The lawyers of Galloway Jefcoat are thrilled by the results of a recently concluded 4-day jury trial in Lafayette.
Personal Injury Attorneys, Rusty Galloway and Jason Weaver, received a judgment awarding their client $2.62 million plus judicial interest after sustaining injuries from a severe rear end collision.
On the week of May 13th, Galloway and Weaver presented the case to a jury where their client, a rural postal carrier for the United States Post Office, was struck from behind. The client was launched into a tree after being hit by a Liberty Mutual insured driver while stopped on a country road attempting to place a letter in a mailbox. As a result of the incident, their client had to undergo knee surgery and a lumbar fusion, causing her to lose her route with the Post Office.
During the trial, Medical causation was a contested issue, and the court required them to bring 5 doctors to trial to testify about their examination, testing, treatment, therapy, a number of spinal procedures, knee surgery and lumbar fusion surgery with instrumentation.
Galloway and Weaver also brought expert witnesses to testify to her loss of earning capacity. As noted by Rusty Galloway:
“Lafayette juries are thought to be notoriously conservative and not inclined to make substantial awards. However, when the defense offers a position that is untenable and the jury sees through a “house of cards”, they are known to hit the defense hard.
That is exactly what happened in this case.
The insurance company defense offered a disingenuous position that the knee injury was related to the accident, but not the spine injury. The jury saw through this position and agreed with our client on every element of damages. Jury trials take a special kind of preparation and presentation.
At Galloway Jefcoat, we take this very seriously, and it shows in the results garnered on behalf of our clients. Each case takes months of careful planning to ensure the presentation of the depositions, repetition, and evidence is easy to follow, congruent and in favor of our client.
We would like to thank Judge John Trahan for his demeanor and even handed approach to evidence and decorum before the jury. We would also like to thank the jury for their close attention to the evidence and testimony presented. While medical evidence can be tedious and testimony on causation can be hard to understand, this jury listened intently to both sides as they presented their case and rightly divided the testimony and evidence in favor of our client.
Ultimately, we want to thank our client for trusting us with this important case. Your amiability and dedication to the process helped to make this jury trial a fortunate event for all involved.”
Following presentation of the case, the jury returned a verdict of $2,627,319. Mouton v. Fontenot, et al, No. 2017-3596, Lafayette Parish, 15th.
The circumstances of each case are different. Our firm cannot guarantee that in any situation, including the examples mentioned in this blog, are grounds for legal action until the circumstances surrounding that specific event have been reviewed by an attorney. To find out if an incident is grounds for a legal claim, please call us today at 337-984-8020 or contact our office for a free consultation with one of our experienced attorneys.
JDC, 5/16/19 – Plaintiff’s Counsel: Rusty Galloway and Jason Weaver, Galloway Jefcoat, LLP, Lafayette
Lafayette Parish