Type of Case: Motor Vehicle Collision Facts: On July 29, 2005 Dewana Holmes of Mobile was driving in Montgomery. As she was stopped in traffic her vehicle was rear-ended by another driver. At first, she did not think she was injured bad enough to require a trip to the emergency room. However, after a few days the pain complaints in her lower back had gotten worse and she sought follow up care from her family doctor in Saraland. This began a long and arduous course of care and treatment which ultimately required surgery for a herniated disk in her lower back. The surgery did not fully relieve her pain complaints and she ultimately had to stop her work as an insurance billing clerk for an area dentist. The insurance company for the at-fault driver eventually paid the limits of their liability insurance coverage, but that amount was inadequate to compensate Dewana for the totality of her injuries. Because of this she filed a lawsuit against her own automobile insurance carrier (Progressive)for underinsured motorist benefits. Progressive vigorously denied her claim for benefits and aggressively defended the case. At trial, the Progressive attorney told the jury that Dewana and her husband were trying to “put one over” on their insurance company. The jurors did not believe that and after only 30 minutes of deliberation they returned a verdict for Dewana in the amount of $205,721.07 which was the exact amount requested by BF&W attorney Mark Wolfe in his closing argument.
Holmes v. Progressive Halcyon Insurance Company, U.S. Federal District Court No.1:07-487
- May 29, 2012
- Mark Wolfe
- Settlement Announcements