After a three day jury trial in Berks County, Christin Kochel secured a defense award in an underinsured motorist case.
Liability was not at issue. Plaintiff was injured when the third party defendant pulled out in front of the vehicle in which she was a passenger. Plaintiff sustained a left heel fracture requiring surgery inserting a plate and screws into her left heel. Plaintiff received several months of treatment thereafter including physical therapy and also missed three months of work.
Plaintiff’s medical expert opined that she would require a future fusion surgery removing the plates and screws in her foot and fusing the bones together. Plaintiff’s medical cost projection expert estimated plaintiff’s future medical costs at over $83,000, not considering pain and suffering.
The third party defendant settled before trial which resulted in a tortfeasor credit of $250,000 in this UIM case.
Before trial, plaintiff’s demand was $300,000, with $75,000 of that amount demanded from the UIM carrier. A $10,000 offer was made by the UIM carrier and rejected. Therefore, the case proceeded to trial against just the UIM carrier that covered the host vehicle plaintiff was in at the time of the accident. The jury returned a verdict in plaintiff’s favor in the total amount of $28,000. The jury was not aware of the credit and Ms. Kochel motioned the Court to mold the verdict to $0 in furtherance of applying the third party credit of $250,000. The Court agreed and the Plaintiff was awarded $0 against the UIM insurance carrier.
The Plaintiff’s experts were Dr. Daniel Farber and Valerie Parisi. The Defendant’s expert was Dr. Barry Ruht. The Judge was the Honorable Jeffrey Sprecher. Questions can be directed to Ms. Kochel.