Case Results

February 19, 2007

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Verdicts & Settlements

Pregnant Mom in Wreck Settles For $1.1 Million
Lost Child, Suffered Brain Injury

Type of Action: Commercial vehicle wreck
Injuries Alleged: The plaintiff was approximately three months pregnant at time of accident, and she lost her baby. She sustained a brain injury, pelvic injury, and had to undergo a fusion at L4
Name of Case: Confidential
Court: Carteret County
Case No.: Confidential
Tried Before: Mediation
Verdict/Settlement: Settlement
Amount: $1.1 million
Verdict Date: Settlement obtained Nov. 20, 2006
Demand: Policy limits
Offer: No offer until mediation
Experts: N/A
Insurer: State Farm
Plaintiff Attorney: Robert E. Whitley, Rodgman & Whitley, LLP, Kinston
Person Submitting: Alicia Delamere

Description: The plaintiff, a commercial truck driver, was traveling on Highway 101 in Carteret County when the defendant's tractor trailer crossed the center line and struck plaintiff's vehicle head-on. Timely investigation resulted in several videotaped eyewitness accounts supporting the fact that the defendant truck driver, who was killed in the wreck, was responsible.

The plaintiff was approximately three months pregnant and lost her baby in the accident. She also sustained a brain injury. Because she was on the job at the time of the accident, the workers' compensation insurer managed her medical treatment. Significantly, the workers' compensation carrier saw fit to have her admitted to Shepherd's medical facility in Atlanta, Ga., one of the country's leading brain injury hospitals. As a result of this early treatment and therapies associated with her hospitalization in Atlanta, the plaintiff made a substantial, although not complete, recovery from her brain injury.

Her workers' compensation claim was mediated months before the third party claim mediation. The workers' compensation lien was compromised and substantially reduced by agreement.

Her medical bills totaled approximately $387,443 and she had approximately $29,905 in lost wages through 11/20/2006. In return for being able to settle the claim at mediation and in return for structuring a large portion of the settlement, the plaintiff was willing to accept the full policy limits of $1.1 million to resolve her claim.

Of interest, the plaintiff was married several months before the date of her mediation and part of the mediation presentation included footage from her wedding.