It is not at all unusual to find a motor vehicle accident case that is being defended both on liability and damages grounds. The key for the attorney representing the victim(s) is to uncover the evidence that will piece together the different parts of the case into one consistent, easy to understand story.
Consider, for example, the case of one particular motor vehicle accident that took place on a Monday in the late afternoon. The driver (who became the defendant in the case) lost control of his vehicle and crossed over onto the lane for traffic in the opposite direction where it slammed into another vehicle, totaling that vehicle. This was not disputed. Once this driver became a defendant in the resulting lawsuit, however, he claimed that he lost control of his vehicle after being hit in the right passenger door area by another vehicle. He thus took the position that he was not responsible, and thus not liable, for the accident or any injuries caused by the accident.
The vehicle that was hit contained two women - the owner, riding as a passenger, and her 29 year old daughter who was driving the car at the time of the accident. As a result of the accident the bones in the mother's right wrist were splintered, the cartilage in her knee was torn, and she ended up with a raised scar on her forehead. She had to undergo arthroscopic surgery for her knee and she developed arthritis in the area. The daughter's right knee suffered internal derangement and she developed carpal tunnel on both wrists.
The defense, not surprisingly, took the position that the mother's arthritis was the result of degenerative changes, not the accident. It also took the position that the daughter had carpal tunnel or that her knee had internal derangement.
The law firm that handled this case took the case to trial showed, through the testimony of the police officer who responded to the accident, that the defendant told the officer that he had been cut off by another car. He never said anything to the officer about a car hitting his vehicle. Further, the law firm was able to show that there was no damage to the defendant's rear passenger door which was inconsistent with the defendant's claim that he lost control of his vehicle after being hit by another.
With respect to the women's injuries the law firm introduced a positive EMG to show that the daughter did have carpal tunnel. They had the daughter's orthopedic surgeon testify that she will require a carpal tunnel release and that she will probably also develop arthritis in her knee. They also had a rehabilitative medicine specialist and a radiologist testify and introduced medical records, X-rays, and photographs of the accident scene and of the injuries suffered by the two women.
By putting together evidence which clearly explained how the accident happened and established the injuries suffered by the victims, the law firm was able to report that at the end of the trial the jury awarded the mother $500,000 and the daughter $223,000.
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