Partner John Sciacca recently prevailed at trial in a Shasta Superior Court case against one of the most respected plaintiff’s law firms in Redding, California. The lawsuit arose following a car versus motorcycle accident in Redding in July, 2015. In the accident, John’s client made a left hand turn in front of the plaintiff motorcyclist on Churn Creek Road causing the collision. As a result, the plaintiff sustained a compound fracture to his right leg along with a significant injury to his leg tissue.
Initially plaintiff was hospitalized for three weeks for both surgical repair of the fracture and wound care. The surgical repair included implantation of surgical instrumentation in the right leg. The wound care consisted of a long inpatient stay at a wound care facility in San Francisco with major skin grafting. Further, there was concern during the treatment for the plaintiff that he would require below knee right lower extremity amputation. Plaintiff alleged damages were in excess of $500,000.
During the litigation, John discovered there was an issue as to whether or not the plaintiff had motorcycle liability insurance as required by California law. As a result, John Sciacca had to take extensive and detailed depositions of the plaintiff’s insurance representatives.
The matter went to trial in April of 2019. Prior to trial plaintiff made a demand for the insurance limits $1,250,000. Ultimately, the trial judge found that the plaintiff did not have insurance at the time of the accident, as required by California law. As a result, plaintiff’s recovery was limited to his economic damages only, which was an agreed to amount of $125,000.
Congratulations to John and his clients.
John Sciacca is a partner at Powers Miller and has been with the firm for over nine years. John has significant experience defending and trying cases involving traumatic injuries and wrongful death. John Sciacca also routinely handles cases that involve exposures in excess of the insurance limits and those related to complex legal issues.