Trucking Accident Case Settles for $60,000; Initial Demand $500,000
Estate of Lawrence Gross v. Donald Sanders & ATS Specialized, Inc.
With well-planned motion practice and tenacious negotiation, Patton & Ryan achieved this highly favorable result for our clients in this trucking case. On October 8, 2000, Donald Sanders’ truck rear-ended Mr. Gross’ vehicle in Plymouth, Indiana, evidently causing significant back problems for the plaintiff. Allegedly, due to his loss of income and significant pain, Mr. Gross suffered severe psychological depression. This ultimately led to his suicide in the summer of 2003; the decedent drowned himself in a lake in southeastern Georgia. The plaintiff alleged that the accident with Sanders was a cause of his suicide, and thus that defendants were liable for his death.
On a motion for partial summary judgment, Patton & Ryan successfully argued that the plaintiff’s suicide was an intervening, subsequent cause of his death, breaking the chain of causation to the 2000 accident. In other words, the suicide was not a direct, foreseeable result of the accident, as a matter of law. Having won this motion, the defendants were able to prevent the plaintiffs from arguing that the suicide was related to the accident in any way.
What remained of the case, after the suicide was excluded, were claims for the back injury and aggravation of the decedent’s depression. At a mediation session, the plaintiffs initially demanded $200,000 for these remaining damages. In part due to our thorough trial preparedness and willingness to proceed to trial, and in part due to the negotiating skill of our attorneys Gary W. Klages and Paul S. Steinhofer, the case eventually settled on the eve of trial for $60,000.