This is a great article about a tragic incident that really helps shed some light on the phsycological pressures on injury victims and their families. In the article Mr Spencer was injured outside the building that he helped build. The family had deep reservations about pursuing a case because of Mr Spencers involvement but when they discovered obvious and systemic negligence they decided to take action.

Many clients of personal injury lawyers are faced with similar decisions. Will they be perceived as “gold diggers?” This article is  an excellent profile of the situation and the family’s actions and motivations.

Warrenton native Harold Spencer walked out of the newly built Warrenton-Fauquier Visitor Center and tripped over a 16-inch wall around a cistern just outside the front door. Spencer, 73, fell awkwardly and broke his neck. Three days later, he died.

Spencer, a stockbroker who raised his five children in Warrenton, was on the board of the foundation that helped build the visitor center, and his family was not inclined to sue his home town. But then one of his sons discovered that the visitor center had failed its final inspection four times for not putting a guardrail around the cistern.

Read full article via washingtonpost.com.