On March 27, 2025, the Smith LaCien trial team of Brian LaCien and Allyson Cox obtained a $1,929,036.75 verdict with prejudgment interest of nearly $200,000.00. The case arose out of a motor vehicle collision where State Farm insured the Defendant.
The Plaintiff, then age 21, was in a passenger in a car driven by his grandmother, when it crashed into a wall while in a parking garage at 875 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago. The Plaintiff performed CPR on his grandmother but was unable to save her life due to her injuries in the crash.
In the crash, the Plaintiff sustained a clavicle fracture, wrist fracture requiring just external immobilization, pneumothorax, and a pinky finger fracture requiring internal fixation. Besides some minor back pain, his physical injuries were resolved within a year. Due to the experience of the crash and efforts to try to save his grandmother, the Plaintiff developed PTSD which required therapy. Before the crash, he had a history of mental health care.
Jack Batten and Cole Smith of Michael Gallo & Associates represented the Estate of Plaintiff’s grandmother as the Defendant. A month before trial, the defense admitted liability but denied damages to the extent claimed by the Plaintiff.
During the trial, the defense attempted to dispute proximate cause as to the diagnosis of PTSD, the veracity of the Plaintiff’s complaints and maintained that the Plaintiff was fully recovered within 6 months. The defense suggested that the Plaintiff receive a verdict under $195,336.75. The Defendant’s highest pretrial offer, and last offer made, was $413,954.00, while he initially demanded the State Farm policy limit of $1,250,000.00 but later reduced their offer of settlement to $1,225,000.00.
This case was Allyson Cox’s first trial. At trial, she handled the opening and several witnesses, including the Plaintiff and certain treating specialists. Brian LaCien handled the close, other treating specialists and the Plaintiff’s retained expert witness. Jack Batten has defended nearly 150 cases in his career, and this verdict is more than 4 times larger than any previously reported verdict against him.
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