contacted Hupy and Abraham. Attorneys Chad Kreblin and Jason Abraham immediately began investigating the attack and collecting medical records. Within only six months, due to their hard work, they reached a settlement with the dog owner's insurance company for $1.9 million.
However, the insurance company demanded, after agreeing to a settlement amount, that the money be reinvested into their company and paid out over Maika’s lifetime. Attorneys Kreblin and Abraham recognized this attempt as a way for the insurance company to profit off the child's tragic event and went to court, where they convinced a judge to force the insurance company to pay the money directly to our firm, where it was properly invested for the benefit of Maika.
Where other attorneys may have caved into the insurance company, we went to court for our client and won. Hupy and Abraham has decades of experience handling these cases in a timely matter without compromising quality service and aggressive representation for our clients.
