BVH attorneys receive 2014 Jury Verdict Reporter Award for Trial Lawyer Excellence/Outstanding Defense Verdict
Lori A. Vanderlaan and Christina M. Tribbia
October 2014 | Jury Verdict Reporter, Law Bulletin Publishing Company
Lori Vanderlaan and Christina Tribbia were honored at a ceremony on October 16, 2014 by the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin and Illinois Jury Verdict Reporter with a Trial Lawyer Excellence Award. Lori and Christina were two of twenty-six lawyers in Illinois to receive such an Award. This award was given in recognition for obtaining the 2014 Outstanding Defense Verdict in a Construction Zone Vehicle Accident. The case was tried in Cook County and involved a rear end accident at 45 mph in a construction zone between Defendant's semi and Plaintiff's dump truck. Plaintiff had over $600,000 in past medical, $250,000 in future medical and was making a wage loss claim of $1 million.
Lori and Christina defended liability based on the reasonableness of Defendant's actions given improper construction warning signage and Plaintiff's contributory negligence for failure to provide notice of his intent to exit into the construction zone. Further, the defense contested damages through expert testimony which disputed the injuries claimed by Plaintiff were caused by the accident and disputing that Plaintiff was disabled/unable to work. Plaintiff asked for over $2.9 million at trial and pre-trial demands never fell below $2.9 million. The highest offer was $300,000. The jury returned a verdict of $438,000 in favor of Plaintiff, but determined Plaintiff 50% negligent in causing the accident, thus reducing the verdict to $219,000. After applying a set-off of a $185,000 pre-trial settlement by third party construction defendants, the net verdict for Plaintiff was $34,000.