Tying a record for personal injury verdicts in Virginia, a Portsmouth jury awarded $60 million in August to a North Carolina man who suffered a severe brain injury when his car was struck head-on by a delivery van in Suffolk.

On Aug. 28, 2000, the plaintiff was heading north on state route 32 in Suffolk when the southbound van, owned by an express delivery company, crossed the center line and struck the plaintiff. Using the "jaws of life," rescue personnel removed the plaintiff from his car and transported him to a Norfolk hospital, where he was in a coma for 62 days. Other injuries included two collapsed lungs, a fractured leg and jaw, and a severe closed-head brain injury.

While rehabilitating in Richmond, the plaintiff's head injury resulted in an unusual bone buildup, limiting the range of motion in his arms, legs and jaw. The risk of injury posed by his weight gain makes surgery difficult; in addiction, doctors said that the plaintiff's head injury would neutralize the benefits of surgery.

According to the plaintiff's experts, his jaw will eventually ossify, forcing him to be fed by a tube. Limited movement has essentially rendered him a quadriplegic, and he has substantial cognitive defects. The experts estimated that he would require 24-hour care costing about $550,000 per year. With a life expectancy of about 35 years, those costs would amount to about $19 million.

A furniture truck driver who earned $32,200 annually, the 38-year old plaintiff had incurred $660,000 in medical damages. The defendant did not contest the plaintiff's past medical costs or lost wages.

Norfolk lawyer John W. Drescher said the defendant's experts did, however, contest the plaintiff's estimated future medical costs, contending that his wife and other family members would provide some of the required services. In their estimation, the plaintiff's future medical care would amount to about $150,000 per year.

Representing the plaintiff, Norfolk lawyer Jeffrey A. Breit and Portsmouth lawyer Boyd Scarborough joined Drescher to file suit in Portsmouth, where the defendant maintains and office. The plaintiff claims $85 million in damages. The defendant's insurance coverage, provided by three different carriers, amounted to $101 million. At trial, Drescher said the plaintiff's wife provided compelling testimony. As a man who was "jolly in life," he was portrayed as an all-American working man.

On the trial's third day, the defense offered $8 million in a structured settlement. The plaintiff's counter-offer, a $43 million demand with a high / low of $35 million and $8 million, was rejected. After deliberating for an hour, the jury returned a verdict for $60 million. The dollar figure included unspecified amounts for pain and suffering and interest on past medical bills.

The verdict tied the previous record of $60 million handed down in French v. Southern, where a runaway train plowed into a Gainesville service station and severely injured a man. That verdict was ultimately set aside, and the parties reached an undisclosed settlement.