Virginia Supreme Court Denies Trucking Company Appeal in Brain Injury Case

By Andrew Weatherford

Published on March 12, 2009

The Virginia Supreme Court has upheld an August 2008 verdict that awarded a woman $10.2 million for a brain injury that she sustained in a 2003 car crash.

Lynn Zoll, of Virginia Beach, was riding in a Jeep in October 2003 when it was struck from behind by a tractor-trailer, causing the Jeep to roll over three times. The accident took place on Interstate 295 in Hanover County.

Ms. Zoll was on her way to a brain injury conference when the accident occurred. She had suffered a previous brain injury in 1997 after slipping and falling on a patch of ice.

The defendant, a trucking company based in Omaha, Nebraska, claimed that Ms. Zoll's condition was the result of her earlier accident and not the 2003 crash. Ms. Zoll's attorneys argued that her health deteriorated significantly after the crash.

A jury in the August 2008 trial in Norfolk Circuit Court ruled in favor of the victim and awarded her over $10 million, one of the largest personal injury settlements in Virginia for the year.

The trucking company appealed the results of the case but the Virginia Supreme Court ruled that there were no errors in the original trial.

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