Our client was an older man in Racine County, named Paul, who was rear-ended waiting to enter his driveway. There was about $5K in property damage to his van and both vehicles showed significant damage.
Paul, “backbone of America”, Looking for Fairness
Paul, 76 at the time of the crash, was a widower, army veteran, who worked 43 years for Chrysler in Milwaukee/Racine. A true “backbone of America” type of a guy who rejected the $85,000 pre-suit offer and a feeler for six-figures at mediation, because he just didn’t think it was fair. His sense of fairness was offended by the insurance company’s doctor’s opinions, and he bowed his neck and let us try the case. That’s why we’re so glad for him.
He had many pre-existing issues, including inflammatory arthritis, degenerative disc disease, osteoarthritis, stroke, TTP, prostate cancer (which was diagnosed and treated between the accident and our trial), etc. It’s very clear that American Family was relying on the jury being unable to look past all that. He had routine follow-ups with a rheumatologist for the arthritis in his hands, knees, and sporadic complaints of pain in his back. He had no meaningful history of neck complaints, though of course, the post-crash x-rays showed degeneration and facet joint disease.
Building this Rear-end Car Accident Case for Racine Court
Our expert was a pain management doctor in Racine, who treated Paul from 3-months post-crash on.
The defense hired a self-employed pain management doctor from Menomonee Falls who has worked for the insurance industry for 30+ years. He relied on the extensive medical history and pre-existing conditions to give a 6-weeks and out, soft tissue, opinion. His review of the record and ignoring of the nature of the crash provided me ample grounds for cross-examination. The jury clearly rejected his opinions entirely.
We built this car accident case around the medical expenses and the fact that our client always reported real improvement with medial branch blocks and radio-frequency ablations. In sticking with that theme, I asked for the biggest number for future medical expenses and kept pain & suffering ask low, to remain credible on our case being about getting him the care that he needs.
What We Won for Paul – Domnitz Case Results
The jury awarded Paul:
- $70,000 for past medicals
- $32,000 for past pain and suffering (P&S)
- $60,000 for future P&S
- $225,000 for future medical expenses
Noah Domnitz suggested a range of $155,000 – $310,000 for futures to the jury – based on doctor’s treatment recommendations - TOTAL VERDICT = $385,000+ returned by a jury of Paul’s peers from Racine
After 3 days of trial, a total verdict of $385,000+ was returned by a jury of Paul’s peers. Again, we relied on the fact that medical treatment took away the pain and allowed him to live his simple life with a controlled level of pain, and thus the future medicals were the most important compensation they could provide.
It was our honor to try this case to a Racine jury on our client’s behalf. He was an 80-year-old man who could’ve taken a settlement to avoid a trial, but he decided to fight and empowered us to fight for him.
Contact Domnitz & Domnitz if you’ve been in a car accident, or any personal injury incident – Ric & Noah Domnitz can fight for you too!