Cullman jury returns $1M verdict in personal injury case

May 09--A Cullman County jury returned a $1 million verdict -- the largest of its kind in a local personal injury case -- against an insurance company for a plaintiff injured in a car wreck in 2012.

The judgment came down Wednesday in the civil trial of Joshua Culwell v. Progressive Specialty Insurance Company before Presiding Cullman County Circuit Judge Greg Nicholas. Huntsville attorney J. Barton Warren and Cullman attorney Johnny Berry represented the plaintiff in the case. Berry thinks the verdict could be a game-changer.

"We finally broke the mold in Cullman County," he said. "There's never been a judgment like this in a personal injury case in Cullman. We've been trying for years. I think going forward, it's going to make things more fair."

Cullman County has a reputation among insurance companies as a conservative place when it comes to juries ruling in personal injury cases, he said.

Joshua Culwell filed suit against Progressive in November 2013 seeking compensatory and punitive damages for injuries he sustained in a wreck Feb. 10, 2012. According to his complaint, he was traveling north on Alabama Highway 69 and was struck from behind by a vehicle driven by Thomas Clay Benson III as Culwell slowed down to turn onto Schaffel Road.

Culwell had a insurance policy with Progressive which included underinsured motorist benefits. Benson was underinsured, according to the complaint.

Berry said Culwell, a veteran who was deployed to Iraq, was already disabled from his military service and suffered a lower back injury from the wreck. He now has to take pain medication and get four epidural injections a year.

Culwell works at REHAU and has been restricted to an 8-hour work day due to his injuries.

"He's a 31-year-old veteran who has served his country and has three young kids. This has changed his life," Berry said.

Attorneys for Progressive filed a motion Thursday to set aside the jury's verdict and reduce the judgment to the $75,000 limit on the policy.

* Tiffeny Owens can be reached by email at [email protected] or by phone at 256-734-2131.

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