A Denver Jury's $2.5 Million Verdict for a Motorcyclist Hit by a Left-Turning Driver

In 2021, a 24-year-old motorcyclist was riding north through the Denver area when a vehicle heading the other way turned left across his lane. The motorcycle hit the turning vehicle. The force of the crash shattered the rider's femur, the long bone of the thigh, an injury that meant surgery and a long recovery.

His medical bills approached $940,000, and the damage to his leg left lasting impairment. Those two facts, the cost of his care and the permanent injury, formed the core of the claim his attorneys would later put to a jury.

The driver was insured by State Farm, and the company contested the claim rather than pay it. Its lawyers argued that the motorcyclist had caused his own wreck. They told jurors he was speeding, and they pointed out that he did not hold a motorcycle license. To win, the firm had to convince the jury that the left turn, not the rider's conduct, was the real cause of the crash. Franklin D. Azar & Associates took the case to trial in Denver, where senior attorney Joseph Sirchio led it.

On November 10, 2022, the jury returned a verdict of $2.5 million. The award broke down into $500,000 for non-economic damages, $1,000,000 for economic damages and medical bills, and $1,000,000 for physical impairment. The same jurors weighed the defense's fault arguments and assigned the rider 20 percent of the blame.

Colorado uses a modified comparative negligence rule. A plaintiff who is less than half at fault can still recover, but the award is cut by his share of the fault. The 20 percent finding reduced the gross verdict, and after that cut and the addition of prejudgment interest, the firm reports the final judgment came to about $2,272,500.

"Credit has to go to the client for having faith in the judicial process and the guts to go to trial," said Sirchio after the verdict.

The case mattered to the firm in part because of the opponent. Frank Azar regards State Farm as one of his chief adversaries among insurers, and 5280 magazine reported that he reached out to the magazine to share news of the verdict that November.