The Athlete's Lawyer

Leesburg and Loudoun County injury lawyer Doug Landau is often asked if an injured victim can bring a lawsuit against a negligent driver, product maker, dog owner or property manager for making a pre-existing condition or underlying disease worse. The short answer, according to the trial team at ABRAMS LANDAU, is “yes.” Doug Landau adds that while the innocent victim cannot collect damages for the pre-existing condition, they can seek redress for the worsening of the condition caused by these careless and reckless defendants.

As an example, a case involving the worsening of pre-existing scoliosis was brought on behalf of a 16-year-old female high school student. This innocent girl was driving home when her vehicle was hit head on by the defendant’s vehicle, which had traveled 495 feet through the median and then into oncoming traffic. The Defendant driver’s blood alcohol content was 0.32 per cent, and this was his third DUI. He had been drinking “Wild Irish Rose” all weekend. Defendant, after being asked by the trooper if he had anything to drink, responded “Oh, hell yeah,” in a lighthearted manner. Plaintiff had minimal medical bills ($764.98) but her chiropractor testified that her pre-existing scoliosis was made much worse and would require some $10,000 in future chiropractic care. There was also testimony from friends and family of the mental impact on plaintiff, including fear of driving at night and the impact on plaintiff’s ability to participate in cheerleading and track. The plaintiff’s last demand was $75,000, however, the insurance companies would only offer $55,000, so the case was tried. According to the Virginia Lawyers Weekly report, the jury returned with a verdict of $280,764.98.

Liability (fault) was admitted and defendant presented no expert witnesses. Defendant argued that plaintiff’s scoliosis would have gotten worse anyway and that defendant had already been punished adequately by the criminal justice system. Leesburg car crash and injury lawyer Landau noted that one case has absolutely nothing to do with the other. The criminal case is brought by the “Commonwealth of Virginia” against Defendant motorist. The civil action is brought by the injured victim in order to recover compensation for losses caused by the Defendant’s conduct. The award of punitive damages are not only meant to punish the Defendant drunk driver, but to deter future conduct by him and others, as well as to compensate for his willful, wanton and reckless misconduct. It is not easy to get a judge to permit a jury to award punitive damages in a personal injury case in Virginia. However, Landau adds, when the facts are egregious, the Courts of Virginia are empowered to let such questions go to the jury.