$13.87 Million Verdict for Motorcyclist After Insurer Offered $75,000

In February 2017, Areg Zargaryan's car struck a motorcycle ridden by Iain McDonald in Los Angeles. The physical impact was low-speed. McDonald did not fall from his bike, walked to the sidewalk without help, and left the scene without seeking medical care that day.

The defense leaned heavily on those early facts throughout litigation. McDonald had continued to snowboard, rollerblade, and ride motorcycles after the collision, and his initial clinic visit the following day documented pain in his right hip, leg, and foot, with no mention of his neck or groin. Defense attorneys at Gibson, Dunn and Crutcher argued that a walking-speed collision could not account for the severe, lasting injuries McDonald later claimed.

Wilshire Law Firm trial attorneys Jon Teller and Sutton Shapiro built the case that the collision did cause those injuries, even if symptoms deepened over time. The insurer's position going into trial was reflected in its pre-trial offer: $75,000. The attorneys rejected that figure and took the case before a Los Angeles County jury.

On February 9, 2023, the jury sided with McDonald. The verdict totaled $13,872,900, broken down as $2,000,000 for past pain and suffering, $1,872,900 for future medical expenses, and $10,000,000 for future pain and suffering. TopVerdict ranked the result #21 among the top 50 personal injury verdicts in California for 2023.

The judgment did not survive on appeal. Defendants challenged a ruling that let the plaintiff call a new medical expert, Dr. Toorag Gravori, who appeared just seven days before trial began, more than 16 months after the court's expert-exchange deadline. Gravori had examined McDonald one week before trial and recommended spinal surgery, a treatment option that had never been raised at any earlier stage of the case. The trial court allowed the testimony; the California Second District Court of Appeal did not. In December 2025, the appellate court vacated the judgment and ordered a new trial, finding the last-minute disclosure gave the defense no meaningful opportunity to prepare a response to the new surgical theory.