July 23, 2009
A $6.9 million settlement was reached today between a major semitruck company and two individuals moments before a jury was about to deliver its verdict after a four-day trial in Madison. A family was torn apart by tragedy when a semitruck drove over a stopped car, killing two of its occupants, a 52-year-old woman and her 4-year-old granddaughter. The third person in the car, a 58-year-old man, survived the crash with a fractured leg and post-traumatic stress disorder.
While the trucking company admitted fault before trial it argued the damages should be valued at $2.1 million. During the four-day jury trial the trucking company’s offer went up incrementally until the case finally settled for $6.9 million just before the jury was about to return what jurors interviewed after the settlement said would have been a $6.5 million verdict.
David E. Rapoport, lead trial attorney for this semitruck crash lawsuit remarked, “The value of the wrongful death cases was held down by low noneconomic damages caps under the law, which many of the jurors said were too low and should be changed. However, the law did not limit what could be awarded for the surviving man’s post-traumatic stress disorder, and while it was a struggle we are pleased in the end with the record-setting amount paid to him and hope the Wisconsin Legislature will consider eliminating or raising the damages caps in light of the jury’s low opinion of the law on that question.”
Rapoport Weisberg & Sims P.C. is a personal injury law firm based in Chicago, Illinois. The personal injury attorneys at Rapoport Weisberg & Sims P.C. have achieved multimillion-dollar verdicts and settlements for individuals with lawsuits arising from medical malpractice, product liability, semitruck and motor vehicle accidents, workplace injuries and construction accidents in Illinois and Wisconsin. Rapoport Weisberg & Sims P.C.’s premier aviation negligence lawyers represent victims of commercial and general aviation disasters nationwide.
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