Tamara Chasan, Esq., a partner in Cipriani & Werner, P.C.’s Abington Office, recently secured a highly favorable verdict at the conclusion of a three-day jury trial in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas.
Plaintiff, 26, claimed to be suffering from a chronic pain syndrome arising from facet joint injuries in her neck and back allegedly suffered in a head-on collision with a box truck owned by the Progressive insured. The accident was captured on traffic cam video and was unequivocally caused by the defendant driver. Negligence was stipulated at the time of trial, as was Plaintiff’s entitlement to recovery of her past economic expenses of approximately $20,000.
The jury was asked to decide whether the limited tort Plaintiff had suffered a serious impairment of bodily function and they agreed that she had. The jury, however, rejected Plaintiff’s request for recovery of future medical expenses of up to $853,000 for the remainder of her life expectancy, awarding $0 for future medical expenses. The jury’s award of $50,000 for past, present and future pain and suffering conveys its acceptance of the defenses presented by Attorney Chasan with respect to the problems with Plaintiff’s claims of permanency and extensive testimony about ongoing, daily and constant pain and multiple limitations in home and work life arising from the accident. The total verdict was $70,007.78.
Plaintiff’s demand in the case was a firm $885,000 through discovery. Mediation was unsuccessful, with Plaintiff having refused to even consider settlement in the range of the mediator’s figure of $150,000 for settlement value. The pre-suit offer of $100,000 was firmly rejected, with the lowest demand before trial of $200,000.
The jury’s verdict, rendered in less than an hour, sends a clear message to Plaintiff’s counsel, one of the country’s largest personal injury firms, that its settlement evaluation was patently unreasonable.
Should you have any questions about the case, please contact Tamara Chasan, Esq. at tchasan@c-wlaw.com or 215-885-3500.