Case Study: Arabella Lozano v. Matthew Merveldt

June 3, 2022

This case was a motor vehicle accident involving a 23-year-old female. VDI was retained as rebuttal experts by Defense counsel for rebuttal to Plaintiff’s earning capacity evaluation and Life Care Plan. We were also asked to perform a reasonableness of cost of care analysis of Plaintiff’s past medical billing in the Denver, CO area.

Plaintiff sustained a severe ankle injury that required four surgeries, including a fusion. VDI provided an in-depth comparison and rebuttal to the Plaintiff’s Life Care Plan, relying on appropriate methodology, cost research, and foundation provided by medical records, retained medical experts, and treaters. VDI also offered rebuttal opinions related to future loss of earning capacity given injuries sustained in the accident in response to Plaintiff’s retained vocational expert. In addition, VDI completed an extensive analysis on medical billing records to determine if the charges were usual, customary, and reasonable (UCR) in the Denver, CO area. Our firm uses data from several published, industry-accepted sources to provide the most accurate analyses on billed charges in our field.

This case went to trial in November 2021. Our Director, Aubrey Corwin, testified to the earning capacity/lost wage claim, Life Care Plan rebuttal, and the reasonableness of cost of care. Plaintiff made a request for a $46.5 million award in their closing argument at trial. The final jury verdict was under $2.5 million which was less than what Defense had offered/valued the case at in pre-trial settlement negotiations.