Dubuque County Jury Awards Damages in Underinsured Motorist Case Against Allstate
A Dubuque County jury determined damages for an injured plaintiff in a November 2021 underinsured motorist trial against Allstate Property and Casualty, with Allstate having already admitted liability before the case went to the jury, and Connor Mulholland of Mueller Schmidt Mulholland and Cooling, PLLC representing the plaintiff.
What happened
The collision that brought this case to a Dubuque County courtroom was not in dispute. By the time the trial began in November 2021, Allstate Property and Casualty had admitted that the at-fault driver's negligence caused the plaintiff's injuries. The only question left for the jury was how much those injuries were worth.
Underinsured motorist claims arise when the driver responsible for a crash carries liability limits too low to fully compensate the victim. In Iowa, injured people may turn to their own auto insurance policy for the difference, up to the policy's underinsured motorist limit. That is the claim the plaintiff brought against Allstate.
With liability off the table, the November 2021 trial in Dubuque County District Court focused entirely on damages. Connor Mulholland of Mueller Schmidt Mulholland and Cooling, PLLC, presented the plaintiff's case to the jury. At a damages-only trial, the plaintiff's attorney must lay out the full picture of how the collision affected the client: medical treatment received, expenses incurred, any lasting limitations, and the pain endured along the way.
Allstate, defending against the claim, had every incentive to minimize the damages picture and challenge the extent or cause of the plaintiff's injuries. Jurors in underinsured motorist cases hear from both sides before deciding what a fair award looks like.
The jury returned its verdict for the plaintiff on damages following the November 4, 2021 trial. The Iowa State Bar Association's Civil Jury Verdict Reporter, which compiles verdict data supplied monthly by the Iowa Judicial Branch, recorded the outcome in Dubuque County case LACV110019, with Connor N. Mulholland listed as the plaintiff's counsel. No appeal or remittitur appears in the publicly available record.
Sources
This account is drawn from contemporaneous public reporting and the court record.
More proven verdicts from Mueller Schmidt Mulholland & Cooling, PLLC
All Mueller Schmidt Mulholland & Cooling, PLLC proven verdicts →A Dallas County jury returned a $79,895.55 plaintiff verdict in December 2019 in a motor vehicle personal injury case, with Richard Schmidt and Dustin Mueller of Mueller Schmidt Mulholland and Cooling, PLLC, representing passenger Lorene Arbuckle against defendant Jocelyn Anne Kirchner.
A Warren County jury returned a $6,000 verdict for plaintiffs Jonna Audino and Trenton Shever following a motor vehicle collision, with Hannah Moreland and Dustin Mueller of Mueller Schmidt Mulholland and Cooling trying the case to verdict in April 2024.
The Iowa Supreme Court reversed the dismissal of state common law claims brought by the estate of Brent Boggess, a man fatally shot by a Waterloo police officer in November 2021, and remanded the case for further proceedings in district court.
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