February 15, 2024. Senior Associate Attorney Ankur Trivedi secured a favorable verdict for his client in Fulton County with the jury rebuffing the Plaintiff’s attorney’s plea for a multi-million dollar verdict and punitive damages. Associate Attorney Breonna Glover served as second chair at trial. This suit arose out of a motor vehicle accident that occurred on October 29, 2021 on Hwy 316 in Oconee County, GA . The Plaintiff was driving in the outside lane with the Defendant travelling behind her. The Defendant collided with the rear of Plaintiff’s vehicle. The collision sent Plaintiff’s vehicle to the left and into an embankment. Defendant’s vehicle veered into the right embankment and flipped over. The Defendant, who was 19 years old at the time, was ultimately arrested for DUI following the accident. Negligence was admitted at trial.
The Plaintiff went to the ER the day after the accident with complaints of left arm, shoulder and low back pain, where she was treated and released. She then treated with a chiropractor for approximately 4 months. At the end of her treatment, she was discharged. After 17 months with no treatment, she presented to an orthopedist and relayed significant lumbar and cervical spine pain. She underwent an ESI for her lumbar spine, and then ultimately had a 3-level Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusion (ACDF) surgery. At trial, she claimed past medical damages of $371,925.43 and approximately $320,000 in future medical damages pursuant to a life care plan indicating Plaintiff would require an ACDF surgery in the future.
At trial, the Plaintiff testified regarding her injuries and treatment, as well as her limitations and the necessity for future treatment. She also presented the testimony of her husband as a before and after witnesses. Plaintiff also called the police officer that investigated the collision. Plaintiff presented testimony of Dr. Mark Flood, DO, who testified that Plaintiff’s cervical and lumbar herniations were caused by the subject collision. Plaintiff also presented Dr. Paul White, MD, who served only as a life care planner. Dr. Flood testified that, after reviewing all of Plaintiff’s medical records, he agreed with Dr. Flood that Plaintiff had a 20% chance of requiring a second ACDF within the next ten years.
The defense presented the Defendant and expert testimony of Dr. Barry Jeffries, MD who testified that 1) Plaintiff’s post-incident MRIs did not show any markers for a traumatic injury; 2) Plaintiff’s MRIs revealed on-going disc desiccation; and 3) the presence of osteophytes on both the cervical and lumbar spine further supported the conclusion that Plaintiff’s spine had been undergoing chronic degeneration for at least two years.
In closing, Plaintiff’s counsel asked the jury to return a verdict that included past medical bills of $371,925.43 and a future ACDF surgery of approximately $320,000. Plaintiff’s counsel presented various equations to the jury to calculate pain and suffering, to be calculated over the course of her remaining 29-year life expectancy, all of which suggested a pain and suffering award in excess of two million dollars. Further, the Plaintiff asked the jury to find that the case merited an award of punitive damages for the underlying DUI. Mr. Trivedi asked the jury to award the medical bills prior to the 17 month gap in treatment ($19,684.07), plus a reasonable measure of pain and suffering. The Jury deliberated for approximately 6 hours (over two days) before returning a verdict in favor of Plaintiff for $19,684.07 in past medical bills and $320,000 in past and future pain and suffering ($339,684.07), which represents an amount less than Plaintiff’s claimed medical damages and well less than the Plaintiff’s lowest pretrial offer of $500,000. The jury decided against awarding any punitive damages.
The Case is Superior Court of Fulton County CAFN 2022CV368392.
Read more about Senior Associate Ankur Trivedi here.
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