Mattie Lawson, et al. v. John Patrick Coyne
Published: Apr. 5, 1997 | Result Date: Nov. 5, 1996 | Filing Date: Jan. 1, 1900 |Case number: 120235 – $0
Judge
Court
San Francisco Superior
Attorneys
Plaintiff
Defendant
Facts
On July 26, 1994, at 2:30 p.m., plaintiff Mattie Lawson, a 39-year-old crane operator was driving a Toyota Tercel on Divisadero Street in San Francisco. Plaintiff Lawson claimed that plaintiff Monique Bailey, a 20-year-old tile worker and plaintiff Toni Whittaker, a 21-year-old unemployed woman, were passengers in the back seat of her vehicle. Defendant John Patrick Coyne was driving a Honda Civic a few car lengths behind plaintiff Lawson's vehicle, when he rearended a third-party's vehicle, causing that vehicle to rear-end plaintiff Lawson's vehicle. The plaintiffs brought this action against the defendant based on a negligence theory of recovery.
Settlement Discussions
The plaintiffs made a joint settlement demand for $33,000. The defendant made a C.C.P. º998 offer of compromise for $3,000 ($1,000 for each plaintiff).
Specials in Evidence
$1,980 (plaintiff Lawson); $1,960 (plaintiff Whittaker); $4,480 (plaintiff Bailey) $8,140 (plaintiff Bailey) $___________ $1,000 (per the plaintiff)
Injuries
The plaintiffs alleged that they each sustained soft-tissue neck, shoulder and low-back injuries.
Other Information
The verdict was reached approximately one year and four months after the case was filed. An arbitration was held in July 1996 before Bruce Deslerman resulting in an award of $9,000 for all plaintiffs.
Deliberation
1+ hours
Poll
12-0
Length
4 days
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