GMR Partner Jeff Tenthoff won on the issue of serious injury following a disputed intersectional accident where Plaintiff, who recently had kidney replacement surgery, complained of immediate, intense pain and was removed from the scene by EMS to the ER. He was admitted overnight for observation, considering his underlying condition. The Plaintiff had approximately four months of chiropractic treatment before presenting to pain management, where he underwent a series of three cervical epidural injections since the accident and continued to be treated by the pain management specialist he was seeing for his prior kidney condition up until the time of trial.
The Plaintiff made the quintessential eggshell Plaintiff, who testified he was rounding the corner after decades of battling kidney disease before this accident knocked him off track. His expert was his treating pain management physician, who testified about the differences in the pain reported to him by the Plaintiff following this accident and how his prior condition affected his ability to recover from his injuries due to this accident.
The defendant driver refused to concede liability despite being in the intersection on a red light and two independent witnesses indicating that Plaintiff had the green light because she was clearing the intersection after traffic backed up, causing her to be caught in the intersection as the light changed color.
As Plaintiff was bound by limited tort, the verdict sheet Jeff proposed asked the serious impairment question before questions regarding Plaintiff’s comparative negligence. The verdict sheet allowed the jury to focus on the serious injury, or lack thereof, before addressing the issue of comparative negligence. Ultimately, the jury found that Defendant was negligent and that Plaintiff was injured but returned a defense verdict on the issue of serious impairment.
