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Segal McCambridge's trial team, led by Kenneth Williams and second-chaired by Kristina Dukanac, secured a significant victory in Oakland County, Michigan. Before trial, Plaintiff's counsel demanded $1.25 million. At trial, Plaintiffs (husband and wife) sought $3.7 million in damages. The Plaintiff also claimed past lost income and a 37-year loss of future earning capacity.
The Plaintiff alleged multiple injuries, including cervical and lumbar disc herniations, TMJ, traumatic brain injury (TBI), PTSD/anxiety, and a left knee tear requiring arthroscopy. The defense argued that the Plaintiff initiated treatment with most medical providers long after the motor vehicle accident (MVA) and only after retaining counsel. Despite the Plaintiff's immediate post-accident pain complaints, the jury awarded damages solely for the left knee injury.
Relying on the treating orthopedic surgeon's testimony, the defense contended that the timing and cause of the knee tear were uncertain, with evidence of a healing tear during surgery. The surgeon's testimony further supported the defense by indicating that spinal MRI re-reads showed no acute disc herniations. The Plaintiff did not report TBI symptoms until 1.5 years post-MVA. Regarding PTSD/anxiety, the defense demonstrated that the Plaintiff attributed these issues to work and marriage, not the MVA, and presented emails contradicting her TBI and PTSD claims. The TMJ claim was also challenged, arising three years post-accident, with the Plaintiff's dentist prescribing a mouthguard for unrelated reasons.
Throughout the trial, the parties rejected all settlement attempts due to divergent case valuations. The two-week trial concluded with a 2.5-hour jury deliberation and an extremely favorable defense verdict, amounting to less than 2% of the initial demand at the beginning of the trial. The jury dismissed the economic claim through a directed verdict and found all claims, except for a brief period involving the left knee, causally unrelated to the accident.
