On March 11, 2011, Veronica Thomas was a passenger in a taxi cab heading eastbound on Jackson Boulevard in Chicago’s Loop when the defendant cab ran a red light on southbound State Street and struck the plaintiff’s cab, which she was riding in.
As a result of the crash, Thomas, 39 at the time, sustained a neck injury, which was claimed to require a future 3-level cervical fusion, a shoulder injury, right arm numbness, thumb injury and memory problems. She spent $24,177 in medical expenses related to her injuries.
The defendant driver, Tony C. Piattoni, also a cab driver, said he was stopped at the red light at Jackson Boulevard when he saw the light a block ahead at Van Buren Street turn green and mistook it for his traffic signal. The defendant cab driver admitted negligence but contested the extent of the injuries claimed by Thomas. The defense also denied that Thomas will require a future fusion surgery.
Before trial, the offer to settle the case by the defendant cab company was $70,000. The demand to settle the case was $350,000. The jury was asked in closing argument to return a verdict of $739,000 by Thomas’s attorney, Mark W. Damisch.
The jury’s verdict of $162,500 was made up of the following damages:
• $25,000 for medical expenses;
• $68,750 for loss of normal life; and
• $68,750 for future pain and suffering.
At trial, the medical providers who testified for Thomas were her treating neurologist and her neurosurgeon. The medical testimony brought by the defendant was a family practice physician and a neurosurgeon, both of whom were controlled expert witnesses who tried to convince the jury that Thomas’s injuries were not as severe as described by her and her own physicians who had treated her.
Veronica Thomas v. Chicago Carriage Cab Co., Tony C. Piattoni, No. 12 L 12159 (Cook County, Ill.).
Kreisman Law Offices has been handling automobile accident cases, truck accident cases and bicycle accident cases for individuals and families who have been harmed, injured or died as a result of the carelessness or negligence of another for more than 38 years in and around Chicago, Cook County and its surrounding areas, including Country Club Hills, Crestwood, Crete, Dixmoor, East Hazelcrest, Elgin, Evergreen Park, Elmwood Park, Northbrook, Northlake, Oak Forest, Olympia Fields, Tinley Park, Stone Park, Steger, Wheaton, Hinsdale, St. Charles, Aurora, Prospect Heights, Chicago (Burnside, Pill Hill, Lake Calumet), Chicago Ridge and Worth, Ill.
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