String of recent motor vehicle accident verdicts nets awards totaling $916,998
In less than 12 months, attorney
Andrew R. Young
has had a succession
of favorable jury verdicts in motor vehicle injury cases with total recovery
of just under one million dollars.
Cuyahoga County Jury Verdict June 2005
The first verdict was handed down by a Cuyahoga County jury
on June 3, 2005, in favor of the plaintiff in the amount of $102,416.79
against a driver who negligently failed to yield the right of way. The
injury victim was a 54 year old woman, who was the front seat passenger
in a van traveling through an intersection on a green light. The defendant
driver of the other vehicle failed to stop for a red light, and collided with
the van in which plaintiff was traveling. The plaintiff sustained injuries
to her neck and back, including a herniated lumbar disc with nerve root
impingement. Her treatment consisted of emergency room visits, physical
therapy, nerve root injections, pain management, rehabilitation, and a
home exercise program. Allstate Insurance Company hired attorneys
to represent the defendant driver. Defendant argued that, due to the
plaintiff’s prior automobile accidents and medical history, her herniated
disc was unrelated to this accident. This, coupled with the fact that the
van sustained minimal property damage, caused Allstate to offer a minimal
settlement of $20,000 to resolve the case prior to trial. This offer left
plaintiff no choice but to take her claim to a jury of her peers, which
awarded $102,416.79 for her injury.
Medina County Jury Verdict August 2005
Mr. Young’s next victory came on August 2, 2005, when a Medina
County jury awarded $58,500 to a 41 year old woman for injuries caused
by the defendant. The plaintiff was stopped at a traffic light when the
defendant, approaching from behind, failed to stop his SUV and collided
into plaintiff’s vehicle. The plaintiff sustained injuries, including the
aggravation of a pre-existing condition that necessitated a lumbar
microdiskectomy. Prior to trial, the defendant only offered $15,000 to
settle the case, although he did not contest the fact of his negligence
or that his vehicle did hit the plaintiff’s vehicle. At trial, the defendant
argued that his vehicle merely tapped the plaintiff’s vehicle, and that
the plaintiff’s medical treatment was solely related to injuries predating
this collision. A unanimous 8 member jury, however, disagreed and
awarded plaintiff $58,500 in damages.
Cuyahoga County Jury Verdict October 2005
Next, on October 26, 2005, Mr. Young obtained the second highest
motor vehicle injury verdict in Cuyahoga County in 2005, when the jury
awarded his client $316,081.60 for injuries caused by an uninsured
motorist. The plaintiff, a 42 year old man, sued his insurance carrier,
State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company, for failing to honor
his claim for uninsured motorist insurance coverage. The plaintiff was
traveling with his family on I-71 northbound, when an intoxicated driver
struck the plaintiff’s car from behind, forcing it into a cement construction
barrier, then colliding into it a second time. Initially, the plaintiff
believed he simply sustained a wr
ist
sprain from the incident. Later, a
lingering back injury persisted until plaintiff sought treatment several
months later. In December of 2002, the plaintiff was diagnosed with
lumbar nerve root impingement, numbness, and radicular pain. Plaintiff
reported his injury to State Farm, then continued with his treatment of
physical therapy, lumbar injections, and a home exercise program. State
Farm offered only $5,000 to settle plaintiff’s claim, on the ground that the
treatment he received for his back was unrelated to this incident because
he did not report it until many months later. The jury disagreed, unanimously
finding that both the plaintiff’s back and wrist injuries were
caused by the May 2002 accident, and awarding him $316,081.60.
Lorain County Jury Verdict March 2006
The
last verdict in this series was achieved on March 7, 2006, when
Mr. Young’s client was awarded $550,000 by a Lorain County jury against
a drunk driver in a single car roll-over accident. The plaintiff was a passenger
in the drunk driver’s car. The jury found that the defendant failed
to reasonably control his vehicle after a tread detached from his right rear
tire. A tire company was added as a defendant because the drunk driver
alleged the tire tread detachment was the cause of the accident. The tire
company argued that the tire tread detached due to the age and misuse
of the tire, and not due to a product defect. The plaintiff’s expert opined
that, despite the tire’s age and condition, it was defective in design as
it did not have belt edge enhancement features to delay the tread
separation. The jury found against plaintiff on his claim against the tire
manufacturer but in favor of the plaintiff on his claim against the driver.
The plaintiff’s injuries included a head trauma requiring lengthy hospital
stays and facial lacerations that are still in need of future revision surgeries.
The jury apportioned 80% of the fault to the drunk driver, and 20%
of the fault to the plaintiff for riding with a drunk driver. As a result, the
award was reduced by 20% to $440,000. Mr. Young tried this case with
attorney
Ellen M. McCarthy.