Attorney Brain Injury Claims and Settlements

Injured Woman Settles Suit Against GM

By JOSHUA L. WEINSTEIN, Portland Press Herald Writer

A Naples woman who received a debilitating brain injury when her van crashed into a boulder has settled her lawsuit against General Motors Corp., and the complicated, three-week trial that ended in deadlock in June will not be tried again, her lawyer and the automobile manufacturer said Wednesday.

Terms of the Settlement Were Not Released

Maria Allen, who lives in Naples, claimed that a defective seat and seat belt in her Chevrolet Lumina were to blame for the brain injury she received in the March 2, 1999 crash. She had significant medical bills, will never again be able to hold a job and will need care for the rest of her life. She asked jurors to award her several million dollars.

During the last week of May and the first two weeks of July, Allen's lawyer and lawyers for GM presented jurors with testimony from experts in car seat design, crash reconstruction and kinematics - the science of how bodies move inside vehicles during crashes. They brought in an actual-size fiberglass model of the rock that Allen hit.

Allen's lawyer, Larry Coben, of Scottsdale, Ariz., introduced GM memos that described an internal debate between engineers and other company officials over the safety of seats like the ones in Allen's van.

Ultimately, the eight jurors were divided 4-4, and Cumberland County Superior Court Justice Robert Crowley declared a mistrial. The case was scheduled to be tried again early next year.

In June, Coben said he and GM had discussed a settlement throughout the case. Wednesday, he said it had been settled within the past 30 days.

"The parties agreed to a confidential settlement and the case is over," he said. "I am not at liberty to discuss any of the terms," he said.

Brenda Rios, a GM spokeswoman, also declined to offer specifics.

"I can say that both parties are satisfied," she said.

Leon Russell, a lawyer in Dallas who on Wednesday rested his case in a similar lawsuit against GM, and who traveled to Maine to watch the Allen case, said the settlement likely will have little impact in other such cases.

"The fact that it was a hung jury leaves it sort of undecided or unmeaningful on both sides," he said. "The best conclusions are probably drawn from those cases where the jury does make conclusions - up or down."

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