Woman disabled by shoulder injury and surgery has not suffered "serious impairment."
Alison Nelson was hurt in a car wreck and sued Freddie DuBose, the at-fault driver. DuBose's insurer was able to secure a jury verdict that Alison did not suffer a "serious impairment of bodily function" and Nelson appealed. The Court of Appeals majority ruled that even though Nelson needed surgery on her shoulder and even though she provided evidence of substantial interference with her normal life, the verdict was not a violation of law. Judge Jansen disagreed with the outcome, and believed that because it was against the great weight of the evidence, a new trial should have been ordered. Unfortunately, as she noted, this option wasn't available because the Court was limited by the issues that Nelson's attorneys chose to appeal.