Virginia Man Suffering Chronic Pain After Getting Hit by a Truck Settles Lawsuit for $5.1M

by James Lewis

JIm is a Virginia injury attorney who handles car accidents, medical malpractice, FELA, wrongful death, etc.

8/16/2011
James Lewis
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Virginia Man Suffering Chronic Pain After Getting Hit by a Truck Settles Lawsuit for $5.1M

Two years after being hit by a truck in Rockingham, Virginia (VA), in 2009, 71-year-old Zackie Mitchell still suffers unrelenting pain from injuries he sustained in the crash. It took until April 2011 to get the trucking company, Bush Hog LLC, to admit that the driver it employed was at fault for the head-on collision with Mitchell's SUV. It was another three months before the defendant agreed to settle with Mitchell to cover his more than $1 million in medical treatment costs and ongoing pain and suffering. The total amount of the settlement was $5.1 million.

According to an August 11, 2011, report in Virginia Lawyers Weekly, Bush Hog settled shortly before having to go court. This is not uncommon in truck accident injury cases, as insurance companies for commercial truck drivers try to delay paying legitimate claims for as long as possible.

I congratulate my fellow Virginia personal injury attorney John Shea of Richmond, VA, for his success in holding the trucking company and its insurer accountable for the harm done to Zackie Mitchell. I also find it interesting that, as the news magazine notes, Shea had intended to introduce so-called "pain equivalency" evidence at the averted trial.

This fairly unique strategy involves drawing comparisons between painful circumstances and a patient's need for painkillers. For instance, a pretrial statement of evidence filed by Shea contained expert testimony from a pharmacologist that Mitchell's pain was severe enough to require medication doses high enough to relieve the pain of "501 heart attacks ... [or] 1,002 to 2,004 hours of obstetrical labor."

Despite disputing the validity of pain equivalence, the defendant did settle with the plaintiff, paying the injured man monetary damages that should be sufficient to cover his ongoing therapy. That's the most important thing.

EJL

Category: Crashes Caused by Trucks

Labels: chronic pain evidence of pain head-on collision injured by truck insurance companies pain equivalence painkillers Rockingham County settlement SUV crash truck accident in Virginia trucking company Virginia personal injury attorney

About the Editors: Shapiro, Lewis & Appleton is a Virginia injury law firm whose attorneys focus on personal injury and accident law and have experience handling truck wreck cases. Check out our truck accident case results and our free consumer guide on what to do if you get involved in an accident with a commercial truck.

We have offices in Virginia Beach and Hampton, VA, but we're ready to come to you anywhere in Virginia, including Norfolk, Chesapeake, Portsmouth, Suffolk and Newport News, VA, if you've been seriously hurt by someone else's carelessness.

Rick Shapiro and James Lewis have been named to the National Million Dollar Advocates Forum since 2009 and included among the Best Lawyers in America since 2008. Jim and Rick have been named Virginia Super Lawyers for Personal Injury Law since 2010. Fewer than 5 percent of practicing lawyers receive this honor.

In addition, our VA injury law firm was the first in the commonwealth to join Primerus, a select group of highly ethical and respected law firms, and we have the highest rating of AV from Martindale-Hubbell, a national lawyer ranking organization. The rating indicates we have a reputation for preeminent legal skill.

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Virginia Man Suffering Chronic Pain After Getting Hit by a Truck Settles Lawsuit for $5.1M

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