HLP Partners Brad Parrott and Claire Williamson tried a personal injury case to verdict last week in the state court of Gwinnett County, GA. HLP’s client admitted liability and admitted that some damages should be paid to the injured Plaintiff. Thus, the only dispute was over the amount of damages to be paid to the Plaintiff.
The plaintiff asked the jury to award more than $30,000,000 in pain and suffering plus past and future medical expenses of more than $2,000,000. The medical expenses were supported by a very reputable orthopedic surgeon and practice.
In what has become an era of nuclear verdicts in Georgia, lead counsel Brad Parrott successfully persuaded the jury that it could honor the Plaintiff, compensate her for her reasonable medical expenses and pain, and at the same time honor the law’s requirement that damages be fair.
Mr. Parrott argued to the jury that damages must be tethered to the evidence and that the jury’s duty was to render a fair and reasonable verdict to both parties. After a short deliberation, the jury returned a verdict of $1,135,000.
This result is a testament to the fact that not all Georgia juries view a tort case as a lottery and that some jurors remain willing to be fair and rational.