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Pamela Pierro Negotiates Fantastic Defense Settlement at Retrial of Hung Jury Case

Associate Pamela Pierro recently spent several days defending an automobile accident case before a Cook County jury. The Plaintiff had $57,000 in medical bills resulting primarily from three arthroscopic surgeries to repair a tear in his left knee. During closing arguments he asked the jury for $257,000. Ms. Pierro disputed both liability and damages, but focused her defense on damages, arguing that the tear was neither caused nor aggravated by the accident.

Following lengthy deliberations, the jury determined it could not reach a unanimous verdict, resulting in a hung-jury. After a new trial was granted, a polling of the jury revealed that the final breakdown had been 10-2 in favor of a not guilty verdict for the defense. In addition, the lawyers learned that there was truly only one holdout, who simply could not send the Plaintiff home without money based upon testimony that the accident was a "possible" cause of the injury.

On the morning of the new trial and prior to the selection of a new jury, Ms. Pierro was able to settle the case for $5,000 - a far cry from the $257,000.00 requested of the original jury. Congratulations Pamela!