Last week, a Los Angeles County Superior Court jury in Van Nuys awarded more than $2 million to a man who was injured when his vehicle was struck from behind by a large commercial plumbing van. The case was Sergio Gil v. Trevor Michael Buczynski; Andersen Commercial Plumbing, Inc., et al. The plaintiff was represented at trial by Spencer Lucas and Robert Glassman of Panish Shea & Boyle LLP (PSB), as well as Siamak Vaziri and Mark J. Giannamore of Vaziri Law Group.
On the evening of June 26, 2014, Mr. Gil was traveling home work when he was rear-ended by a large Andersen plumbing van driven by defendant, Trevor Buczynski. Gil was evaluated in the emergency room later that evening for neck and back sprains and strains and returned to work the following day, continuing his employment as a construction framer.
Prior to trial, defense admitted that its driver was entirely at fault for the accident. The only issues that remained for trial were whether the collision caused the nature and extent of Gil’s injuries, which defense argued did not require surgery or future care and treatment. The plaintiff underwent conservative therapy treatment and had a one-level fusion surgery in his lumbar spine.
The defense argued that the non-English speaking plaintiff continued his employment as a framer immediately after the collision and presented experts to argue the impact was only a 6 mph rear-ender that could not cause a spinal injury. The defense asked the jury to award $15,000. The jury found in Gil’s favor, awarding him $2,000,969 for past and future medical expenses and past and future pain and suffering.
Leaders In The Law has featured Panish Shea & Boyle LLP several times in 2018. In March, the California Supreme Court sided with PSB that public universities and colleges in the Golden State owe a duty of care to their students to protect from foreseeable acts of violence by fellow students. In February, PSB secured a $53.7 million award in Los Angeles County Superior Court on behalf of victims of a horrific collision. Read more about it here.