Toma v. Custom Landscaping of Montgomery – $1,000,000, Record-Setting Verdict in DuPage County for a Brain Injury from Motor Vehicle Collision
Plaintiff, Andrew Toma, was 51 years old at the time the car he was a passenger in was rear-ended by a landscaping truck.He was knocked unconscious at the scene, went to the hospital by ambulance, and complained of a headache and neck pain.The CT scan at the hospital came back normal, but Andy didn’t feel normal.He had ringing in his ears, lost hearing in both ears, had excruciating headaches, dizziness, anxiety, felt depressed, tired, irritable, and just not like himself.He saw his primary care physician, a chiropractor, an audiologist, an ear nose and throat specialist, two neurologists, and a therapist.
We hired a neuroradiologist, Dr. Eduardo Gonzalez-Toledo, as an expert in our case who arranged for a DTI and interpreted the results.The DTI results were consistent with a mild traumatic brain injury and the symptoms he was experiencing matched up with the areas of his brain that were injured.
Every common defense was ripe for picking by the other side on this case.Delay in diagnosis, bad/inconsistent medical records, gaps in treatment, invisible injury, social media depicting a happy guy who claims to be depressed, two targets for a sole-proximate cause defense, and a second collision 2 years after the first. I’ll explain how we systematically weakened these arguments through each witness’ testimony, evidence, exhibits, and how we wrapped it all up in closing.
Teaching Points
- How to identify when your client has an mTBI and how to prove it.
- Prepping the jury for a non-economic damages case in jury selection.
- “Puzzle Pieces” analogy/theme and visual aid to help the jury understand that the Defense’s arguments were flawed.
- The importance of damages (before v. after) witnesses – and what to do when there aren’t any.
- Value drivers in every mTBI case.
- Key evidence and demonstratives that can be used in every mTBI case.
- Effective cross-examination of the defense expert neurologist.