In Douglasville, Georgia, the young driver of a 7,500-pound pickup truck failed to yield while attempting a left turn across several lanes of rush hour traffic. He subsequently crashed into the driver’s side of a sedan, redirecting it onto the road’s grassy shoulder before it came to an uncontrolled stop. On the receiving end of this collision was 48-year-old Shonner Hutchinson, who was on her way to pick up her 3-year-old granddaughter from daycare. The collision’s impact herniated discs and damaged spinal nerves in Shonner’s neck and back in addition to damaging nerves in her wrists and elbow.
Prior to the collision, Shonner enjoyed walking, playing with her 5 grandchildren, cooking for her large, extended family, and providing for her family financially as a pharmacy technician. Shonner worked hard and received multiple promotions in her position of almost ten years. Following the collision and over a 3 ½-year period, Shonner required fusion surgeries in her neck and back and three surgeries to release recurrent carpal and cubital tunnel entrapment in her wrists and elbow. Despite Shonner's best efforts, her injuries progressed to the point that she could no longer continue working. Shonner’s debilitating injuries had succeeded in taking away her life’s greatest joys.
Shonner reached out to Charles Blaska, a founding partner of Blaska Holm Trial Attorneys, through a former client. As a trial and appellate attorney, Charles specializes in catastrophic injury, wrongful death, and malpractice matters. The at-fault driver admitted liability, whereby Charles focused on proximate medical causation. Shonner's medical history was complicated by a severe truck collision occurring 13 years prior in which she suffered neck and back injuries and required a two-level neck fusion. Thus, Charles's initial goal was to distinguish Shonner's pre-existing injuries caused by prior collision from her injuries caused by this collision.
Charles sorted through 6,000 pages of medical records dating back to 2007, comparing Shonner’s old records and imaging to those taken following this collision. Bad-faith antics from the liability carrier created complications. When Charles received the liability carrier’s declarations page, it listed three individuals in a residential home. However, when Charles demanded the auto policy's limits, the insurer tendered and provided a release that included an additional, corporate insured. This prompted Charles to request and obtain another declarations page, which this time listed the corporate insured, confirming the liability carrier’s initially attempt to its existence. After further digging, Charles found an additional commercial liability policy that was not disclosed. The liability carrier subsequently brought in outside counsel given these blatant omissions.
Charles's main obstacle was proving that Shonner's pre-existing conditions and occupation did not cause or contribute to causing her post-collision neck, back, and arm injuries. Because of her pharmacy work, the defense argued that she was predisposed to and ultimately suffered her arm injuries from repetitive use. Charles tabbed two experts, Shonner’s treating spine and arm surgeons, and to his advantage, both surgeons treated Shonner prior to this collision and were familiar with her condition. Both surgeons opined that while Shonner had preexisting injuries and conditions in her neck, back, and hand, these conditions stabilized in the period leading up to this collision such that her post-collision injuries were all caused or exacerbated by same.
In preparation for trial, Charles needed to reduce over 6,000 pages of medical records and 18 years of medical treatment into a simple, powerful trial theme to engage and educate the jury. He feared the large amount of medical testimony and terminology would overwhelm the jury such that they would hold it against Shonner. Further, Charles had to delineate and explain the differing timelines of Shonner’s neck, back, and arm injuries to the jury. Charles expected the defense to destroy proximate cause by using these complex medical conditions and timelines to confuse the jury and create doubt. Having worked with DK Global since 2020, Charles tasked them with distilling Shonner's medical history into a simple, powerful trial theme—a visual, medical timeline of before and after.
The DK Global visual divided Shonner's medical history across three storyboards. The first depicted a 3-D rendering of Shonner illustrating her pre-collision neck, back, and hand conditions. The second depicted her post-collision neck, back and arm injuries summarized with accompanying close-up illustrations of each area. The third depicted her post-surgical condition with accompanying close-up, 3-D illustrations of her neck, back, and arm surgeries—five in total. Each of the storyboards’ illustrations expressly referenced a timeline.
Due to the two liability carriers’ joint conduct and coverage positions, Charles was forced to try the case to verdict and judgment. During trial, Charles linked the DK Global visuals through each witness's testimony, and after three days of evidence in what most consider a conservative venue, the jury returned a $4,083,359.20 verdict derived from Shonner's medical expenses, lost income, and general damages. When the verdict was read aloud, Charles described that Shonner's "ability to breathe" had returned after toiling through her injuries and the legal system for nearly 5 years.
Charles Blaska, founding partner at Blaska Holm in Atlanta, Georgia, has over 16 years of experience. As a trial and appellate attorney, he has served as lead counsel in hundreds of personal injury cases in both state and federal courts. He specializes in vehicular collisions, premises liability matters, professional malpractice, governmental negligence, and products liability. He earned his Juris Doctor from Atlanta's John Marshall Law School in 2009 and teaches law at Kennesaw State University’s College of Continuing and Professional Education since 2016.
