Third-Party Auto Negligence

Court/Case No: Wayne County Circuit Court/18-000224-NI

Tried/Argued Before: Judge

Demand: $300,000.00

Verdict: $0 – Order for No Cause of Action

Name of Judge(s): Honorable Patricia Perez Fresard

Keys to the Case:

This was a rear-end accident involving two passenger cars. Plaintiff alleged that she was sitting stopped at a red light when her car was struck from behind by Defendant. Defendant maintained that the light had turned green and Plaintiff had started from the light when she suddenly slammed on her brakes, telling Defendant that it was because a vehicle on the intersecting street had run the red light, crossing in front of Plaintiff’s vehicle. Both Plaintiff and Defendant were alone in their vehicles and there were no witnesses to the accident.

Plaintiff contended that she suffered herniated cervical and lumbar discs as a result of the accident and that the lumbar herniation caused pudental nerve neuropathy, leading to incontinence and necessitating two surgeries to implant a nerve stimulator. Defendant did not admit liability as to how the accident occurred and contested whether Plaintiff’s claimed injuries stemmed from the accident. Plaintiff asked the jury for $300,000.00.

At trial, Plaintiff presented her primary care doctor, her treating physical medicine and rehabilitation doctor, and her treating urological surgeon, all of whom related the injuries to the accident by history. Defendant called a urological surgeon, a neurosurgeon, a physical medicine and rehabilitation doctor, a neuroradiologist, and a biomechanical engineer. The urological surgeon, neurosurgeon, and physical medicine and rehabilitation doctor all testified that Plaintiff’s spinal complaints were degenerative in nature and none of them found any objective evidence of traumatic injuries from the accident. Further, none of them related the pudental neuropathy to the accident. The neuroradiologist compared pre-accident diagnostic films of Plaintiff’s neck and lower back against post-accident diagnostic films, finding that there was no objective change in the comparison studies, and that they only showed degenerative changes. Finally, the biomechanical engineer analyzed the accident data and found that the forces involved in the accident were not of a magnitude to cause disc herniations and were instead nothing more than the forces the body experiences in everyday activities.

Defense SW attorney(s) Involved in Case: