Harold Saul and Kristin Wood, of the Tampa office, obtained a favorable defense verdict in a case involving a car versus motorcycle accident. The Plaintiff was a very likeable elderly Korean War veteran who was struck by our client who was driving her car to work in broad daylight. Our client never saw the motorcyclist, hitting him broadside without even touching her brakes. Our client’s vehicle only came to a stop when she hit a wall on the side of the road after the collision. Even though the Plaintiff admitted partial liability, he argued strenuously that the Defendant was the majority cause of the accident because she was not wearing her glasses despite having an eyeglass restriction on her driver’s license. Thus, the Plaintiff argued that had she been wearing her glasses, she would have seen the Plaintiff and at least hit her brakes. The Plaintiff also argued that the Defendant was traveling too fast under the conditions, as the accident occurred in a construction zone. Harold and Kristin argued that the sole cause of the accident was the motorcyclist’s actions in violating her right of way.

The Plaintiff required surgery and a hospital stay of almost 30 days plus nearly three months of inpatient rehabilitation resulting in large medical bills. Through a pre-trial Motion in Limine, Harold and Kristin were successful in arguing that the Plaintiff could only board what Medicare paid, which was stipulated as caused by the accident. This was despite Plaintiff presenting several trial court orders where other judges had incorrectly ruled that the recent Joerg decision applies to the presentation of past medical bills paid by Medicare, not just for future medicals. After three days of trial, the jury found the Plaintiff 90% negligent.