The National Trial Lawyers
  • Home
    • Meet Our Team
    • Contact Us
    • Mission & Goals
    • FAQ
  • Webinars
  • News
  • Membership Directory
    • Top 100 Map – Civil Plaintiff
    • Top 100 Map – Criminal Defense
    • Top 40 Under 40 Map – Civil Plaintiff
    • Top 40 Under 40 Map – Criminal Defense
  • Top 100
    • Civil Plaintiff Officers / Executive Committee
    • Criminal Defense Officers / Executive Committee
    • Benefits
    • About
    • Top 100 President’s Message
    • Diplomat
    • Membership Renewal
    • Member Profile Updates
    • Top 100 Badge
    • Media
  • Top 40
    • Civil Plaintiff Officers / Executive Committee
    • Criminal Defense Officers / Executive Committee
    • Top 40 Under 40 Trial Academy Bootcamp
    • Benefits
    • About
    • Top 40 President’s Message
    • Membership Renewal
    • Member Profile Updates
    • Top 40 Badge
    • Media
  • Specialty Assoc
    • About
    • Shop
    • Officers
    • Membership Renewal
    • Member Profile Updates
    • Media
  • Nominate
    • Top 100
    • Top 40
    • Specialty Association
    • Trial Lawyer Hall of Fame
    • Trial Lawyer of the Year
    • Trial Team of the Year
    • America’s Most Influential Trial Lawyer
    • America’s Most Influential Law Firm
    • Lifetime Achievement Award
  • Shop
  • Magazine
    • A-List
  • Education and Networking Agenda
    • Trial Lawyers Summit
      • Summit Sponsors
    • Top 40 Under 40 Trial Academy Boot Camp
    • Mass Torts Made Perfect
    • The Lanier Master Class 5.0 Trial Academy 2021
    • Webinars
  • Hall of Fame
    • Trial Lawyer Hall of Fame

$3.1M Verdict for Woman Injured in Neck in Slow Collision

Posted on July 24, 2014 by Larry Bodine
rear end collision, jury verdict, liability

Even though the plaintiff had physical therapy, epidural injections and neck fusion surgery, the defense disputed the plaintiff’s injuries.

A Pasadena, CA, jury awarded $3,102,463 to a woman who suffered a ruptured cervical disc as the result of a low speed, rear end car accident. The Los Angeles County Superior Court jury deliberated for approximately four hours before reaching its verdict.

Rahul Ravipudi, counsel for Ms. Gamage, stated, “this verdict is a fair and just outcome that ensures that Ms. Gamage’s medical care will be taken care of for the rest of her life. This is a case that need not have gone to trial but for the unreasonableness of the defendant’s insurance company.” Panish Shea & Boyle attorneys Rahul Ravipudi and David Rudorfer represented the plaintiff.

Teresa Gamage, 56, was the front passenger in a vehicle that was stopped at a red light in Beverly Hills, CA, on May 10, 2011, when it was struck from behind by the defendant driver at a low rate of speed, resulting in almost no property damage.

She sought immediate treatment for pain. Although an MRI taken three weeks after the incident showed degenerative disease with a 3-4mm disc bulge at neck vertebrae C5-6 that was not impinging on the spinal cord, the treating neurosurgeon determined that there was a ruptured disc at C5-6 which was impinging on the spinal cord and causing radiculopthy.

After conservative treatment, including physical therapy and epidural injections, did not relieve Gamage’s pain, she proceeded with a C5-6 fusion surgery in November 2011. Gamage could not afford necessary treatment after the surgery and did not obtain any.

Defendant disputes injuries

The defendant driver admitted her negligence caused the collision but disputed that the collision caused any injuries to Gamage. At trial, attorneys for the defendant questioned causation and challenged the reasonableness of  Gamage’s medical bills, her need for future medical treatment and the value of her pain and suffering.

The jury agreed with Gamage, awarding all of her requested past ($197,752.52) and future ($1,904,711.10) medical expenses and an additional $1,000,000 for past and future pain and suffering.

In eleventh hour settlement discussions, the insurance company offered only $87,000 to settle the case, and the highest offer before the start of trial was $350,000. “Hopefully this case serves as notice to insurance companies that they need to be reasonable and offer fair compensation,” continued Mr. Ravipudi.

While the jury was deliberating, the parties reached a high/low agreement of $650,000 and $5,250,000, plus costs, with all rights to appeal waived.

This is the third multi-million dollar jury verdict obtained by Panish Shea & Boyle LLP attorneys this year. Last month, in Diao v. Southern California Gas Co., also tried by Mr. Ravipudi, the firm obtained a $19,786,818 jury verdict for a man injured in a home gas explosion. In May, the firm obtained a $15,313,703 jury verdict for a woman and her daughter after the woman suffered a broken back while riding on a recklessly driven Alameda-Contra Costa Transit bus.

The case is Teresa Gamage v. Estelle Roitblat, Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles, Case No. BC490437, Judge Jan Pluim.

Posted in Auto Accidents, Blog

Comments are closed.

News Categories

Subscribe to Blog and VFJ via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog, the Voice for Justice and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Read about other Top Jury Verdicts

Toyota Will Pay $180M to Settle Violations of the Clean-Air Act

Toyota Will Pay $180M to Settle Violations of the Clean-Air Act

The U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced today that the United States has[Read More...]
Boeing's Insitu Will Pay $25M to Settle a Whistleblower Complaint About Used Drone Parts

Boeing's Insitu Will Pay $25M to Settle a Whistleblower Complaint About Used Drone Parts

Bingen, Wash.-based Insitu, a Boeing subsidiary, has agreed to pay $25 million to settle allegations that it used recycl[Read More...]
Deutsche Bank Agrees to Settle Criminal and Civil Charges for $130M

Deutsche Bank Agrees to Settle Criminal and Civil Charges for $130M

DEUTSCHE Bank AG agreed to pay US$130 million to settle criminal and civil charges that it bribed foreign officials and manip[Read More...]
Boeing Pays $2.5B to Settle Charges Tied to the 737 MAX Crashes

Boeing Pays $2.5B to Settle Charges Tied to the 737 MAX Crashes

Boeing has agreed to pay just over $2.5 billion to resolve a federal charge of “criminal misconduct” for how its [Read More...]
Texas Attorney General Seeks $43M in Google Antitrust Lawsuit

Texas Attorney General Seeks $43M in Google Antitrust Lawsuit

The mass exodus of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's top staff over accusations of bribery against their former boss has le[Read More...]

#LegalNews

@@TheNTLtop100

Contact Us | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy

Attorney information and content provided on this website is provided for the benefit of members of The National Trial Lawyers and as a public service by Legal Associations Management, Inc. The website and all data are the property of Legal Associations Management, Inc. Data, including without limitation attorney information and content, on the site may not be mined, sold, or used commercially for any purpose without the explicit written consent of Legal Associations Management, Inc. This site may not be accessed by any automated program for extracting data for any use. By accessing and using the site you agree that you will not develop, support or use software, devices, scripts, robots, or any other means or processes (including crawlers, browser plug-ins and add-ons, or any other technology) to scrape data or otherwise copy profiles and other data. Unauthorized use or attempted unauthorized use of this system may subject you to both civil and criminal penalties.