Matt Belcher
How To Turn a $50,000 Offer Into a $2.5 Million Verdict
March 31, 2025 5:30 PM||
50-year-old female bar manager, rear-end admitted liability, two weeks of lost time from work, $62k in stipulated medical after partial rotator cuff tear that was repaired & she was returned to full duty with 2-year gap in medical treatment until just before trial. Defense claims two years of pain free living after surgery means any residual problems are from the pre-existing degenerative arthritis in the shoulder.
State Farm $50,000 offer / $2.5 million verdict.
It was a rear-end impact while the plaintiff was at an ATM with her arm reaching out. It was more of a push than a crash. But the plaintiff left the scene by ambulance and was treated and released from ER.
Eventually the plaintiff had a rotator cuff surgery where the primary findings were degenerative arthritis.
Offer was $50,000, defense admitted liability but since the plaintiff only missed one week of work after the crash and reported to her surgeon after the rotator cuff repair that she was pain free, and likewise only missed one week of work post surgery, she was returned back to work full duty as a bar manager.
Then there was a 2-year gap in medical treatment until just before the trial when she went back to the surgeon and reported new shoulder pain as a few weeks prior.
Defense medical examiner testified that her current conditions were related to the significant pre-existing shoulder degeneration found during the surgery and with two years of no pain it could not relate back to the rear-end impact.
Defense suggested a verdict during closing of $62k plus $20k for pain, suffering and loss of normal life.
If you can't attend Live, Watch On Demand