Florida equestrian rides high to $3.5M verdict over Progressive's social media defense
Progressive admitted liability but contested the damages arguing that two years after the crash, the plaintiff was well enough to compete in horseback riding competitions and the injuries were not severe.
Attorneys for the largest U.S. commercial insurer arrived at a Miami state court with social media videos of a former equestrian title champion riding her horse skillfully post-auto collision.
But, jurors returned a multimillion-dollar award to the 24-year-old, whose counsel’s trial strategy embraced the videos head-on.
Michael Haggard and Kimberly Wald, a partner and an associate, respectively, at the Haggard Law Firm in Coral Gables, represented the plaintiff, Olivia Oney, who sustained severe injuries to her pelvis and back while sitting in the backseat of an Uber car when the driver crashed the vehicle that defendant, Progressive Insurance Co. insured.
Haggard said by embracing the videos that defense counsel obtained from Oney’s Facebook page, they made sure to inform the jurors: “That’s not how she used to ride.”
“She used to be a champion, but now she is riding OK,” Haggard recalled. “Think about the next five years, the next 10 years, the next 20 years, is she going to be able to even ride a horse? Is she even going to be able to walk without future pain?”
Jennifer Marie Netska, the managing partner of Netska Law in Fort Lauderdale who was among the attorneys who represented Progressive Insurance before Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Gina Beovides, did not respond to a request seeking comment.
Now, the state court jury returned the $3.5 million verdict after a three-day trial and less than 90 minutes of deliberations.
The verdict breakdown: Over $300,000 for past medical expenses, $1.4 million in past pain and suffering, and nearly $1.8 million for future pain and suffering.
And as a result of the crash, Oney will have hardware in her back for the remainder of her life and could require additional surgeries, court documents show. In addition, the injuries will affect how she will carry children.
‘Progressive could have hired anybody in the world’
Meanwhile, following the crash, Progressive admitted liability but contested damages, and argued that over the two years since the crash, Oney was well enough to compete in horseback riding competitions so the injuries were not severe.
Defense attorneys showed the jurors Oney’s medical records in which, within three weeks of the crash, she reported no pain to her doctors.
Wald said that defense counsel stumbled when two of the doctors Progressive hired as medical experts reached the same conclusion as Oney’s treating physician.
As a result, Wald said they listed the doctors as their experts and she took their depositions — a legal maneuver that provided jurors with additional context when factoring the videos into their verdict award.
“Progressive could have hired anybody in the world, but they chose these two doctors who agreed with the treating physician,” Wald said. “They agreed that Olivia is permanently disabled and that she is going to have these future surgeries, and that the nature and force of her impact was quite significant.”
Read the Verdict Form:
[falcon-embed src="embed_1"]
Related:
Niche practice: Lawyers secure wins in dog-bite cases as insurance landscape shifts
Insurer urges judges to reject Harvard’s claim to legal costs in Supreme Court case