From February 24, 2025, through February 26, 2025, attorneys Matthew Hurst and Ellen Lu represented their client at trial in State Court of Cobb County. The lawsuit stemmed from a September 2019 rear-end automobile accident which the Plaintiff alleged resulted in injury to his neck and low back. The Plaintiff complained of injury at the scene and was taken by ambulance to Piedmont Henry Hospital. The Plaintiff received two years of treatment, which included chiropractic care, epidural steroid injections, and other non-surgical orthopedic treatment. At trial, the Plaintiff presented approximately $55,000.00 in medical expenses.

With fault for the accident being clear, the defense team focused on contesting the Plaintiff’s claims of injuries and damages. During the discovery process, attorney Hurst was able to discover the Plaintiff had a history of prior automobile accidents and similar injuries. Moreover, attorney Hurst discovered the Plaintiff had been involved in several additional automobile accidents after the September 2019 accident.

Understanding the difficulty in claiming the subject accident was the sole cause of the Plaintiff’s issues, the Plaintiff switched to an “eggshell Plaintiff” theory of the case. At trial, the Plaintiff’s treating physician causally linked the Plaintiff’s complaints to the September 2019 accident. During a blistering cross-examination, attorney Hurst successfully showed Plaintiff’s treating physician was unaware of any of the Plaintiff’s prior or subsequent automobile accidents or injuries. Despite that, the Plaintiff’s physician’s opinion regarding causation remained unchanged.

During his cross-examination of the Plaintiff, attorney Hurst showed the jury that despite being deposed twice and supplementing discovery nine times, the Plaintiff failed to disclose his involvement in four (4) other automobile accidents.

During closing arguments, the Plaintiff requested a verdict in the range of $1,200,000.00 to $1,600,000.00. After deliberating for one hour, the jury returned a verdict in favor of the Defendant.  A statutory offer of settlement sent by the defendant in April 2022 was rejected and fees and expenses from the date of rejection are being calculated.