GMR Partner Jeff Tenthoff won a Philadelphia rear-end MVA on a factual cause defense. Defendant rear-ended Plaintiffs’ 2013 Dodge Charger as it was at a complete stop for a red light. The impact was minor, nobody called the policy, and Plaintiff and her passenger proceeded to their shift of work as office building cleaners. The passenger, who was full tort, accepted the defense settlement offer after jury selection. The limited tort Plaintiff proceeded to trial pursuant to a Rule 1311.1 stipulation.
Plaintiff presented evidence of her treatment consisting of a month of chiropractic treatment before undergoing an additional three months of physical therapy. Plaintiff presented expert reports of Plaintiff’s treating physicians as well as orthopedist Mark Allen, M.D., while Defendant read in his expert report of orthopedic surgeon, Stuart Trager, M.D. Jeff argued that plaintiff did not sustain any injury and to the extent she did, it was not a significant enough injury to recover under the limited tort standard. The jury deliberated for approximately 30 minutes before returning a defense verdict on factual cause.
