The Haggard Law Firm’s Kimberly Wald and Michael Haggard obtained a $3.5 Million Verdict from a Miami-Dade County Jury in an auto crash injury case.
Olivia Oney was in a car crash where she was the restrained back-seated passenger in an Uber. Uber provided underinsured/uninsured motorist coverage through Progressive Insurance Company to Olivia. Progressive was the Defendant in the lawsuit.
As a result of the crash, Olivia sustained serious pelvic and back injuries. Her pelvis was fractured in 5 places and the surgeon performed an L5-S1 fusion surgery including a pelvic fixation on January 24, 2021. On June 2, 2021 Olivia underwent a second surgery where part of the hardware in her back was removed.
She still has hardware at the L5-S1 that will remain for the remainder of her life and will require a possible future fusion surgery as well as a possible c-section should she carry children.
Progress Insurance Company admitted liability and contested damages. Progressive argued that although Olivia was injured, she made a remarkable recovery and the worst pain and suffering was behind her. Prior to this accident, Olivia was a competitive horseback rider, winning national title championships. Progressive presented evidence to the jury that a little over 5 months after the car crash, Olivia was able to compete in horseback riding competitions again and showed the jury videos of Olivia riding and jumping horses after the accident. Progressive also introduced several Facebook photos and posts about her business being successful and booming and showed the jury many medical records from as soon as three weeks after the crash where Olivia reported no pain to her doctors.
Haggard and Wald argued that although Olivia is able to still ride horses, her world was shattered and she will live with chronic pain every day. Ultimately, the jury sided with Olivia and awarded her $3,500,000 compensating her for her past medical expenses and her past and future pain and suffering.
