Month Long Federal Jury Trial in Nebraska Results in Defense Verdict
12/13/2014A truck driver and passenger who were injured in a high speed rear end collision on I-80 in Seward County Nebraska at 1 am on August 9, 2010 brought suit against the employer of the driver which rear ended them in the United States District Court for the District of Nebraska. Both the injured driver and passenger claimed permanent disability due to injuries sustained in the collision. The driver claimed to suffer from PTSD and herniated discs in his cervical spine and the passenger alleged multiple discs in his lumbar spine were herniated as a result of the accident. The driver claimed over 2MM in damages and the passenger claimed 3.8MM in damages. Plaintiffs presented the testimony of 4 doctors and a life care planner from New York City as well as a vocational rehabilitation expert from Omaha. Defendant offered the testimony of a neuropsychologist from St. Louis, a life care planner from Nashville and an orthopedic surgeon from Omaha. The trial featured testimony from a number of nationally reknown accident reconstruction experts. Plaintiffs called David Stopper (West Virginia), Peter Dill (California), Alan Lynch (Iowa) and Neal Trantham (Nebraska). Defendant countered with William Messerschmidt (Alabama), David Brill (Florida) and Ted Sokol & Pedram Nabegh (Nebraska). After deliberating for more than two days the 12 person jury returned a unanimous verdict in favor of the employer of the rear ending driver. Case Nos 4:10CV3211, 4:10CV3212 and 8:10CV3191. Ryan Karaim and John Schultz represented the employer/defendant at trial.