$395,000 Settlement for Motor Vehicle Accident

Our client, a 37-year-old woman on the date of the accident, was the driver of a car struck at a traffic signal. Over the ensuing years, she underwent three spinal fusion surgeries and numerous pain management procedures. This case was first tried in 2003, at which time the jury was convinced that the woman was free of any fault in the accident. When tried the second time, the jury found that she had satisfied the “verbal” threshold and awarded her substantial wage losses, but erred in its evaluation of the pain and suffering damages. Mitch filed an appeal and convinced the Appellate Division of the error, resulting in a new trial on those damages. The car accident case eventually settled against both defendants for a total of $395,000, including the full insurance policy limit of the main defendant and an additional payment by that defendant’s insurer above and beyond the policy limitation.