Mr. Colin Walshok and Mr. Anirudh Ramakrishnan secured an impressive, unanimous jury verdict, and in the process demonstrated the value of having technically strategic and experienced trial counsel.

The case stemmed from a rear-end collision. Recognizing that liability was not in dispute, the defense strategy accepted fault for the accident and instead focused on carefully challenging the extent and causation of plaintiff’s alleged injuries.
Plaintiff pressed for more than $2 million in damages, alleging ongoing headaches with mild traumatic brain injury, cognitive deficits, and chronic cervical spine injury. To bolster these claims, plaintiff presented testimony from an orthopedic surgeon and a neuropsychologist, claiming damages for future medical care, in addition pain and suffering, and lost earnings. Defense counsel made a strategic pretrial § 998 offer of $200,000, which plaintiff rejected.

The defense team engaged three expert witnesses: a neurologist, a neurosurgeon, and a neuropsychologist. At trial, defense counsel, through its experts’ testimony, methodically demonstrated inconsistencies in plaintiff’s claims, and questioned the permanence and causal link between the accident and the alleged conditions.

The impact of the defense’s evidence was undeniable in how quickly the jury deliberated. After just 30 to 35 minutes of deliberation, a unanimous jury awarded $162,500 to the Plaintiff —primarily for past pain and suffering — significantly less than the plaintiff’s demand of over $2 million. Importantly, this verdict was well below the defense’s own pretrial 998 settlement offer of $200,000.
A § 998 offer is a statutory provision designed to encourage pre-trial settlement, by penalizing a party who rejects a reasonable settlement offer but then fails to achieve a better outcome at trial. Because Mr. Walshok and Mr. Ramakrishnan expertly utilized the provision, they not only secured a unanimous and highly favorable verdict but also triggered substantial cost-shifting in favor of their clients. The end-result is that their ecstatic client will pay almost nothing, despite admitted liability, thus demonstrating the practical impact of beating a §998 offer, and the value of having experienced and technical trial attorneys.