$690,000 (Damages award and statutory attorney’s fees) – Verdict – Pedestrian Struck by Commercial Motor Vehicle
Our client, a young immigrant who did not speak English, was crossing in the pedestrian crosswalk at the intersection of two busy roads in Fulton County when she was struck by a vehicle that turned left across the crosswalk. Our client was taken by ambulance to the emergency room and was diagnosed with soft tissue injuries of her lower back. She underwent four months of physical therapy and pain management care.
We filed suit against the employer of the driver, an urgent care clinic, claiming it was liable for the driver’s negligence for failing to yield to our client in the crosswalk. Our client sought to recover past medical expenses and damages for future medical costs; and past and future pain and suffering. The defendant company denied negligence, contending that our client was not in the pedestrian crosswalk as she was crossing the roadway. The defendant driver claimed she was paying proper attention and was unable to avoid the collision. In addition, defendants hired two medical experts to opine that our client only sustained minor sprain in the accident and the treatment she received was unnecessary and excessive. The defense argued that the treatment received by our client from many of her providers was necessitated not by her medical condition, but by attorneys who sought to increase the value of her alleged claims, thereby subjecting her to unnecessary pain and financial exposure not directly caused by the collision.
We worked closely with the investigating officers and eyewitnesses to establish, at trial, that our client was in the crosswalk and had the right of way when struck and presented visual reenactments to show the jury that the defendants’ theory of how/where the collision took place was nonsensical. Through careful presentation of our client’s testimony, and the testimony of her family members and medical providers, we were able defeat the defendants’ arguments that our client was not really hurt and show the jury that our client was merely an innocent victim who followed the advice of her medical providers in effort to get better.
