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Atlanta—Jurors Wednesday awarded $200,000 to a Georgia woman for injuries she suffered in a 2013 crash with a tractor trailer. Akhundov v. Ramos and Unimex Logistics, LLC., 15EV003047.
The Fulton County State Court jury needed about 45 minutes to reach its decision for Dilyara Akhundov in the damages-only trial against truck driver Juan Ramos and Unimex Logistics.
During Wednesday’s closing arguments, Akhundov’s attorney, W. Winston Briggs, of the W. Winston Briggs Law Firm, requested more than $729,000 in damages for her back, neck, wrist, and knee injuries.
Akhundov, 32, claims she suffered long-standing injuries when a tractor-trailer driven by Ramos with a load for Unimex hit her car on I-85 in Gwinnett County.
The two-day trial turned on the severity of Akhundov’s injuries in the wreck. During Wednesday’s closing arguments, Briggs walked jurors through Akhundov's medical records and testimony that he said showed she underwent multiple medical procedures because of the crash, and will likely suffer from lifelong back and wrist pain.
“You can see all she’s gone through. You can see all the treatments she’d had to get. Stop questioning her medical bills. Pay them,” Briggs said of the defense. “Stop questioning that she has permanent injuries from the wreck. She does.”
The defense countered that Akhundov’s injuries had resolved within 14 months of her crash, and medical treatment after that was unrelated to the wreck. During Wednesday’s closings, Carlock Copeland’s Fred Valz highlighted social media he said showed Akhundov's injuries were not debilitating. “We believe it clearly shows that Dilyara was working as an actress,” Valz said in suggesting a range of damages between about $74,000 and $178,000. “She had a full life, an active life [after the accident].”
Email Arlin Crisco at acrisco@cvn.com.
Related Information
The plaintiff is represented by W. Winston Briggs of the W. Winston Briggs Law Firm.
The defense is represented by Fred Valz and Melissa Bailey, of Carlock Copeland.
CVN covered the trial and will publish video on demand as soon as possible.
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