Large Auto Accident Verdict

This past Wednesday, a large $1.13 million verdict was reached in a lawsuit for an auto accident in Washington State.

Our firm is lucky to be a part of the Washington State Association of Justice (WSAJ) and received the facts surrounding the case. The law firm and the plaintiff will remain anonymous for obvious reasons. That said, this is a really big deal to get a verdict this large — again, we’re talking millions — for injuries that are not easily identifiable.

The case: “a pretty simple, straightforward case like most strictly soft tissue cases. Our client was a 40 year old male rear-ended.” He first saw a chiropractor, and then an M.D. one month later.  He received physical therapy, additional chiropractic and acupuncture to the tune of $25,000 in medical bills.

The plaintiff indicated that he felt an 80 to 90 percent improvement within three months so [Insurance Company] postured that he was completely recovered in the magic “eight to 12 weeks” and had no explanation for his “ongoing headaches” for which there were no objective findings.

The pre-trial offer was your typical less than the medical specials — in this case $22,000. The defense counsel suggested the jury award $1,000 in economic damages (loss of wages, etc.); $1,000 to $5,000 in non-economic damages (pain and suffering) and an unremarkable amount for the medical specials. The plaintiff counsel asked for $1.5 million.

The attorney polarized the case right from the start telling the jury in voir dire that they would be asking for over a million for an injury that you couldn’t see and then laid out everything the defense was going to tell them during the trial.

The turning point in the trial was getting an expert witness of the defense to contradict herself from previous testimony during the trial.

Overall, a remarkable outcome for this family and job well done by the attorneys involved.

Have questions regarding your rights in an auto accident? Contact one of our Kirkland personal injury attorneys.