Roman & Gaynor Announces $4,356,000.00 Verdict - Traumatic Brain Injury Trial

CLEARWATER, Fla., March 14, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- On August 6, 2012, Client was a 43 year old realtor from Palm Harbor, Florida. That day the Client was rear-ended with great force by an employee of Mercedes Benz of Melbourne on a rural highway in South Florida. The collision was so powerful that three cars were totally destroyed and the client was rendered unconscious. The Client sustained multiple fractures to her arm and ribs, damage to her shoulder and she sustained brain damage. According to the testimony of the driver of the vehicle in front of the Client, she was unconscious following the collision the entire time he saw her. She was taken to Raulerson Hospital by ambulance on advanced life support.

Client was diagnosed with a traumatic brain injury by virtue of a positive QEEG (quantitative electroencephalogram), positive SPECT scan, positive PET scan, as well as a positive MRI with diffusion tensor imaging. The Client continues to suffer cognitive difficulties and lives in severe pain on a daily basis due to headaches and injuries to her neck. The Client has never returned to "normal" and our expert, Dr. Craig Lichtblau, forecast more than 1 million dollars in future medical bills. 

The defense contested liability, causation, and damages. It claimed that our Client was to blame and that her traumatic brain injury did not exist, and that instead, she was suffering from a mental illness. The defense hired numerous expert witnesses who claimed that the imaging studies were negative despite several treating doctors testifying that they were positive. Finally, the defense used more than 52 pages of Facebook postings and 82 hours of surveillance to claim that the Client was living a full and happy life after the collision. The jury returned a verdict of $4,356,000.00, consisting of past medical bills of $155,401.98, future medical bills of $1,200,598.02, past pain and suffering of $1,000,000.00 and future pain and suffering in the amount of $2,000,000.00.

Prior to trial, the Defendant offered $300,000 and the Plaintiff's demand was $800,000.

The jury deliberated almost four hours at the conclusion of a six day trial in Brevard County, Florida.

Judge George W. Maxwell, III

Plaintiff's counsel: Mark S. Roman, Clearwater, Florida; Morgan L. Gaynor, Clearwater, Florida; Douglas Beam, Melbourne, Florida; and trial consultant, Harvey A. Moore, Ph.D., Tampa, Florida.

Defense counsel: C. Christopher Killer, Orlando, Florida; Todd Bohnenstiehl, Orlando, Florida.

CASE NO. 05-2015-CA-014966

SOURCE Roman & Gaynor

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