Under the American legal system, an individual can pursue monetary compensation from another party if they believe that their person or property has been damaged by that party. While this area of the law, known as “torts,” is intended to ensure that serious injuries are addressed and victims are justly compensated, it allows almost anyone to file a lawsuit for a wide variety of alleged injuries. If you find yourself named as a defendant in one of these seemingly frivolous or petty lawsuits, your inclination may be to ignore it. A better approach is to hire an experienced attorney to defend you because what begins as a relatively minor disagreement can turn into years of litigation before finally being resolved on appeal, as discussed on a recent episode of Lawyer Podcast with attorney Paul Reed.
Road Rage Turns Personal – Setting the Stage for Litigation
Back in August of 2018, a woman (“Wife”) was driving to work along a heavily traffic roadway near Tampa. A man who would later become the “Plaintiff” was exiting his driveway and attempting to merge into traffic behind the Wife. The Plaintiff became impatient, honking and yelling at the Wife to move forward. Gesturing with her hand, the Wife attempted to indicate that she had no more room to move forward; however, the Plaintiff interpreted her gesture as an insult to his manhood to which he responded with a crude sexually explicit gesture of his own. Later that night, the Wife went home and told her Husband what happened that morning. Affronted on behalf of his wife, Husband went back to Plaintiff’s residence and put up a sign. He later returned on a 4-wheeler and rammed the gate at the entrance to the property, all of which was caught on surveillance video. The Plaintiff filed a lawsuit against both Husband and Wife for trespassing, assault, and intentional infliction of emotional distress as well as diminution of value alleging that the 4-wheeler driven by Husband left a large oil spill on his property, causing the overall value of the property to be reduced. In total, the Plaintiff was asking for $11,000 for the gate/fence and $100,000 for diminution of value.
Listen to Paul and Jason discuss this case on the LiveFeedReed podcast
Defendants Prevail at Trial
Imagine being the target of someone’s road rage – and then being sued by that same individual for over $100,000! That’s precisely what happened to the Wife in this very real case. Fortunately, the defendants (Husband and Wife) hired attorney Paul Reed to defend them. As part of their defense, the Defendants alleged that the Wife had nothing to do with any of the acts referenced on the complaint, that the “intent to cause immediate harm” element of assault was not present, that there was no evidence that the Plaintiff suffered any emotional distress, that there was no evidence that the 4-wheeler caused the oil spill, and that the actual cost to repair the gate/fence was only $6,000.
Attorney Reed was able to get the assault and intentional infliction of emotional distress counts dismissed and got the judge to grant a directed verdict for Wife, meaning that all counts against her were dismissed, based on the argument that Wife played no role in the sign being placed on the Plaintiff’s property, the gate being rammed, or any oil being spilled on the property. Ultimately, the jury awarded the Plaintiff $1 for the diminution of value and $6,000 for the gate/fence.
Defendants Prevail on Appeal
Not to be deterred, the Plaintiff appealed the trial verdict, claiming that the trial court committed a reversible error when it dismissed the assault and intentional infliction of emotional distress counts and when it granted the directed verdict against Wife. If the Plaintiff won on appeal, he would get a new trial; however, Plaintiff did not win on appeal. In fact, the appellate court wrote a “Per Curiam” opinion which effectively means that the entire court agreed with the lower court’s decisions and that the appeal was so frivolous that the Plaintiff cannot even attempt to appeal to the Florida Supreme Court.
Plaintiff Ordered to Pay Attorney Fees
Not only did the Plaintiff lose at trial and on appeal, but because the Plaintiff refused to accept an official Proposal for Settlement prior to trial, he is now responsible for paying the Defendant’s attorney fees, estimated to total around $500,000. In an unsurprising twist, the Plaintiff contacted attorney Reed in an attempt to chat about the case after the Per Curiam opinion was handed down.
This is a perfect example of the importance of having an excellent attorney on your side because almost any disagreement can turn into a long, drawn out, and potentially costly legal battle. If you have questions or concerns about a personal injury lawsuit, contact the experienced personal injury attorneys at Reed & Reed.