Joe Petka successfully defended a 23 year old woman who crashed into the back of car that was stopped at a red light. The car contained three woman, whose ages ranged from 43 to 85; all three women filed suit for personal injuries. The three women all went to the emergency room from the accident scene, and then received 6 to 7 months of therapy for neck and back injuries. The women were diagnosed with: cervical radiculopathy, cervical herniations, and an annular tear at the C4-5. These diagnoses were confirmed by MRI and EMG.
For the defense, Mr. Petka argued that the women’s injuries were not credible. He pointed out that there was very little damage to the back of the plaintiffs’ vehicle, and that none of the women complained of injuries to the police officer that investigated the accident. He further argued that all three plaintiffs had histories of similar complaints.
A Philadelphia Jury of 12 people agreed with Mr. Petka and entered a defense verdict on all three claims. The jury found that the plaintiffs all failed to prove that accident was the factual cause of any injuries.
