Stanford Cummings

The Wylie and Porsche defendants sought costs of an action and a proposed summary judgment motion after being released from a three-vehicle collision lawsuit.

The court declined to award costs to the defendants, finding their conduct unreasonable, particularly in rejecting a late but reasonable acceptance of their offer to exit without costs, and in seeking costs for a non-existent summary judgment motion.

The court also criticized the unnecessary level of moral outrage and lack of civility in pursuing the motion.

Following a jury trial for a motor vehicle accident, the court ruled on post-verdict issues including the statutory threshold and deductibles.

The court found the plaintiff met the threshold for permanent serious impairment due to a somatic symptom disorder.

However, the court held that the increased statutory deductibles enacted in August 2015 applied retrospectively, which reduced the jury's non-pecuniary and Family Law Act damage awards to zero.

After applying set-offs for statutory accident benefits, judgment was issued for the plaintiffs in the amount of $56,294.98.