Matt Bing and Josh Patrick Resolve Two Kenosha County, Wisconsin Cases for Low Value by Developing Strong Defenses to Liability and Damages in Discovery

In the first case, Plaintiff alleged that he slipped and fell on an unnatural accumulation of ice adjacent to a sump discharge line along a driveway, causing a significant leg fracture that Plaintiff claims prevented him from working and caused the demise of his construction business. We deposed the Plaintiff, the insured tenant, a number of fact witnesses who were with Plaintiff on the night of the incident, and the orthopedic surgeon that treated a spiral fracture to one of Plaintiff’s lower legs. Through this investigation, Matt Bing and Josh Patrick uncovered significant evidence of Plaintiff’s potential intoxication and post-incident conduct inconsistent with his own sworn testimony. Additionally, our investigation yielded evidence independent of the fall that would have caused Plaintiff’s business to fail, and also demonstrated through his surgeon’s testimony that the Plaintiff’s recovery time was significantly shorter than what Plaintiff testified in his deposition. In the face of these hurdles at trial, Plaintiff agreed to settle for low value on a case with significant medical specials.

In the second case, Plaintiff, a minor female, was bitten by the insured’s dog, a St. Bernard. The Plaintiff was bitten on the face and was claiming, among other damages, permanent scarring on her lip and nose. Through extensive fact and medical discovery, we secured evidence of Plaintiff’s unlikely need for future treatment and favorable opinions on the anticipated reduction of the visibility of the scarring over time. As a result, we achieved a low value settlement and avoided the potential risk of a high verdict at trial given the sympathetic nature of the Plaintiff.