The Madison County office recently secured three favorable trial verdicts on behalf of Lewis Brisbois' clients in three separate auto accident matters in Illinois state courts. Partners Michael C. Schroer and Adam S. Johnson tried the first two cases in Jackson and Crawford Counties, respectively, with the third handled by Mr. Schroer and Associate Christopher T. McCann.
In the first case, our client had run a red light at a busy intersection, colliding with the plaintiffs' vehicle and knocking it off the street and into a commercial building. Certain facts surrounding the incident posed challenges. Specifically, the plaintiffs were a pair of elderly women, the jury saw footage of the accident during trial, and the injuries at issue were significant. After the three-day trial with admitted liability, the jury returned a verdict worth less than half of the plaintiffs' requested award and well under the defendant's policy limits.
In the second matter in which Messrs. Johnson and Schroer prevailed at trial, the plaintiffs were a married couple who claimed that the accident terminated the wife's pregnancy and caused them both to sustain personal injuries. After securing summary judgment on the plaintiffs' wrongful death claim concerning the lost pregnancy, the Lewis Brisbois team tried the personal injury claims over three days. The defendant admitted liability, and the parties tried the case on the issue of damages. The jury ultimately returned a total verdict well below the defendant's last settlement offer and worth only 3% of the plaintiffs' final demand.
In a third case, Mr. Schroer and Associate Christopher T. McCann secured a favorable result following a three-day jury trial in Jackson County. The plaintiff was a young single mother whose treating chiropractor testified that the accident caused permanent injuries that would require ongoing treatment over her lifetime. The Lewis Brisbois team challenged those opinions with expert testimony and used the plaintiff's statements on social media and in a memoir she published shortly before trial to refute her damages claims. After a three-day trial with admitted liability, the jury returned a verdict well below the plaintiff's damages request and below her final settlement demand.
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