On April 7, 2022, Michael Regan and Brian Guter won a no permanency verdict after a five-day jury trial in Alachua County, Florida, in favor of our client, the Defendant, who rear-ended the Plaintiff while stopped at an intersection. There was significant property damage to Plaintiff’s vehicle estimated at $11,693.43, including a broken driver’s side seat occupied by the Plaintiff during the accident.
The Plaintiff claimed permanent injuries to his neck, back, and right shoulder as a result the accident with no prior history of treatment for back or shoulder complaints. Among the spinal injuries claimed were multiple cervical disc herniations, cervical retrolisthesis, and lumbar disc herniations with annular tears. Claimed shoulder injuries included severe tendinopathy, longitudinal splitting of the biceps tendon, and eventual adhesive capsulitis in the right shoulder.
After the accident, his back was treated through chiropractic visits, pain management which included several lumbar epidural steroid injections, and lumbar facet nerve block injections. For the shoulder, he also received chiropractic treatment along with cortisone injections, and ultimately underwent an arthroscopic shoulder surgery which included lysis of adhesions, a distal clavicle resection, and subacromial decompression. Subsequently, his shoulder was treated with additional cortisone injections and physical therapy.
The plaintiff sought recovery of $169,487.35 in past medical expenses, future medical expenses ranging from $436,044 to $456,924, past pain and suffering ranging from $1,076,480 to $1,345,600, and future non-economic damages ranging from $3,387,200 to $5,080,800. The total amount of damages sought by the Plaintiff amounted to between $5,069,211.35 and $7,052,811.35.
We admitted that our client was negligent and contested the cause and extent of Plaintiff’s claimed injuries, and the total amount of his damages. We argued that the Plaintiff did not suffer a permanent injury because of the accident and presented evidence that he suffered temporary cervical and lumbar strains along with chronic spine conditions. We argued that he did not suffer any injury to his shoulder and that he had congenital abnormalities, which caused adhesive capsulitis.
We asked the jury to find that the Plaintiff did not suffer any permanent injuries and suggested an award of partial past medical expenses amounting to $28,288.11 with no future medical expenses.
The jury returned a verdict finding that the Plaintiff did not suffer a permanent injury. The Plaintiff was awarded partial past medical expenses of $44,448.60 and future medical expenses of $46,632.00 for a total jury award of $91,080.60.
Post-verdict, the Court granted Defendant’s Motion for Set-offs in the amount of $63,072.36, reducing the verdict to $28,008.24. The Court also granted Defendant’s Motion for Entitlement to Attorneys’ Fees and Litigation Costs as the prevailing party.