When Lamar Hernandez met Frank Herrera in 1991, she and her husband,
Ramiro Hernandez, had already been victimized by injustice. The negligent
conduct of hospital of staff left a sponge lodged in Ramiro's body. The insurance company settled the case for $331,000. Soon after the trial, the couple
attempted to resume a normal life despite the fact that Ramiro, a former
construction worker, was now a quadriplegic. Little did they know injustice
would strike again.

Lamar and her husband consulted with an agent with New York Life Insurance
who had befriended the couple. After inquiring about funding their retirement
as well as their grandchildren’s educations, Lamar and Ramiro used their
settlement recovery to invest in annuities and to purchase a $100,000 life
insurance policy. The agent asked the agent to facilitate the purchase of the
products. The agent and his superiors, in an attempt to maximize commissions
for themselves, instead purchased a million dollar whole life insurance policy
and intended to use the Hernandez’ money to pay the premiums until the account
was depleted. It was not until over one year later that Lamar, who was now a
widow, received a bill for $28,000 for the next year’s premium and ultimately
discovered that the unscrupulous agent had devised the scam to rid them of
their settlement. The plan included the forgery of her and her husband’s
signatures and altered paperwork by the agent.

When Frank Herrera took her case, Lamar Hernandez was close to penniless
and completely overwhelmed by the prospect of suing the formidable insurance company. Herrera, on the other hand, was used to championing the underdog
and began investigating the details of the case. Through his research, he
discovered a string of fraudulent moves made by the agent and others in
the company. Still, throughout the preparation of the case, New York Life
never made a formal settlement offer to Hernandez, though rumors
abounded that the company would try to avoid trial for $250,000.

Instead, two years after Lamar Hernandez first visited Frank Herrera in his
office, a jury in a Duval County courtroom awarded the widow and her family
$21 million in punitive damages, a penalty the insurance giant was assessed
for the first time in its 150 year history. Though the jury, public and media
were astounded by the amount of the verdict, Frank Herrera never viewed
the dollar amount awarded as the most rewarding detail of the case. Instead,
he found the most satisfaction in the fact that no one had expected "the
little guy to beat the big guy". Indeed, Lamar Hernandez could now go on
with her life reassured that she and her family would be able to put closure
to the ordeal and reclaim the financial stability they had lost.

As a result of this victory, Frank Herrera later represented thirteen other
New York Life Insurance clients who had been defrauded by the same
agent and helped them regain their financial lives as well.