(l-r) Attorney Derrick Connell, client/plaintiff Jarvis Bush, attorney Grant Gillenwater, attorney Ryan McCarville of Morgan & Morgan
After family man Jarvis Bush was involved in a car accident, his Morgan & Morgan attorneys Derrick Connell, Grant Gillenwater and Ryan McCarville secured a verdict more than 57 times larger than the highest pre-suit offer from the defense.
The verdict will compensate for Bush's past and future medical expenses, and pain and suffering related to disc herniations in his back.
"You or I would never switch places with him for $2 million, and there's not a chance in the world that anybody would," Connell said. "I wasn't surprised because I think the verdict was true and I think the jury got this right. Surprised no, happy yes. I'm never surprised when verdicts come back, because jurors have all the facts and they know what they're doing. Jarvis Bush didn't hit the lottery. He will still live with this every single day. I truly think that the jury saw it, and it's unfortunate that the defendants don't see it sometimes. And it's just one of those cases where they didn't see it until we were at trial. I'm just happy that Jarvis Bush got his day in court because it really mattered."
Connell believes the hardest part in personal injury cases is trying to build an argument for a jury in four or five days to demonstrate the true extent of a client's pain and suffering.
"Particularly in this case Mr. Bush had some significant losses with his six grandchildren, and that's what we were trying to show the jury. And I think that's always very difficult in these cases," Connell said. "You have a condensed amount of time to try to show a jury the true harms and losses, and that's tough to do. They don't get to live months or years watching this. I'm just thankful we were able to show them that."
Judge Curt Jacobus presided over the case.
Read the compliant:
Plaintiff Bush sued and filed two complaints against defendants Zachary Wick and City Electric Supply Co. for personal injuries from a rear-end car wreck.
The crash occurred July 23, 2018. Bush was driving southbound on Babcock Street in Melbourne, Brevard County. Defendant Wick, who works for City Electric Supply Co., struck Bush's vehicle with the company truck, according to the complaint.
Wick negligently operated the truck and ended up crashing into the plaintiff's vehicle, the complaint stated.
According to Connell, after the incident, Bush was sent to the emergency room the following day, and doctors told him to follow up with his primary care physician, which he did a few days later.
Bush wasn't paralyzed, but Connell said the plaintiff will continue to have extreme back pain. The attorney said Bush had a peripheral nerve stimulator put into his back, to cut off his pain pathways in the lower back and spine. The machine blocks the nerves that perceive pain.
"Mr. Bush had chiropractic care for his neck, and continues to treat through chiropractic care once a month," Connell said. "Although we can't go back in time to reverse these kinds of negative effects, we can and did secure a just result that will help him cover his ongoing medical bills and move on with his life."
J. W. Webb Baker & Hostetler in Orlando and Sean Powers of Lydecker Diaz in Tampa, who represented the defendants, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Case: Bush v. Wick and City Electric Supply Co.
Case No.: 05-2019-CA-021845
Description: Personal injury litigation
Filing date: March, 27, 2019
Verdict date: Aug. 27, 2021
Judge: Brevard County Judge Curt Jacobus
Plaintiffs attorneys: Derrick Connell, Grant Gillenwater, Ryan McCarville
Defense attorneys: J. W. Webb, Sean Powers
Jasmine Floyd
Jasmine Floyd is a South Florida litigation reporter with the Daily Business Review at ALM. You can reach her at [email protected] or 678-472-8947.