I'm assuming in this case that yes the family contacted a lawyer and the lawyer is pursuing the case against the town.
But sometimes you loose control of a situation when insurance is involved. A few years ago my wife was hurt after falling off her own horse at a small farm we board our horse at. Our health insurance company badgered us to the point of harassment trying to find another party responsible so they would not have to cover her medical bills. Yes I know this is normal, but in most cases you talk to someone on the phone or send in the form and your done, not in this case. They continued to contact the property owner (they must have check the ambulance logs) and the Insurance CO of the person that ran the horse boarding operation (we never gave that name out, don't know how they found it).
It was our horse and she had an accident, sorry. They did end up covering the accident, but the barn manager was spooked by her insurance company asking her questions and we had to move the horses. (Many horse people are nut cases anyway)
