Midcoast jury awards $155K to injured motorcyclist from Rockport

ROCKLAND, Maine, Nov. 24, 2015 – A motorcyclist from Rockport, Maine, represented by the Berman & Simmons law firm, was unanimously awarded $155,320 by a jury last week, following a civil trial in Knox County Superior Court.

Anthony Johnson was riding his motorcycle on New County Road in Rockland on the afternoon of July 12, 2002. An oncoming truck and trailer turned left across Johnson’s lane. Johnson’s motorcycle collided with the trailer, and he was thrown a significant distance down the road. His injuries included a back fracture, a right knee injury, and a right shoulder injury.

On behalf of Johnson, Berman & Simmons filed a lawsuit against George C. Hall & Sons and James Hall of Owls Head, who was driving the truck. The trial lasted three days and a fourth for jury deliberation, with Justice Daniel Billings presiding.

The jury was unanimous in the verdict for Johnson. They awarded damages of $238,950, but reduced that amount by $83,630 to reflect the fact that Johnson, from the outset of the case, had admitted a share of the fault for the collision. The defendants denied liability, and claimed most of Johnson’s injuries were not related to the accident.

“Andy is very happy the jury agreed with him that the accident was primarily Hall’s fault, and that he was indeed seriously injured,” a Berman & Simmons representative said. “He took this all the way to trial because he believed his legal claim was not being addressed fairly. When confronted by that situation, a person’s only recourse is to seek a jury’s verdict.”

“He’s happy with the result, and appreciative of the careful and hard work the jury put in. It was a difficult set of questions that was presented to them.”

Several media outlets in Maine covered this story. Click on the links to read the articles in the Bangor Daily News, the Village Soup newspapers, and the Penobscot Bay Pilot.