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Congrats to Wayne & Eric on defense verdict! 🎈

By March 18, 2026 Articles, News/Events/Seminars

Brunswick. Georgia:

 

Following a three-day jury trial, Wayne S. Tartline and Eric Ludwig secured a defense verdict in an admitted-fault motor vehicle collision in which their client had been arrested and jailed for driving under the influence and possession of a controlled substance. Seizing on the severity of the criminal matter and the likelihood of punitive damages, Plaintiff’s counsel demands were always well in excess of policy limits and Plaintiff made clear her intent to seek extra-contractual damages. 

 

At trial in Glynn County Superior Court, Plaintiff’s counsel was able to highlight Defendant’s drug use and advocated that the collision itself was so significant that it forced the Plaintiff’s body to be thrown into the passenger side door of the Ford F-150 in which she was a passenger.  Plaintiff claimed that the impact to her right shoulder was so severe that she sustained a serious injury that would require surgery.

 

Wayne and Eric were able to focus the jury on the real causation evidence. Through persuasive  biomechanical expert testimony, the defense was able to show that Plaintiff's body did not sustain sufficient lateral force from the accident to cause her shoulder to contact the passenger-side door.

 

And while Plaintiff presented evidence from her treating surgeon that she sustained substantial injuries and ultimately required a subacromial decompression and bursectomy procedure on her shoulder due to the accident, the defense’s orthopedic shoulder surgeon opined that Plaintiff’s diagnostic tests were inconsistent with her pain complaints. More specifically, the Defendant’s medical expert emphasized the connection between Plaintiff’s current complaint and her complex medical history, which included several previous shoulder traumas dating back to 2019 and a prior surgery. In closing, Wayne highlighted that, if anything, it was Plaintiff’s complex medical history that caused her chronic shoulder pain which may have led to her surgery. 

 

This trial is the latest example of the powerful effect of Georgia’s recent tort reform efforts on cases with challenging facts. The trial court and defense counsel made clear to the jury that punishment and contrition were not at issue during the initial phase of the trial. O.C.G.A. § 51-12-15(a)(1) allowed the defense to bifurcate the trial such that the jury deliberated on just one straightforward question:  Did the collision cause Plaintiff’s injuries?   

 

After deliberating for two hours, the jury decided it did not.