Plaintiff, a 60 year-old professional interstate over the road (long distance) truck driver, alleged devastating injuries to his left arm, left knee and back resulting from a truck v. truck sideswipe collision occurring in the early hours of the morning on the eastbound 60 freeway. After two elbow surgeries and protracted medical care, plaintiff claimed he would more than likely never return to gainful employment and requested $2.4 Million at trial. During the trial, the parties stipulated to a “high-low” agreement, taking effect at the time of the verdict, thereby eliminating the risk for our client of a runaway verdict and eliminating the possibility of an appeal and its associated costs. The defense proceeded at trial to systematically unravel plaintiff’s contentions and successfully convinced a downtown Los Angeles jury that plaintiff was primarily at fault for the collision, based on his own testimony that he parked on a narrow shoulder of the freeway rather than pulling off the freeway and citing both California law and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA). The defense also elicited key testimony from plaintiff’s own doctors that plaintiff was capable of returning to gainful employment as a truck driver or otherwise and that the injuries to plaintiff’s left knee and back were not attributable to the incident. After a six day trial, the jury found plaintiff to be 70% at fault, and returned a verdict of approximately $40,000.
