TOPIC: REAR END COLLISION; NECK & BACK INJURIES.

RESULT: PLAINTIFF AWARD for $ 302,130. (The award included $ 150,000 in non-economic damages, $ 3,000 in past wage loss, $ 107,000 in future impaired earning capacity and past medicals of $ 42,130.).

INJURY: Neck injury; C5-6 herniation requiring surgery 18 months post accident. Chronic low-back pain.

SPECIALS: Med. $ 42,130; Lost Wages $ 3,000; Days Work Lost - 10 days; Days in Hosp. - none; Prop. Damage - vehicle totaled.

STATE: Oregon

COUNTY: Multnomah

ARBITRATORS: Simon Harding; Alan Bonebrake; Timothy Grabe

PLAINTIFF ATTORNEY(S): Michael Bloom, Law Office Michael H. Bloom (Lake Oswego).

DEFENDANT ATTORNEY(S): Leslie Kocher-Moar of MacMillian Scholz & Marks (Portland).

SUMMARY: 2/12/05 - Plff, male age 47, heavy machine operator. Plff was heading home from Washington after leaving a job site that had been washed out. Plff was driving his 2004 Chevrolet Malibu southbound on I-5 near the Glen Jackson Bridge when traffic ahead came to a stop. Plff contended he was able to bring his vehicle to a complete stop but was then violently struck from the rear by an underinsured motorist.

PLAINTIFF MEDICAL EXPERT(S): Patrick Tester MD (Internal Medicine); Julio Ordonez MD (Neurosurgeon); Steve Urman MD (Radiologist), all Gresham.

PLAINTIFF EXPERT(S): Robert Male (Economist) Portland.

DEFENDANT MEDICAL EXPERT(S): Michael Graham MD (Orthopedic Surgeon) Portland.

OFFER: $ 72,500. Def. asked for a reasonable amount.

DEMAND: $ 200,000. Plff asked for a reasonable amount.

TRIAL-TIME: 2-day arbitration