Clifford Law Offices Gets $2.5 Million Verdict

A $2.58 million verdict was handed down late Friday for the death of a Chicago woman and injuries to her friend.

Jeffrey Kroll, associate at Clifford Law Offices , received the verdict which included a little over one million for posttraumatic stress suffered by Lupe Bryand in witnessing her best friend's death.

The accident occurred on Oct. 25, 1997, when Bryand, 37, was driving northbound on I-90. John Robb of Chicago's north side drove his BMW into Bryand's Chevy Blazer, causing it to flip over. Her best friend, 38-year-old Catarina Alba died in the crash.

Robb fled the scene and Chicago police arrested him the next day.

"The jury recognized the closeness of the Alba family and the deep loss that they suffered as well as that Lupe Bryand has had to relive this incident each and every day," Kroll said after the verdict was handed down in Judge Deborah Dooling's courtroom at the Cook County Circuit Court at the Daley Center.

The family of Alba received $1.5 million for her death.

In addition to the $700,000 for Bryand received for the pain and suffering experienced as a result of witnessing the accident, she received $329,000 for her disability and medical expenses suffered as a result of the crash. Bryand no longer can engage in a normal life as a result of her psychological injuries.

Michael Krzak, also an associate at Clifford Law Offices , helped try the case. It was his first trial.

It took the eight-man-four-woman jury four hours to arrive at the verdict.

The two-day trial included plaintiff's putting on 21 witnesses, including four treating physicians. Kroll used the latest state-of-the-art technology in the courtroom, presenting family photographs and videos which were bar-coded and played back on television for the jury.

The plaintiffs rejected a $1 million offer prior to trial.

Kroll had just finished another trial in late May where he received a record $377,000 for the loss of a tip of his finger of his non-dominant hand of a 49-year-old man in a work-related accident. It was reduced by 50 percent for the plaintiff's contributory negligence.

The law firm representing the defendant, John Robb, is the same firm that Clifford Law Offices was up against in the case involving Rachel Barton, the violinist. Robert Clifford received a $30 million verdict March 1 in that case.