Carol Smith Obtains No Cause Verdict

CMDA congratulates Attorney Carol Smith on another trial victory. Carol represented a trucking company and its driver who admitted negligence for an automobile accident. At issue were the injuries of a 31-year-old plaintiff who underwent two cervical spine fusions and is left with what his Beaumont surgeon testified is likely permanent nerve damage. The plaintiff denied any prior neck pain and, though there was a question of whether that was true, there was no evidence that he ever received imaging, testing, or treatment before the accident. Although defense experts conceded that he could have suffered a whiplash injury and that up to six months of treatment with physical therapy and injections would have been appropriate, the Macomb County jury took only 30 minutes to deliberate and returned a unanimous verdict that the plaintiff suffered no injuries from the accident.

Regarding the verdict, Carol comments: “A lot of attorneys make the mistake of underestimating the intelligence of a jury. The plaintiff focused on a ‘hired gun’ attack of the defense experts. But the defense of this case – not only the presentation of the defense witnesses, but also the cross-examination of the plaintiff witnesses – was presented in a clear, credible, and respectful manner, and the jury accepted the evidence for what it was.” Carol’s trial team included paralegal Sarah Khoshaba and clerk Daniel El-Sibai.

Carol Smith is an attorney in our Livonia office where she focuses her practice on insurance defense matters. She has considerable litigation and trial experience representing clients in third-party auto claims, as well as first-party no-fault and uninsured motorist claims. Additionally, she advises clients on numerous areas of law, including insurance coverage, general liability, personal injury protection (PIP) and bodily injury claims. She may be reached at (734) 261-2400 or csmith@cmda-law.com.