You were rear-ended on the Long Island Expressway in Suffolk County eight months ago, or you fell from a sidewalk bridge at a Nassau County construction site. Since then, your right leg burns at night, your foot won't lift the way it used to, and your back goes into spasm whenever you sit for more than 20 minutes. The MRI shows a herniated disc. Your doctor uses the word "radiculopathy." The insurance adjuster shrugs and offers $40,000. What turns that $40,000 case into a sev