Rear-end Collision Results in $8.5M Verdict
Attorneys are faced with challenging cases all the time, and Ron Croft Bone is no exception. His 74-year old female client was rear-ended by a box truck at about 45MPH…seems like a homerun! But Mr. Bone had some hurdles to clear. His client had actually slammed on the brakes at a flashing yellow light with an eyewitness stating that they had seen her on her phone at a prior intersection, had been driving somewhat erratically, and had just looked up from her lap when she saw the flashing yellow and panic stopped. The truck hit her so hard that her steering wheel completely disconnected from the vehicle. In addition, there were no positive findings for brain injury at the scene, in the initial imaging, or during the 3-day hospital stay to repair the jaw fracture. In fact, there was no mention of any brain injury symptoms until a year and a half post-collision, and the plaintiff denied any brain injury symptoms in the questionnaires she filled out for her own vocational rehabilitation expert. There were four prior crashes, two comp claims, and two post crashes to contend with, as well. To top it off, the defense experts all lined up to say that she did not have a brain injury, and that she was feigning/malingering. Despite these massive issues, Mr. Bone had faith that he could take this to a jury and win, so they turned down offers of $225K, $350K, and eventually $500K just before trial. He knew he would have to show the suffering his client endured from her injuries to convince the jury, so he came to Focus Graphics to create a surgical animation of her jaw surgery, as well as an animation showing the brain shearing that occurred. We also put together a couple of brain injury summaries to show at trial and help the expert explain the injuries. Despite the adverse eyewitness testimony, the jury found in favor of Mr. Bone’s client, awarding $8.5M, and assigning only 10% of the fault to her.
“Over the last two years, I have been exposed to the quality work performed by Focus Graphics through their support of various other trial attorneys nationwide. I knew I wanted to work with them, and finally had an opportunity arise last year. I found that the product they created for my clients exceeded all expectations, and their team was incredibly responsive to all of our needs. The graphics and animations created by Focus Graphics brought our case to life for the jury and gave them what they needed to give dignity to the damages my clients suffered in the amount of $8,500,000. If you want the jury to feel the damages in your case, call Focus Graphics.”
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