Expert Discovery Leads To Successful Settlement In Trucking Case

April 25, 2018

After disclosing defendants’ experts and damaging video surveillance of Plaintiff, Patton & Ryan successfully settled a case for a fraction of Plaintiff’s demand in a motorcycle vs. semi-tractor case. The Plaintiff motor­cycle driver failed to come to a stop while approaching a stalled semi-tractor on a highway with ongoing road construction. Due to road construction there was a concrete barrier wall lining the right lane, resulting in no shoulder for the semi-tractor to pull over to.

At the time of the accident, Plaintiff failed to properly brake his motorcycle or change lanes in order to avoid the approaching stalled semi-tractor. As a result of his failures, Plaintiff lost control causing the motorcycle to lay down resulting in him skidding into the concrete barrier wall and continuing to slide toward the stalled semi-tractor. Plaintiff himself never made contact with the semi-tractor.

Based on the facts, the case was rightfully viewed as very questionable as to liability and damages; therefore, Patton & Ryan continued to defend the case by pushing back against Plaintiff’s speculative allegations and demands. In an attempt to exploit Defendants and their lack of involvement in causing Plaintiff’s own injuries, Plaintiff attempted to allege that the semi-tractor had improper reflective tape, which caused Plaintiff to be unable to perceive and recognize the semi-tractor in order to avoid his accident. However, Plaintiff’s own experts agreed that had Plaintiff properly applied his brakes his accident would have never happened.

Due to him not wearing a helmet, Plaintiff suffered a fractured skull, which Plaintiff alleges resulted in him suffering a traumatic brain injury. In an attempt to exploit an accident that Plaintiff caused himself, Plaintiff’s counsel was erroneously alleging that Plaintiff needed 24-hour care and assistance in all of his daily living activities. However, due to Patton & Ryan’s aggressive work-up of the case it was uncovered that Plaintiff’s alleged traumatic brain injury was not as severe as Plaintiff’s counsel was alleging.

Throughout the discovery process, including defendants’ neuropsychological expert’s evaluation and video surveillance, it was exposed that Plaintiff lived on his own after leaving a medical care facility following the accident. Discovery and video surveillance also revealed that Plaintiff did not need any assistance in most daily living activities.

Patton & Ryan’s comprehensive efforts in preparing the case from the very beginning, on a very questionable liability case, led directly to the settlement of this case, at mediation, for a portion of Plaintiff’s original demand.