Settlements & Verdicts 2023

This case arose  as a result of an automobile accident that occurred on July 28, 2017 at approximately 11:38 a.m. southbound on Route 495 in Bellingham, Massachusetts.

Prior to the collision, the Plaintiff, 52, was traveling on 495 in the middle lane of three (3) travel lanes. The Defendant, was traveling to the right of the Plaintiff in the slow speed lane. At some point, the two vehicles, veered into each other causing the Plaintiff’s vehicle to spin approximately 270̊ clockwise and into the guardrail on the right side of the road, causing her to strike her head on the windshield. The Plaintiff’s air bags deployed as well. The plaintiff was transported to the hospital for her injuries, where she was diagnosed with  forehead and facial bruising and a concussion.

The Plaintiff subsequently filed suit and discovery ensued. The Plaintiff’s claim that the Defendant was at fault was strongly contested and complicated by the investigating State Police Officer, who found it likely that “both parties were inattentive and looking at each other and veered into each other” causing the accident. No citations were issued. Both parties retained accident re-constructionists who attributed the cause of the accident to the other side.

The Plaintiff initially sought treatment from Dr. Kney, her family doctor, who diagnosed her with a concussion, however, due to ongoing cognitive issues she was referred to Dr. Farrel Douglas, a neurologist in Fall River MA., who first examined the Plaintiff on September 29, 2017. At that visit, Dr. Douglas documented the Plaintiff’s had ongoing cognitive difficulties and imbalance since the car accident, consistent with a concussion. He noted that since the accident her balance was poor and she was having cognitive problems involving short-term memory  and impairments in sense of direction.
Dr. Douglas opined that because of her continuing complaints of cognitive issues due to the car accident and head injury, he scheduled two EEG’s that he reported as abnormal and consistent with a mild concussion.

In opposition, the Defendants’ two medical experts testified at their depositions that at most, the Plaintiff sustained a mild head injury that should have resolved within a year; that her signs and reported symptoms were wholly inconsistent with a temporal concussion and that the EEG’s tracings were normal.

After extensive negotiations and one mediation the case settled two weeks before trial for $460,000.00.

In addition, the Plaintiff, through the efforts of Brian Cunha & Associates was placed on workers compensation and as a result received a total of $516,000.00 in benefits, including a lump sum settlement of $325,000.00

The total settlements of both cases was $785,000.00