Jury Finds In Favor Of Manning Kass Team

Manning Kass recently earned a positive result for our client in an admitted liability case. 

On December 6, 2019, around 12:30 PM, defendant Gin Otto, Jr., an employee of Enterprise Rent-A-Car, was transporting a 2020 Maserati Levante on behalf of Enterprise Rent-A-Car in the #1 lane of the I-405 Northbound near the Century Boulevard exit. Plaintiff Thomas Dillon was driving a 2017 Chevy Equinox and was also in the #1 lane of the I-405 Northbound when traffic came to a stop. The 2020 Maserati Levante rear-ended the plaintiff's vehicle. This collision caused the plaintiff's vehicle to collide with a car in front of him. 

The plaintiff sought extensive medical treatment, ultimately having a lumbar discectomy. Per the plaintiff’s experts, the plaintiff will need two further surgeries, including a cervical fusion or two-level disc replacement and a lumbar spine, two-level disc replacement. The plaintiff also claimed to have suffered from a traumatic brain injury. The plaintiff claimed over $1.1 million in past and future medical specials. 

Before trial, the defendants offered $610,000 via a 998. The plaintiff demanded $1,999,999 via a 998 shortly before trial. During trial, the plaintiff demanded $5,000,000 and then $15,000,000 to settle. Then in closing arguments, the plaintiff asked the jury for over $18,000,000.

The Manning Kass defense was led by Assistant Managing Partner Dennis B. Kass. The team was able to convince the jury that some of the plaintiff’s past medical specials had questionable necessity and that there were serious questions as to the necessity of future surgeries and the causal connection to the subject accident. After 2 weeks of trial, the jury deliberated for less than 4 hours before arriving at a unanimous verdict of $612,000