Lance Willis, at that time a 21-year-old student, was riding his motorcycle in Lane County, Oregon when he made a left turn on a rural road. His view was blocked from on-coming traffic by a 60-foot-long, loaded logging truck. As he was making the turn at the intersection, he and his motorcycle collided with an on-coming vehicle.
Plaintiff Verdict
What is a plaintiff verdict in personal injury law?
After an accident, an insurance claim is launched. If the injured person, called the plaintiff, or that person’s attorney, cannot agree with the insurance company to settle the claim, then a lawsuit is filed and the claim goes before the court.
How is a personal injury trial handled?
Almost all injured people who choose to reject a settlement offer from an insurance company hire an injury attorney to handle the resulting trial. The lawyer will spend considerable time preparing the case by gathering documents and evidence, interviewing witnesses and the defendant, determining the dollar value of the plaintiff’s damages, and arguing the case in front of the judge and jury.
After a judge and jury are presented with the facts and evidence of the case during trial, the decision of the jury, called a verdict, is reached. Sometimes the verdict is in the favor of the plaintiff, and sometimes the verdict is in the favor of the person or entity that is being sued, called a defense verdict. The facts and evidence of the case are the key components used by the jury to make this decision.
How often do personal injury claims go to trial?
In reality, most claims that are filed with the court eventually settle prior to a trial. As the trial date grows closer, attorneys for the plaintiff and defendant typically will communicate intensively to negotiate a settlement that meets the demands of the injured plaintiff.
A plaintiff verdict is possible in any trial related to various personal injury cases. For trials in Virginia, click the links below to learn more about a plaintiff verdict as it relates to:
- Charlottesville car accidents and Harrisonburg car accidents;
- Charlottesville pedestrian accidents and Harrisonburg pedestrian injuries;
- Charlottesville motorcycle accidents and Harrisonburg motorcycle accidents;
- Charlottesville truck accidents and Harrisonburg truck accidents;
- Charlottesville bicycle accidents and Harrisonburg bicycle accidents;
- Charlottesville Uber/Lyft accidents and Harrisonburg leased car accidents;
- Charlottesville drunk driving accidents and Harrisonburg drunk driving accidents;
- Charlottesville distracted driving accidents and Harrisonburg distracted driving crashes;
- Harrisonburg aggressive driving accidents;
- Charlottesville hit-and-run accidents and Harrisonburg hit-and-run accidents;
- Charlottesville failure-to-yield accidents;
- Charlottesville head-on accidents and Harrisonburg head-on collisions;
- Charlottesville sideswipe accidents and Harrisonburg sideswipe accidents;
- Charlottesville wrongful death claims and Harrisonburg wrongful death claims;
- Charlottesville spinal cord injuries and Harrisonburg spinal cord injuries;
- Charlottesville brain injuries and Harrisonburg brain injuries.
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Robert Graves, 17, was riding his motorcycle down Garfield Avenue in Sacramento County, California on a Saturday night on September 19, 1981 and was trying to find a party accompanied by his friend Ron Strem and his girlfriend, who were riding in a car.
On July 21, 2007, at 10:40 a.m., Len Briese was riding his motorcycle west on Scotts Valley Road, east of Laurel Dell in an unincorporated Lake County, California. William James Tilley, a resident of Oklahoma, was driving his pickup truck with a trailer east on Scotts Valley Road and collided with plaintiff’s motorcycle. Tilley said he crossed over the center line in a curve and sideswiped Briese on his motorcycle.
As a result of the accident, Briese suffered a leg fracture, a degloving injury to knee and had to receive knee replacement surgery.
On July 10, 1982, at 11: 20 p.m.Sharon Crigger, a 36-year-old federal crop insurance adjuster with the Department of Agriculture, was riding as a passenger on the back of Kermit Johansson's motorcycle at Fruit and Ashlan Avenue. Ms. Crigger and Mr. Johansson were driving west on Ashlan when Patrick McHatton was traveling in a southbound direction on Fruit Avenue. The two vehicles collided with each other at the intersection controlled by light signals. Both drivers argued that they had the green light.
Henry Washington, 51, was driving his motorcyle west on Folsom Street at 10:00 a.m. on June 28, 1982, in San Francisco. At the intersection of 13th Street, a car made a left turn and Washington ran into the vehicle, killing him.
This accident was occured when a 17-year-old motorcyclist collided with a commercial vehicle at a busy intersection, resulting in the youth's death.
Mr. Zamarripa, a 17-year-old youth, sustained severe brain damage, including spastic paralysis and a speech impediment when the motorcycle he was riding as a passenger crashed into a van at an intersection. Zamarripa claimed that a five foot high wall on the Union Oil company’s property caused his stepfather, who was driving the motorcycle, to be unable to see on-coming cars at the intersection. Zamarripa sued the city of Coachella for negligently placing the wall.