Melanie Sulkin – Turning a Low-Impact Crash into a $583K Verdict

At a glance, the two large vehicles involved in a rear-end collision – a Toyota 4Runner and a Nissan Xterra – didn’t appear visibly damaged. And Melanie Sulkin’s client didn’t appear injured. 

But Melanie pursued the case beyond surface images. She recounts her methods with host Keith Fuicelli. From proving the significant frame damage to her client’s car and the permanent injury to her client’s rotator cuff, Melanie describes an approach that yielded a jury verdict of nearly $583,000.

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Episode Snapshot

• Melanie found her calling as an undergraduate when she founded Northern Illinois University’s mock trial team.
• Early in her career, Melanie was on the team that tried the first M2a Magnum Biomet case in the country.
• In a recent case, Melanie represented a client who was rear-ended, but both her client’s car and the defendant’s car showed little to no visible property damage.
• Even though the defendant originally admitted fault, his stories changed during trial in an attempt to place some blame on Melanie’s client.
• In arguing that the crash caused her client’s rotator cuff tear, Melanie showed photos of the car, and her client testified that she had the entire frame repaired.  
• Melanie struck many jurors who said during voir dire that her client “looks fine.” 
• When the “mechanism of injury” became a question at trial, Melanie elicited an answer from the defense surgeon.
• The defendant’s insurance carrier initially agreed to a demand of $300,000, but then backed off. For Melanie’s client, the decision...