On October 23, 2019, Brian Poulter and Patrick Jacobs completed a weeklong jury trial in Long Beach, California on behalf of their client, Carlos Perez. After 90 minutes of deliberation, the jury unanimously awarded SLG’s client $255,995.00 ($75,995.00 in past medical expenses; $110,000.00 in past pain and suffering damages; and $75,000.00 in future pain and suffering damages).
The case stemmed from a 2015 motor vehicle collision where the defendant lied and said that Mr. Perez put his car into reverse and backed into the defendant’s SUV. The case was immediately flagged by State Farm and sent to its special investigation fraud unit. Because of this, the highest amount State Farm ever offered to settle the case pre-trial was $9,000.00. At trial, Brian and Pat established early that the defendant was a liar who couldn’t be trusted. The jury commented after the trial that the defendant’s story just didn’t make sense, and that it was clear that her experts were willing to say whatever it took to obtain a defense verdict.
Pre-trial, Brian and Pat sent a CCP 998 offer to compromise to the defendant in the amount of $250,000.00, which was the defendant’s insurance policy limits. The defendant did not accept, and as a result, Brian and Pat will be filing a petition with the court to have the defendant pay for their litigation costs, expert fees and costs, and 10% prejudgment interest from the date of the 998 to the satisfaction of the judgment. They will also be filing a costs of proof motion for attorney’s fees given that the defendant denied certain requests for admission pre-trial. After all is said and done, Brian and Pat expect to obtain a gross judgment in the neighborhood of $500,000.00 on a case that the insurance carrier was adamant would result in a defense verdict.
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