original story by Katheryn Tucker of the Daily Report
Macon lawyer Katherine McArthur won an $817,500 verdict last week in a trial that followed a $250,000 State Farm insurance policy limit demand for injuries from a car crash. McArthur said Thursday the best pretrial offer from the defense was $125,000. She said the defense attorney told the jury that
$125,000 to $175,000 would be fair. Defense experts suggested the plaintiff’s back and hip injuries which had resulted in one surgery and would likely require another-weren’t really caused by the wreck but were the result of disc degeneration and arthritis.
“The jury didn’t buy that,” McArthur said. “I think it hurt the defense to stick their heads in the sand.”
The defense attorney was J. Christopher Wolfe of Chambless Higdon Richardson Katz & Griggs in Macon. Wolfe could not be reached for comment.
McArthur tried the case with D. Jordan Josey Jr., also of the McArthur Law Firm.
The McArthur firm represented Curtis McGhee, who was 54 on the day of the crash, April 1, 2011. He was driving his 2004 Chrysler Sebring sedan east in the left lane of Mulberry Street in downtown Macon. The defendant, John Ryan, was driving a 2001 Chrysler Voyager minivan east in the right lane of Mulberry Street.
The crash happened as Ryan attempted to change lanes. The defense summary said Ryan checked for other cars first, but then hit the corner of the Sebring. McArthur said Ryan failed to check his blind spot first and appeared to be exceeding the 25 mph speed limit. Her demand letter to State Farm said McGhee suffered back and hip pain, among other injuries, and was unable to work for
nearly two years. Because he was self-employed with his own cleaning business, he lost all his income, the suit claimed.
The trial before Bibb County State Court Judge Jeffery Monroe took 3 1/2 days, McArthur said. The jury deliberated about two hours before returning a verdict of $817,500.
The jury awarded: $120,000 for past medical expenses; $85,000 for future medical expenses to cover the second surgery McGhee’s doctors recommended; $300,000 for past pain and suffering; $250,000 for future pain and suffering; $25,000 for lost income; $35,000 for loss of consortium for McGhee’s wife; and $2,500 for future loss of consortium.
McArthur said there also was $1 million in excess coverage, so she hopes to recover the full judgment. She also said she plans to seek interest and attorney fees through an offer of judgment she made before trial.
She attributed the win to McGhee, saying, “It always takes a nice, honest client.”
