One one expert calls it "the biggest auto verdict in the state this year."
Danielle Salisbury of the Jackson Citizen Patriot reports a jury awarded James Fairly and his wife Kimberley Fairley $3.5 million in pain and suffering as a result of traffic accident Mr. Fairly was in.
James Fairley, 56, was heading west on Spring Arbor Road on Aug. 4, 2008, waiting to turn left onto Emerson Road, when a Schiber tractor-trailer behind Fairley’s van was unable to stop. It swerved onto the shoulder to avoid striking the van, but the trailer spun into the rear of the van, pushing it into oncoming traffic. An eastbound semitrailer then hit the van, the county sheriff’s office reported at the time.
Fairly says he has suffered greatly since the accident. The semitrailer that hit his van was owned by Schiber Truck Co. and Zurich insurance company will pay the damages.
