In a personal injury case, how the injuries affect the victims life, especially their job, has a HUGE impact on the amount of $ a jury gives a person.
This point was driven home by a Philadelphia jury’s recent verdict.
The jury gave over $5 million to 2 men injured in accidents.
What happened was the 2 individuals suffered partial finger amputations as a result of the negligence of Temple University Hospital.
The hospital failed to properly treat the two individuals and this led to the partial amputation of 2 of their fingers.
Now everyone understands that losing part of your fingers is a huge event.
But is losing part of 2 of your fingers worth $5 million?
Pittsburgh wrongful death, medical malpractice, trucking accident, slip and fall and criminal defense attorney Bernie Tully thinks that most people would say that’s an awful lot of money for losing two fingers.
So what caused the jury to give so much $ to the victims in the case?
It was what they did for a living and the impact the loss of fingers had on their career that skyrocketed this jury verdict.
Mr. Crespo one of the victims received $4.5 million from the jury.
Why?
Because he was a guitarist for Latin pop stars including salsa singer Charlie Cruz. The jury heard testimony from music industry people that Crespo was on his way to becoming a music superstar. They said he had an unlimited career ahead of him.
But because of the amputation of 2 of his fingers it throws off the rhythm of the entire band when he is playing the songs.
Therefore his career in the music industry was destroyed because of the amputation.
And that is why Pittsburgh wrongful death, medical malpractice, trucking accident and criminal defense attorney Bernie Tully believes the jury verdict was so high in the case.
If I lost two fingers in an accident it would be devastating to me but I could still act as an attorney.
Not so for Mr. Crespo. His musical career ended due to the amputation of the two fingers.
You see the difference?
Anyone who loses parts of two fingers due to someone else’s carelessness is going to be given money by jury. But nowhere near the amount of money Mr. Crespo received by this jury.
From the Legal Intelligencer; “A Philadelphia jury has handed up a verdict awarding more than $5 million to two men who claimed they were injured when the burn unit at Temple University Hospital failed to properly treat their exposures to hydrofluoric acid.
A jury last week awarded more than $4.5 million to plaintiff Antonio Crespo, a guitarist, who had to have portions of two fingers amputated as a result of the burn unit’s alleged mistreatment. The jury also awarded plaintiff Edward Torralvo $500,000 for nerve damage he allegedly sustained from the treatment.
Crespo claimed the amputations abruptly ended his nascent career as a guitarist for Latin pop stars, including salsa singer Charlie Cruz”.
The way a jury values an injury claim is very subjective. But when the jury heard about someone’s promising career being ended due to the amputation, the jury does the right thing.
The right thing being $5 million.
Well that’s how I see it.
What do you think about it?
Thanks for reading.
Bernie the attorney.