On Tuesday a federal court jury in Gulfport returned a verdict of $1,132,491 in a case involving an 18–wheeler rear-end collision on I-10 in Harrison County. Here is the verdict form, which awarded the following damages:
- medical expenses: $132,491.50
- lost earnings: $850,000
- non-economic damages: $150,000.
The jury assigned 1% fault to an unknown driver. As a result, judgment was entered against the defendants for $902,376.59. Here is the judgment.
Here is the original complaint filed in state court. The case was removed to federal court.
Kasie Braswell of Mobile represented the plaintiff. Benny ‘Mac’ May of Dunbar Monroe in Ridgeland represented the defendants. Judge Louis Guirola was the trial judge.
My Take:
I can’t tell who won. The defendant presumably did not admit liability based on the apportionment part of the verdict form. So plaintiff getting a verdict against the defendant was a win for the plaintiff.
But the amount of the verdict seems small for this case. The plaintiff had economic damages of almost $1 million. The jury’s award of $150,000 in non-economic damages was a victory for the defense. Once you factor in attorney’s fees, the plaintiff would not be made whole by this verdict even if she had no non-economic damages. But with $132,000 in medicals, the plaintiff probably had substantial pain and suffering. So both sides can find something to like about this verdict.