Our client was at a large car auction. While walking the lot checking out cars, a company tow truck hit him. Our client only remembers feeling an impact, being on the ground, and feeling very dizzy, disoriented, and surrounded by a handful of people who informed him that he had just been hit by a truck. He was treated by EMS and taken to the local hospital. As a result of the collision, our client was experiencing severe back pain. The pain limited his ability to perform the most basic functions to operate his business, which brought a lot of stress and anxiety to his life. He subsequently underwent two back surgeries.
The accident was captured on security video. The defense vigorously disputed liability as they argued our client was partly at fault. Virginia has contributory negligence laws which means if our client was found to not be using “ordinary care” and was even partly at fault for the collision, he would be barred from making a recovery.
We were able to resolve the case in mediation a few weeks before trial for a confidential amount.
