Pennsylvania injury lawyer Eric Purchase persuaded a McKean County jury to return a record verdict in a recent trial about compensation for injuries suffered in a Pennsylvania car accident. In Hodgins v. Clark, the jury was asked to determine whether a commercial property owner was liable for an accident caused when a customer leaving the property pulled into traffic and caused an accident. Purchase argued that the property owner had piled equipment and debris so near the road that customers could not see to pull out safely and that the property owner knew about this hazardous condition for months, could have easily solved the problem, but chose to allow the hazard to persist for the property owner’s own convenience.
The jury not only held the property owners responsible for the accident, but awarded the 23 year old plaintiff $1.25 Million in compensation for past and future harms and losses suffered as a result of the accident. The Pennsylvania car accident verdict is reportedly the largest verdict ever in McKean County.
In determining compensation for damages, the jury considered the fact that the plaintiff had suffered fractures to both hands which resulted in permanent degenerative arthritis and derailed a promising career as a musician and furniture maker. More information about the case can be found HERE.
Before trial, insurance companies for the defendant property owners offered only $40,000.00 to settle the case. The defendant property owners were insured by both State Farm and Millville Mutual insurance companies. Both companies had promised to protect the Pennyslvania property owners and both companies were given an opportunity to protect the property owners before trial by offering to pay the limits of their insurance policies. Both insurance companies refused to protect the property owners by offering to pay the limits of the policy before trial.
The record McKean County verdict is the second record-setting Pennsylvania injury verdict for Purchase, George & Murphey, P.C. clients in as many years. In 2014, Attorney Purchase obtained what was then reported as Pennsylvania’s highest underinsured motorist verdict ever in Engel v. State Farm.
Full and fair compensation is what every Pennsylvania accident victim is entitled to recover when the injury is the result of another’s carelessness. For more information about your Pennsylvania car accident case, call the Pennsylvania injury lawyers at Purchase, George & Murphey, P.C.. Call Now (814)-580-5017 | (877)-505-9548.