Top Plaintiff's Verdicts by Impact: Sheaffer v. NuCO2

Personal injury

San Diego County

Superior Court Judge Timothy M. Casserly

Plaintiff's attorneys: Panish Shea & Boyle LLP, Brian J. Panish, Deborah S. Chang, Thomas A. Schultz, Austin G. Ward; The Law Office of Carla DeDominicis, Carla DeDominicis

Defense attorneys: Yukevich Cavanaugh, James J. Yukevich, Cristina M. Ciminelli, Noushan Noureddini

After a University of Indiana film graduate student suffered jaw and mild-traumatic brain injuries from a car crash, attorneys took on the challenging task of proving damages for a plaintiff who appeared to have no lasting effects and was excelling in his career.

To win a $17,393,500 award in San Diego County Superior Court, lawyers had to illustrate the complexities of a degenerative jaw injury, the long-term effects of a concussion and how they substantially affected the lifestyle of student Russell L. Sheaffer.

The trial took place before a jury pool in a county which had not returned an eight-figure personal injury verdict over the past decade, according to an online verdicts search.

In 2012, NuCO2 employee Thomas J. Mose was driving a Freightliner Flat Bed and Tanker for NuCO2, a Florida corporation, when he collided with another car on Highway 15 in Escondido and set off a chain accident. Sheaffer v. NuCO2, 00058735 (San Diego County Supr. Ct., filed Nov. 21, 2012).

Sheaffer was in the third car rear-ended in the collision. He fractured his chin during the crash, causing lasting damages to his temporomandibular joint - or TMJ - in his jaw.

After defense attorneys from Yukevich Cavanaugh and Escondido attorney Carla DeDominicis could not reach a settlement, DeDominicis said she brought in Panish Shea & Boyle LLP as lawyers for the trial, which lasted three weeks and ended in June.

The defense argued that Sheaffer's continued success in school and the film industry showed the brain injury would not have significant lasting damages. They presented evidence of him continuing to do well in classes and teaching, and of Variety magazine including him in its "110 Students to Watch" list.

Defense attorney James J. Yukevich said he thinks the damages the plaintiff claimed were questionable and that the admitted liability in the case, as well as changes to the lifecare plan, made the case more difficult to defend.

Logistically, the case involved some complicated medical issues for attorneys to explain for the jury. Plaintiff's attorneys used executive presentations and went through hundreds of photographs and medical illustrations to illustrate the degenerative nature of the bone disformity caused by the car crash, said Austin G. Ward of Panish, Shea & Boyle. They also created 3D models of the jaw from CT and MRI scans to supplement the oral testimony.

Additionally, they brought in Sheaffer's counselors and friends, who said even though he was still above average in intelligence, he wasn't the same extraordinary person he used to be before the accident.

The case shows how even a mild traumatic brain injury can substantially affect someone's lifestyle, plaintiff's lawyer Brian J. Panish said.

- Amanda Schallert